Topher Lydon

At least he has someone with him that is willing to fight for Elias as hard as Theo will. Theo isn't done yet, he's got a lot to do, this arc is his and he earns every beat of it.

Theo Harding, doing the bravest thing he's ever done to that point.

**Chapter 14: The Petitioner** The goodbye was harder than the ambush. The livery stable in Silver Creek smelled of dust and familiar comfort, a sharp contrast to the cold knot of dread sitting in Theo Harding’s stomach. Jack stood in his stall, his massive head lowered, watching Theo with a suspicious, unblinking dark eye. The horse knew. Animals always knew when the herd was breaking up. Theo rested his forehead against the grey’s velvet nose, breathing in the scent of him—w

Ha, I am not so bad, I buy one bottle a year and that usually lasts me til Christmas. Just might have been a bit enthusiastic this morning... I blame the cold.

(Ignore my terrible math's there, I swear the Bailey's in my coffee did it, I am going to put twenty two and twenty three together just to... make it that way... so maybe I did do that on purpose...)

Now I SWEAR I didn't plan it this way, it's just how the damn plot rolled out time wise... But it literally ends on Christmas Eve. >.< (Has just penned the last chapter this morning) 23 chapters to this book, we're on Chapter ten, so... 12 more to go... we also end on Christmas Eve. >.< I swear I didn't do this on purpose.

They were there, apologies I got a little focused on Xue that I assumed that there was an implied PPT presence.

You aren't?

just noticed a draft copy slipped through, I have updated with the revised text, only small changes. the biggest of which is that Yani uses West's picture and digitally ages it as a joke for the father of the bomb.

West sees it as the only option, and he's right. Russia encroaching on one side, the US on the other, Canada can no longer afford to play the moral high ground.

oh and points for the Timmy/Bobby nod

I wanted to show that the boys can start having a real life again. Their PPT wasn't the greatest, and lockdown became the only way to keep them safe. Abernathy's missile at the house showed that was no longer viable. They needed a competent, efficient and ruthless protector. Otherwise it's the same four walls for the next five to fifteen yeas there dad is Prime Minister which is no life at all. Plus Ice cream and Trains, who doesn't love that?

never has a gif summed me up more.

Chapter Ten Tuesday, December 17th, 2019 WORLD END: T-minus 85 days, 08 hours, and 00 minutes. CSIS Headquarters, Ogilvie Road, Ottawa. Technical Quartermaster’s "Nest". The Nest had become a shrine to sustained crisis. The air, once cooled by the hum of servers, was now a stale bath of recycled oxygen, ozone, and the sharp, metabolic tang of fear sweat. Empty cans of energy drinks and protein bar wrappers formed geological strata on every flat surface. The wall of monit

Little Thomas approves of your methods, he'll compose a fiddled Tune and gladly enjoy the show. (Watcher's reference for those counting)

he just might anyway... :: plays harmonica ::

Yeah, Peter's descended from the Telegraph boy, Timmy McCormick. Though Bobby's sure gonna give it the old college try when he's older... lol

Corruption at work. You are quite right, and I am sure Dixon's riding right now to complain... but given the situation, 20 rifles, badges, and official papers, his objection at the time was likely, prudently, quiet.

The boys, being as isolated as they are, needed Ned, I think. I mean it's not like they can talk to anyone else about the kind of stuff they want to ask. It's odd that I wonder who they could ask... out of all the adults, Will probably would be the one they'd typically turn to with this stuff. As Tommy showed. Will's the Story time dad, the one they hang with on Friday nights, and just get that kind of Dad time from. Andrew's more the practical Pa-pere, life lessons in the garage, here's how you fix a car, learn to scrap, be the kind of man(or woman) you need to be. Uncle Peter's got *shhh don't let him hear us say this* the traditional mom energy. The cookies, the do your homework and don't make me come up there! Uncle West we've seen, is the fishing, outdoors, hockey time, kind of parent. Four parents, four different styles, but yeah, Ned is the Big brother they kinda need to figure out the important stuff, like how to kiss, how do I ask him out, what's beer taste like.... you know... the trouble kind that makes been a teenager so much fun.

Theo is about to be tested, weighed and measured. If he is found worthy, he might just find an ally who cares about Elias as much as he does.

**Chapter 13: The Reckoning** The road back to Silver Creek was not a victory march; it was a funeral procession, a slow, painful caravan moving under a sky of washed-out blue that seemed too bright and indifferent for the weight they carried. The dust of the high country still clung to them, a fine, pale shroud over men and beasts alike, mingling with the darker stains of sweat and dried blood. Each plodding hoof fall was a dull drumbeat marking the distance between the violence of t