And it may take some time to learn what&#39;s real

Adam walks over and informs the teacher, "Sir, I think it's time to go now, sir."

He can see out of the corner of his eye that the two boys are frantically unbuckling their shin-splints, and grins to himself as he saunters back over. The other boys have already formed into a ring around them.

Adam takes his time, seeing understanding dawn on their faces as he approaches.

"Not thinking of going, were you?"

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Since Joris had been thinking of doing just that-

Er.

He says nothing, and clearly Jamie has the idea of leaving while everyone is changing-

But clearly the other boys had thought of that possibility as well. None of them headed off to change. In fact, some of them ran to get everyone's clothing from the small house, and then quickly rejoined the group of them surrounding Joris and Jamie.

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The last boy locks the door, and explains politely to the teacher that they're all going to Macready's to take tea.

Adam waits by the bus and smiles as the two boys are led in. "In you get," he says to the smaller one.

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That vehicle could take them anywhere. For anything.

Jamie does not. Like. This. At. All.

(And where on earth is Helen? If he gets in that vehicle, they're going to lose her; who knows if they'll be able to find her again -)

Jamie twists sideways, suddenly, and does his best to make a break for it. But they're expecting it; they catch him and twist him back around.

"No fighting, now!" says the teacher.

"It's all right, sir," says a smooth voice. "He just fell over." Someone yanks Jamie's arm up behind his back and shoves him up the steps into the vehicle.

They're well and truly trapped now.

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uquars_gadget

Helen hears them pushing into the vehicle, and stills, uncertain of what to do.

When the boys begin pushing back inbetween the seats of the room, where she's hiding, though, she stands up. They won't find her crouching midst them like she's scared.

One of the boys screams.

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Adam looks scornfully at Smitty - the one who screamed - who flushes and tried to make a joke of it. "They've landed! There's a faceless wonder here!"

It's just a girl with her hair over her face, anyone can see that, but she clearly knows the boys who were stealing their clothes and there's no reason to go easy on her. "Ah," Adam says, peering over the shorter one's shoulder, "the female of the species."

"What's going on now?" demands the schoolmaster peevishly.

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uquars_gadget

The scream, and the look on Jamie's face at the easy smugness of the boy who has clearly outsmarted him is...something to behold. Helen's trying to keep silent, but then Joris starts laughing and she can't help joining in.

She puts a wisp of hair behind her ear, and lift her chin to get a better look at Jamie.

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"What's so funny?" one of the boys asks.

Which, conveniently enough, is just what Jamie would like to know.

"They don't understand!" he complains - feeling genuinely put-upon, but putting that extra dash of comic plaintiveness in his voice, too. He doesn't mind being laughed at, if it means the boys will let him go.

"They're having a joke on me! It's not fair! This could happen to anyone!"

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Adam looks over at him, blank and suspicious. The boy talking goes quiet, but the other one doesn't stop laughing for the rest of the drive back into the city.

"Macready," the teacher calls when they're getting close, "where do you and your gang want to be dropped?"

Adam walks to stand by the teacher's shoulder. "I'll show you, sir." They're are a few alleyways in this area, and he stops him at the lamppost near the one closest to his house. "This'll do, sir. By that lamppost."

He gets out first, and stands to the side as the boys bring out the two thieves and their friend. As the group gathers around, Nicholson asks "Where to?" and Adam glances over at him, briefly. It seems like they boys have got a good handle on the thieves, though, so he says "Up here. There's a lonely alley that will suit us perfectly."

They pass by an old tramp who's been lingering the past few days, when Carver says "I hope you meant that about tea, Adam."

"Sure," Adam shrugs. "My parents are away for the weekend. They left loads of food. Just deal with these two yobboes, first. I want them to know how it feels to have their clothes stolen."

There's awhile until his good-for-nothing sister gets back, anyways.

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Of course it's an alley.

Just like in Jamie's Home - uncannily like, in the shape, anyways. But in Jamie's Home this part of the city is in the worstp art of the slums, with rubbish and tramps and ruffians. You can get robbed in those alleys, in Jamie's Home.

This particular alley looks a lot cleaner than those. But Jamie's fairly certain that they can still get robbed in one, and are probably about to.

Which, considering what tends to happen with Rule Two when someone goes after a Homeward Bounder, is just wonderful all round. Especially once you factor in how Joris feels about that bloody demon hunter's uniform of his.

