Is this destiny?

~ The base of the army of Chaos - Chicago branch ~

Friday

10:14 AM

Sarah and Aiden are on the 53 floor or the building they own in Chicago, facing their kids who are here to act as security detail for the pre-wedding party and the wedding of Ellie and Jasper.

The 56th floor has two apartments, one is where Sarah and Aiden are staying and the other one is temporarily occupied by Mathew Young. 55th floor has apartments which are used by Mathew's people.

As part of their deal with Mathew, Sarah and Aiden told him that he and his men can use this anytime and they are happy that Mathew accepted because it allows them to keep an eye on him while he is in staying in Chicago.

Mathew likes it, because the location is great, and the security is impeccable. He and his men can stay here and relax in a way that they can't even when they are at home in their own territory. He is aware that Sarah and Aiden have the whole place wired up, but he comes here only when it's related to Ellie and does not stay long. If anything urgent happens that Sarah and Aiden should not know about, that is probably going to make him go to Northern Ireland right away.

In addition to these two floors, Sarah and Aiden recently purchased floors 50-54, so now top seven floors of the building belong to them.

They are using this building as the base of the army of Chaos in Chicago. Floors 50 and above have restricted access with separate elevators which don't stop on floors 2 to 49 and surveillance is provided by Eve. Floors 50, 51, 52 and 54 have apartments which are providing great views of Chicago where members of the army stay when they are in the town.

Part of the floor 52 is transformed into a gym where their army members can train.

What makes this the base for the army of Chaos is the floor 53 which Sarah and Aiden remodeled by using services of several different contractors so that no one knows exactly what is done here, and Felix helped with wiring the whole place in his gadgets. The place is like a fortress.

In 'normal mode' 53rd floor looks like a massive lounging area with a wet bar and many games, ready for a party, but it's actually full of hidden features which transform it into a control room. When Eve locks it down, no one can see inside (just in case they are using drones or some other equipment), desks and file cabinets emerge from the floor and walls, and large touch screens descend from the ceiling, showing detailed information about the army of Chaos and everything related to it, similarly how they have in the Cliffside villa.

Sarah loves floor 53. It looks like it came out of the sci-fi spy movie, and they plan to have several bases like this through North America and Europe. They already started clearing up part of the basement in their Castle in France and soon the remodel will start there.

For Ellie's and Jasper's wedding, many people came from different locations, but we are focused on our group from Los Angeles…

Penny and Ben are staying in one apartment on 50th floor, and so are Sophia, Felix and Jeff and JoAnna. It's easier to keep them safe when all of them are together, and Sarah is miffed that Charlie and Emma decided to stay in a hotel but hey… she can't force them.

Back to present…

Sarah and Aiden are on 53rd floor, giving instructions to their kids who came to Chicago as security.

Kids are lined up neatly in 'attention' position like true army members.

Present are: Jesse, Oni, Ron, Zula, Allen, Julius, Ade, Jamari, Art, Beck, Nico and Dezy.

Jesse and Oni are acting as Penny's and Ben's bodyguards. Ron and Zula are with Sophia and Felix, because their regular bodyguards Ryan and Levi stayed in Los Angeles to make sure Lia is safe. Allen and Julius are accompanying Jeff and JoAnna. Ade and Jamari are acting as Sarah's and Aiden's bodyguards while four remaining boys: Art, Beck, Nico and Dezy are 16 year-old boys originally from Sierra Leone who are currently shadowing existing generals before they get promoted to ones. For this occasion, Art will shadow Jesse and Oni, Beck will join Ron and Zula, Nico will follow Allen and Julius while Dezy will stay close to Ade and Jamari.

The four almost-generals are super-excited because this is their first taste of a real mission. But the most excited is Ade. This is his first mission since he got reinstated as a general.

When Sarah and Aiden finished with giving instructions, they dismissed their kids.

"Event starts with a lunch at 1 PM. Until then you can relax.", Sarah ended her talk.

Allen, Julius, Art and Nico went to the pinball machines. Jesse and Oni sat in front of the PCs, they are using every free moment to research about their next scouting mission of the Shadow Ravens organization. Ron and Zula sat on the sofa in front of a large TV, ready to watch a movie.

Beck was looking around, trying to decide what to do when Ade nudged him. "Did you practice your poker face?"

Beck was confused. "My what?"

"Poker face.", Ade demonstrated his blank 'you can't read me' expression. "When those two start getting all smoochy, you will need it."

Beck understood that Ade is talking about Ron and Zula. "They will not kiss during a mission. Right?"

Ade shrugged. "Who knows?"

"Ade!", Aiden snapped irritably.

Ade froze and swallowed hard while turning toward Aiden slowly.

Aiden was irritated that Ade could not control his playful nature. Does he know that Sarah barely accepted to get him back into missions? The little rascal is on a good way to prove how Aiden was too hasty to vouch for him. "How about you switch with Beck? You can shadow Ron and Zula, so that you can learn when to focus on a mission and when to have fun."

"Sorry boss.", Ade said timidly. "It will not happen again."

Aiden snorted at Ade's apology and then looked at Beck. "Beck, we would not allow anyone to learn from them if they are not a good example."

Sarah called Ade to the side and spoke with him so that others don't hear. "Ade… I told Aiden that you are not ready, but he convinced me to give you a chance. Don't disappoint him."

Ade glanced at Aiden and he felt shame wash over him. He didn't know that Aiden vouched for him and as soon as he got a chance, he started messing up again and acting irresponsibly. Ade's chin trembled for a second before he responded. "Yes, boss."

"Dezy will follow you and Jamari in next two days. Show him what it means to be a general.", Sarah reminded Ade.

"Yes, boss. Thank you."

Sarah responded with a small nod and walked away.

Ade was in a daze, scolding himself silently for his slipup when a hard slap landed at the back of his head and he was outraged to see Jamari. "What?!"

Jamari narrowed his eyes at Ade. "Do you know how much I waited for you to join? Do you need to mess it up as soon as you got back? How can you be this irresponsible? When will you realize that your actions are impacting others? There is a time for playing and time for being serious. Look at these four newcomers. They don't know what to expect and they are looking up to us to show them the way." Jamari wanted to say few more things, but he was getting too emotional and he snorted before turning and walking away.

Ade lowered his head and sighed helplessly. No matter what he says it will either not help or it will make things worse. Why is everyone overreacting? It was just a joke…

Ade was startled when he saw Sarah in front of him. Why did she come back? Is she going to scold him again?

Sarah can see that Ade is upset and she decided to offer more than just scolding: "Ade… we are all doing this because we have high expectations from you. As the number of generals is increasing, we will create a seniority ladder where few will be in charge. I know that you can be the best if you focus. It is up to you how high you will reach."

Ade looked at Sarah and his eyes widened as her words sank in. He can be he best, there will be a ladder… and that means that he can be officially on the top… showing everyone that he can be useful. He smiled with a smile which reached his eyes.

"Thanks, boss!", Ade exclaimed.

Sarah looked gently at the silly child and patted his shoulder before walking away.

Aiden watched Sarah give pep-talk to Ade and smiled. They are all lucky to have her.

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