Quaranteam - AU Ch. 04

Quaranteam: Alternating Uncertainties

Chapter 4

Uh so yeah. This chapter kinda got away from me. But damn was it fun to write. I hope you have just as much fun reading it!

A minor note: Medicare - I know there's the US version of the program, but it exists here in Aus too. Universal Healthcare is nice.

As always, thanks to CorruptingPower for the universe and the other writers for their input and assistance.

-SilverRyden.

Officer Housing, Victoria Barracks, Victoria, Australia - October 24, 2020 - 6:15 AM AEDT

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It was the sensation of fingers running through his hair that brought Tiberius out of his slumber. That alone would have been unusual, but there was also a warm body in his arms, most likely Talia, and somehow, it all felt right. The last two days had been a whirlwind of activity, and he'd woken up every day since he'd imprinted his three wonderful partners with a different one in his embrace.

"You awake, big guy?"

Tiberius opened his eyes and looked up. Lettie smiled down at him as her fingers continued to brush his head.

"Morning, love. Care to join us? And where's Lots?"

"As much as I'd love to, you and Talia need to get up. Lottie's in the kitchen making some food. We have to vacate here soon."

"Ah, the next Team's ready to be sequestered for a bit?"

"Pretty much. They said since it's been a couple of days, you should be good to go. We'll probably have time to head back to your house. The fridge is probably in a bit of a state by now."

"Yeah, that state being 'empty'. I was cycling everything out since it was getting to its use by date. I was supposed to do a grocery run the day all hell broke loose."

Ty felt a pinch on his side, and Talia spoke, her voice muffled since she still had her head buried in his chest. "Do not call the day we were finally joined as such, my love."

The laugh rumbled in his chest and he pulled her arms away. "I'm sorry, my dear. Aside from that, the day had been one evoking some pretty extreme emotions, but you're right. It was definitely the day that we were brought together, so it should be something for us to celebrate."

Stretching lightly, he rolled away from Talia, eliciting a displeased growl from the younger woman. Lettie watched his naked form as he moved, noting that all of his movements seemed to be smoother. There had been a bit of hesitation or discomfort in those movements over the last few days, but it wasn't present now.

"Are you finally back to full strength, Tiberius? Does anything feel off anymore?"

"Now that you mention it? Yeah, I think I'm good." He took a deep breath, feeling his chest inflate without the tightness he had experienced only a few days past. "Yeah, definitely. I think I'm over the hump. Whatever happened on the first night seemed to have taken care of most of it, and that phantom twinge I used to get in my leg when I woke up hasn't hit me for the last few days."

"That's good news. I'll let Dr. Morgan know, so you and Tal get in the shower."

Ty nodded and extended a hand to Talia, who finally, albeit reluctantly, began to move. "Remind me to buy the guy a drink sometime soon. Any word from Ray?"

"He says they'll be starting production today, barring any major holdups. The Americans provided everything they needed, so it's just a matter of setting everything up." Lettie shrugged. "He also says it's way too soon to expect any results regarding the serum itself though."

"That makes sense. If it were that simple, the Americans wouldn't have missed it. Ok. We'll forward that to Sophie and move on then. We'll suss out the proper timeline once we get our heads around how many doses the labs can reasonably pump out a day. Given that, I suppose I'm on the hook to talk to the docs and nurses sometime today? All at once or State-by-state?"

"State. Starting with Victoria tonight. Lottie will send out meeting information while we head towards your place. The plan, for now at least, is to make a big circle of it. Start here, go up to New South Wales, and onward and around until we finish with Tasmania, so we'll inform the states in that order."

As Ty and Talia stepped into the bathroom, Lettie continued to follow, occasionally checking something on her tablet. Tiberius found himself lost in thought for a moment as Talia turned the shower on. "Ok. So we're good on that front. Did Baz get the go ahead to have each state plan out its military rollout?"

Shaking her head, Lettie turned her tablet so he could see the screen. "Lt. General Hoffmann told him he's leaving it in our hands and has ordered the other star ranks to stay out of it. You have priority authority on all deployments regarding the vaccine. Only the Lt. General himself can overrule you." On screen was a digital copy of the signed order and Ty gave a cursory nod and a sigh of relief as he read it. This would go a long way to cutting down red tape.