They're all in the alley now, and Jamie's brain is firing double-time trying to figure out how they're all going to get out of this without anyone ending up dead.

"Look," he says, rather hopelessly, "I've told you you can have your trousers back. Take them."

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"Ah," Adam replies, kindly, "but I want your shirt, too."

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"You can have it," Jamie says quickly. "I'll give it to you."

He can always steal another.

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uquars_gadget

Helen had stopped by the beggar, and helped him to his feet, but she overhears Jamie's hurried comment as the two of them get closer to the alley's mouth.

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"...you really are a coward, aren't you?" Adam asks, disgusted.

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The smart thing to do would be just to say 'yes'.

Jamie doesn't have much pride, and he's groveled more than this before, but - damn it, he really doesn't like this boy. Anyways, groveling is unlikely to convey to Joris exactly why they should be offering to strip.

"That's got nothing to do with it," he says, instead. "You take anything of ours and you'll get killed. It's as simple as that. I don't care two hoots about you, but it seems a bit hard on the rest of them. It would be safer for you just to beat us up. We'd prefer that, wouldn't we, Joris?"

He glares at Joris, and attempts to convey telepathically 'YES WE WOULD, YOU IDIOT, SAY YES.'

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...

You honestly think that Joris is going to agree to that, Jamie?

He crosses his arms, and eyes the boys surrounding them. Joris certainly will not start anything-

But he will be damned if he will just stand there and do nothing.

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The boys exchange looks. Like they really believe two kids--even if Joris could be a threat on his own--are going to be able to fight against the whole lot of them?

They close in, and Adam tumbles backwards and throws an arm up as the shorter boy throws himself at him, grabbing hold of his glasses.

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It's the daftest thing. Jamie's got to fight them because if he doesn't fight them he'll steal his things and they might die. Everything's upside down.

. . . also, he is righteously pissed off by this point, it's true. So he doesn't exactly mind going for Adam and trying to stomp his glasses to shreds. But really it's for their own good!

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Jamie might- might- be able to handle Adam. But certainly not the rest of the group of boys, and Joris is not going to hold his breath that they will decide to play fair now. For once can actually fight back, he can do something-

And unlike when he was surrounded by Them,

("Leave me alone! I was only doing my duty!")

This time Joris is far from helpless.

"Look out! He's got a knife!" Konstam has taught him ways to fight against someone who is armed when you are not, but clearly these boys never had any sort of training in these matters. Someone shouts and they all scramble back, Jamie with them.

Joris is crouched and ready, eyeing the group.

"This is a demon knife." They all may not know what that means, but the sunlight glints oddly off Shen and the other symbols carved on the blade. "I'll only have to touch you. Who comes first?"

And even he does not know if he wants them to just run away or leave them alone, or-

Or if he actually means this.

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. . . that knife looks nasty, from the glimpses of it that Jamie can see around the tangle of boys trying to get Adam's trousers off of Jamie's legs. And Jamie has no doubt that it will do what Joris says.

(Jamie feels he knows Joris quite well by now. And Joris would certainly feel very sorry when he found out that he'd killed a boy - but that wasn't going to help the boy. Or Joris, come to that.

Or any of them, once They start enforcing rules.)

He lets go of the boy he's currently grappling - which does not mean that the boy lets go of him - and squirms backwards, shouting as loudly as he can, "No! Stop it, Joris! You can't! That's entering play!"

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"Why should I keep to Their rules?" Joris spits out, glancing at Jamie then looking back to the ring of boys.

They are to blame for him being here in the first place, surrounded by people who thought they could toy with him and beat up Jamie-

Clenching his jaw, he starts for the nearest figure.

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Standing in a ring at the center of a set of unfriendly attackers - it must be taking Joris right back. Jamie doesn't blame him, not really, or at least, he understands it. He knows how it is. The memory of Them doesn't leave you that easily.

But the fact remains that Joris is being an idiot, and it appears to be up to Jamie to stop him from making a mess of it, as always. Cursing, he charges his way through what feels like sixteen boys and dives for Joris, grabbing for his arm to stop him doing anything Jamie knows he'll regret -

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Joris' eyes flicker sideways to Jamie-

And if that is not the stupidest thing he has seen Jamie do so far, running up to someone holding a knife-

Well, he certainly has no plans on hurting Jamie.

Even if he is still trying to quickly figure out what exactly his plans here are.

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"For shame! For shame! A man's hand against his brother!"

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