A message from Logan was waiting on Tyrel's desk when he returned. Shuttle Group XIV, it read; this was a roster for the new soldiers coming in tonight. Highlighted in their respective places were these names-

Selena Katarez
Mai Li Zhiyuan
Jasmine Ali
Cedric Xavier

Tyrel sat back on his bunk, staring at them. These were the little girls and the baby brother, the four remaining officers of his old Dragon Army. Very soon, the Jeesh would all be together again... and of all places, here, in Command School. Ty shook his head in disbelief. Why were they coming back? Xavi, that little genius of a midget; he of course was always meant to end up here, but what of Mai? Her curse of a gift had nearly sworn her to death the last time he'd seen her; was she truly risking this or was this another fuckup of the damn IF? Jasmine had been sent earthside even before he'd left for Command School, on account of some bullshit assessment that concluded her mentally unstable. Nobody could understand her the way he could. And Selena... the last he'd heard of Selena, she had escaped the custody of the IF and had disappeared back into the Amazon a year ago. Should he expect to find various clawmarks on the BR walls just as he'd always found them in the ones at Battle School?

There was text on the roster; Ty read a little further... these four and numerous others would be arriving either late tonight or early tomorrow morning. It had been nearly three years; would he even recognize them? Suddenly there came a knock at the door; Ty stuffed the paper away.

"Can I come in?"

It was Veronique. She slipped her head inside and gave a slight smile; Tyrel motioned for her to close the door then held the paper out for her to see. His sister's eyes lit like opals. She giggled in a very un-Viqlike manner and tackled him onto his bunk, as if they were children of six. As if she actually had spent six with him, and not as a scholar in vestigial Cairo while Ty had scrabbled around in the streets of New York. In reply, he grabbed his sister around her waist and pinned her down on the floor, enjoying her resulting squeal of annoyance. Such simple brother/sister moments between them were rare.

"I can hardly even remember what they looked like," she whispered. Tyrel glanced down at her.

"Damn, Viq... how could you forget?"

She sat up, brushing her pale hair from her face. "Not like we ever kept an album."

"No, shawty, we didn't. But I know you. You never forget anything unless it was something you wanted to forget."

She stood up, breaking his gaze. Viq never liked to be reminded, specifically not of those Battle School days before they'd discovered they were siblings. Something Tyrel could never help but regret. "You know me too well."

He shrugged. "I'll never know enough."

A silence then seemed to stretch on. Viq glanced at him from behind low lashes, randomly stating, "Selena would be around fourteen now." Ty shook his head.

"Thirteen for several more months. Mai's fourteen."

"And Chay?"

"Jasmine and Xavier are fifteen. Damn, would you look at this- they're shipping some eighteen-year old green into CS."

Viq read over his shoulder. "Rafael Tristan. Hmmm. Must be some newly-discovered superstar. The IF wouldn't bother otherwise."

"They're getting tired of me, I see.” Tyrel smirked. “About time."

"Wonderful attitude you've got."

He shrugged again. "The buggers aren't mine to take. They never were. Always, I've only done this for Dragon, for Griffin.” A pause. “And for you."

It was Veronique’s turn to smirk. “You didn’t want to protect me, you wanted to beat me.”