"It seems we still have to report as normal. Great. More work for us, but at least nobody's going to sideswipe us in the name of 'helping'." There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Ty's voice. "Actually, can you pass the prep work for the other states to Brett Whittaker or Danny Thomson? Split the remainder into three, so two apiece. That'll ease it up enough to make it less of a nuisance, I reckon."

"I'll get Captain Whittaker on it today. Captain Thompson is scheduled to begin his team today, so he'll be indisposed."

"Ah. That would mean that his Team is the one replacing us here. Fair enough. Back on the topic of the docs, I might need someone to help me figure out what needs said. I might be ok at saying it, but knowing how to say it so the docs get it is a different matter entirely."

Talia spoke up now, seeming to have finally woken up properly under the rush of the shower. "I will assist you with the explanations to the various medical professionals, Tiberius. As well as anywhere else you feel that I could be put to use." She put a hand over her heart. "This may not be my homeland, but it is now my home. Let me do my part."

"I appreciate it, Tal, but I did also mean an actual doc or nurse to bring in as an adviser. I'm pretty sure neither you nor I are familiar enough with the vernacular to be really talking shop with a doc. We'll worry about that in the arvo. I've got an idea for who to talk to, but it'll have to wait. Lettie, could you ask Lottie to prep a standard NDA for me? Digital signature will do. We'll need something we can mass drop for tonight, but I need one in advance. As for you, could you and Talia start prepping the info packet we'll send tonight? The one we got first had plenty of info they won't need, and the secondary one had a lot of info they will."

"Sure thing, big guy. I'll let her know, so get your hairy behind in the shower." She laughed and slapped at his butt before pushing him into the now-vacated stall.

Tiberius showered, knowing that there was still one topic he hadn't addressed, but he wanted to at least have a cup of coffee before he started down that particular road. For now, he pulled out his phone and opened his streaming app, wondering if that person would be active today. It had been some time, after all, and anything was better than dealing with that.

Sure enough, he found the stream and was surprised to see that it was actually a collab stream, so he jumped in, immediately saying hello to chat and greeting his streamer friends.

Marshall Law - Hey Princess, Hey Foxy. It's been some time. Sorry I've been out of touch. Got busy. You two doing ok?

Purple Paw Princess, or Princess as he called her, was a US-based variety streamer named Shannon that he had run across in the days shortly after his accident. They'd connected while playing a game, and he'd watched her streams every so often. She was an excellent artist and generally fun person to talk to, so he'd easily made friends with her. It had even been at his recommendation that she'd gotten a VR set during lockdown. Shannon, for her part, greeted Ty warmly, happy to see him. She explained that she'd settled down after overcoming her medical issues and Ty congratulated her on that, glad to see that she was happier and healthy.

Foxy; Doodle Fox on screen, was an artist based in the UK. He was less familiar with her, but her art was outstanding and they'd been chatting for some time on and off. Another fun, generally upbeat young woman, she seemed somewhat distracted, almost a little evasive in her replies, explaining that she had a very important meeting the following day and was rather nervous about it. Ty wondered if the UK had begun its own vaccine rollout but knew better than to ask that directly.

When they asked about him, he couldn't help the response.

Marshall Law - Yeah, the last few days have been a bit hectic. Learned a bunch of things that changed everything I thought I knew. Nearly Died. Got into a poly relationship I never dreamed of having. Yeah, just a bit busy.

Their alarm as they processed his words was almost comical, but Ty channelled his inner Monty as he placated them.

Marshall Law - I got better. XD

When Lottie placed the plate in front of him, she paused to look over his shoulder at what he was watching.

"Ty, is that...a purple cat avatar? What are you watching?"

"Purple tiger, actually. And this is a friend's stream. Someone I ran into online last year and got to know, along with another artist streamer that I stumbled across. They're both fantastic artists and really lovely people, so I watch their streams every now and then when I get the opportunity. Time zones are a bitch, so those opportunities are few and far between."

"I...see?"

"I also commissioned a bunch of art from her a while ago for one of my tabletop campaigns and we got to chatting. Shannon's good people, and I'm just checking in to see how she and Foxy are doing. Geek family sticks together."

"Fair enough. I was wondering if you were planning on adding her to our little family."

Ty was silent for a moment as several things fell into place in his head. "No, that's not going to happen. We get along, but I don't think it'd ever be like what any of us have right now. Also, looking back, I think she's already Teamed up, maybe as early as July, even. I just never put two and two together until now. Maybe I'll ask her next time we talk. I figure by then it'll be public knowledge, or near enough anyway."

Ty continued watching as he ate, occasionally leaving comments, until Foxy had to leave, citing an early morning. Ty signed off too, reminding Shannon to stay in touch. It had been a nice diversion, but reality was still knocking at the back of his mind and he sighed.

"I wanted to put it off some more, but has Colonel Anderson managed to get anything out of Connors?"

Lottie had already begun cleaning up as she replied. "The Colonel wants you to call him when you get a chance today. There have been a few developments and he's got to brief you before we bring things to the Americans."

"Got it. I assume my presence will be a distraction so I'll ring him as we head out."

Lettie had wandered out of the room at some point and now returned, placing some papers on the table next to Ty.

"Have a glance through those and sign off on them before we leave, big guy. They're just personnel assignment docs, but they include the orders for Lieutenant Barclay and 2nd Lieutenant Jennings. They've already linked up with Ray, so the documents are backdated."

"They're Ray's security? No worries. I'll put my mark on it in a sec. Just let me clean up."

"I've got it, Ty."

Lottie gently brushed his hand away and went to take the plate from the table before he could even reach for it. Instead, he pulled her towards him and kissed her fiercely before giving her butt a not-so-gentle squeeze and growling into her ear. "We'll play again tonight, my sweet."

Her expression was filled with anticipation as she straightened up and Tiberius felt a tingle run up his spine. He and Lottie had discussed their experience the day after she'd been imprinted, and Lottie had given it a lot of thought. She was very pleased with the encounter and impressed upon Ty that it had been everything she'd hoped and more. Tiberius had emphasised to her that he'd never degrade her in public, and she'd smiled at that. That wasn't what she was interested in anyway. She enjoyed surrendering control to him, but also wanted to take care of him. She'd read about it and told him that she guessed she was somewhere between a service submissive and a bedroom submissive, and Ty had suggested that they explore both slowly and get used to it together. The discussion had carried on until both Lettie and Talia wandered in, and Lottie confessed her inclinations to her sister and their new friend.

Lettie had just grinned and shrugged it off, saying that she'd realised that ages ago. While she hadn't known that they'd visited a BDSM club, she'd seen the hints of her sister's inclinations growing up and had tried to keep an eye on Lottie's partners to make sure the relationship didn't devolve into abuse. Talia seemed curious and did some quick reading but concluded that the major aspects of submission didn't appeal. Ty had chuckled and said that made perfect sense; she appeared to like an aggressive partner, but that didn't necessarily translate to liking being dominated. There were plenty of methods in between, so he made it clear that she didn't need to worry.

The four left the living quarters shortly afterwards, passing through the base only long enough to drop the paperwork off with the Brigadier. They had a lot to do, so Ty still felt odd to be taking what amounted to a half day just to sort out his house and living situation. Especially since he was going to be relocated closer to the city centre. But Dr. Rai worked at the nearby hospital and she was certainly going to be easier to convince in person, so there was no loss in using the house as a base of operations.

Lettie was driving, so Ty waited only until they were clear of the base to place the phone call to the Colonel. It was definitely going to be an unwelcome conversation, even if he hadn't been feeling increasingly bad about driving Connors into his own head. He knew it was bad form, and knew even more so that they needed info, but Ty had been angry. If it had just been insults and words thrown at him, or even the syringe filled with death, no problem. He could handle that. But the pressure of everything he'd learned and Lottie's tears had left him reeling and he'd lashed out.

"Hello, Colonel? You asked that I get in touch?"

Colonel William Anderson's deep basso voice flooded out of the phone's speaker, measured and smooth. The man was a paragon of military efficiency, but everyone knew "Bloody" Bill Anderson was dangerous. His nickname, adopted from the US Civil War fighter of the same name, held true. Ty had served in his unit for a short time, and the man's tactics in guerrilla warfare were borderline insane, but his skill as an interrogator was without equal. "Lt. Colonel. Yes. We've managed to stabilise Major Connors and get a bit out of him. I will CC you in on the report, but I'll give you the gist of it. Connors wasn't working alone. A raid of his family home was conducted two days ago, where we found sufficient evidence to try him for a host of additional offences. Suffice it to say that Jaxson Connors has likely been working with as yet unidentified foreign powers. MP Wendy Connors was also clearly complicit in these acts, but she was discovered to have been deceased for at least a week at the time of the raid. Testing indicates that she was afflicted by a strain of DuoHalo very similar to the one that the Major used on you, so we are operating under the assumption that Major Connors was the responsible party. It is likely the guilt from the event, whether deliberate or accidental, played a part in Major Connors condition."

Ty had tremendous respect for Bill Anderson, but he wasn't close to him like he was with Baz, so his tone remained formal. "That would indeed go a long way to explaining his instability, sir. Did we find links to any other local collaborators outside of those from the CSL labs that we have in custody?"

"Negative. We're looking into the extended family but as of now, there is no evidence that Miss Elizabeth Connors had any awareness of events or any complicity in them."

Ty had no idea of the Connors' family structure outside of the relationship between Jaxson and Wendy. "Elizabeth Connors? Is she Jaxson's partner?"

"Sister. I understand that she is a university student and living away from home."

"Hm. Well, if she's not germane to the investigation then I suppose there's no reason for us to bring her into it. I assume however that someone is assigned to keep an eye on her? She might start asking questions or turn up unexpectedly when she's unable to get in touch with her family."

"We will be bringing her in for her own protection. If outside actors are involved, we do not need them complicating matters by abducting her. We will also be informing her of her mother's death and Major Connors' condition at that time. We need to try and keep Major Connors as cooperative as possible. And stable."

Ty winced. "I do apologise for that, sir. I can offer no excuse for my behaviour and will accept any reprimand."

Anderson scoffed. "Never mind that. You were under tremendous stress and the circumstances were rather extreme, after all. I probably would have throttled the man, were it me. I will, however, stress that you are to avoid any interaction with him wherever possible."

"Yes, sir. I understand completely. Going back to the foreign power you mentioned..."

He cut Ty's question off. "We know next to nothing yet, except what Connors himself believes to be true. According to him, he was supposed to either abduct Dr. Marcos from the Americans or snatch this Dr. McCallister from the Russians and hand them off to an agent of these people. I'm not sure who the latter individual is."

"McCallister. I've seen that name recently... Ah! He's the individual responsible for the bonding effects within the serum along with several other details. I believe he defected to the Russians. It was within one of the documents with the details about the serum itself."

"Not my wheelhouse, Lt. Colonel. All I know is he didn't hold up his end of the bargain, and that is one of the reasons Miss Connors will be in protective custody. It was a tremendously foolish decision."

"Yeah, the entire thing put my brother and his entire unit at risk. Not to mention nearly causing an international incident. Colonel, what are the odds we can get Damian's unit back into the country soon?"

"Nil. First, even if flights were going out of Europe, they wouldn't be heading our way without good reason, and second, from the reports that have come in, they're in safe hands at the moment. The French, specifically the DGSE, has them put up in several safe houses, but under guard. We should be ok to establish contact with them in the next few days."

Ty almost dropped his phone at the mention of the French intelligence service. "France? They're in France? How the hell did they get all the way there from Russia, sir?"

"We don't have the report as of yet, Lt. Colonel. I suspect we'll find out when we're given the green light to establish contact." There was a pause and some muttered conversation that Ty couldn't quite make out. "Lt. Colonel, I've just received some information about Miss Connors. I will cut the conversation short here as this matter requires my attention, but I will have someone on my staff keep you informed."

Ty wanted to ask, but the urgency in the Colonel's tone stopped him. "Thank you, sir."

The line cut out and Ty took a breath. Lettie glanced over at him as she drove. "I can't tell if that went well or not."