The Academy In My Head

Don't Hide Things From Mama Bear

Erica toyed with her coffee mug and studied Ben Taylor across his desk in the office at the diner.

"What's on your mind?" He asked, pushing the coffee carafe across the desk to her so she could refill her mug. He could tell something was bothering her. They'd been friends for far too long for him to miss the signs.

"What do you know about Sang?" she asked as she topped off her mug and took a sip before her eyes met his.

"Little bird?" He was surprised at the question. "You've met her. Of course you have." He mumbled to himself.

"Of course I have." She arched an eyebrow at him. "She lives next door and she's dating Kota."

Ben's eyebrows shot up and he took a long drink of coffee, staring at her over the rim of his mug.

Erica stilled. "You didn't know that." She observed.

He swallowed and weighed his options. "No." He said honestly. "I have, however, been led to believe that she's dating Luke." He said casually, eyeing her.

It was her turn to be surprised. "huh." She rubbed her forehead and set her mug down. She blinked at him.

Ben shook her head before smiling. "She looks far too cozy with North, half the time." He said. "And she is living with Nathan."

"No, she's at home." Erica shook her head. "With her sister and mom..." she tilted her head to study him.

"No." He shook his head. "Not since Nate's dad attacked her at her house, after he threatened you and tiny bird."

She blinked at him and her eyes narrowed. "Oh. My. God. When do you think they were actually going to tell me? I am going to wring Owen and Sean's necks."

He arched an eyebrow at her and tilted his head in return. "Who do you think probably put the bug in their ears? To be honest, they all look at her like she belongs to each of them."

She slammed her hand down on his desk. "Is this what your organization does? This... this Academy? This isn't right. They'll never make it past this if they all are honing in on her. This is going to end badly."

"Hey..." He frowned at her and held up a hand. "this is not... what we do." He said, biting off what he wanted to tell her because she was covered by an adoption he'd initiated but while it allowed him to fill in a couple blanks for her 6 years ago when he had to admit that he knew all about it and would let her make the decision when it came down to time to make one for the boys and the Academy.

"Why would they think they could just toy with her like this?" She stood up and paced, hands on her hips.

"Erica... the main academy council probably doesn't know." He tried to explain. "it's rare. There's only a few teams that have managed it. Only one still active with all members. And it's certainly not a big team the way they are." He said.

"All the more reason this is going to be drastically heart breaking for all of them." She ran her hands through her hair, absently noting it was getting long and she needed a hair cut. "We have to put a stop to it."

"Why?"

She frowned. "Because we're the adults and we know better than they do." She stated.

"How do we know what's right for them?" he countered. She glared at him. "Think, Erica. Put aside what you think and what society says is right and proper. Think about our boys. My boys... have you ever seen either of them as happy as they are when they're around her?" he asked. "For pete's sake... North actually asked me to copy a muffin recipe just because the little bird loved them."

She scratched her head. "I guess not. North does seem less sullen and Luke is back on his clouds again." She said slowly before sighing. "You're right. They all seem a little different. Better spirited than they've been in years."

"Then we need to let them figure out their own way." He said. "They're at camp. This is actually the little bird's chance to see where she fits in. While they all might want her to stay with them... the Academy prefers... all dog teams, all bird teams or couple teams. There's a reason why there's still only one active team that's set up like this, one bird, all dogs. It's tough to pull off. So we should let them be for now, they'll tell us when they're ready." He reassured her as she came back and sat down again.

"Okay. I'll leave it alone." She finally said. "God, I miss Fiona. She was the best of all the nannies that Victor had."

He smirked at her.

"no..." she shook her head. "Academy?"

He grinned. "yup."

"Geez, I'm not very observant." She grumbled. "Can I at least just miss Penelope and Jenny then? And obviously Natasha."

His eyes softened. "of course." He said, reaching out to rest a hand on her arm. "They were your friends and they left you just as much as they left their son's. It's a hard and bitter pill to swallow because two of them left on their own accord. And you are allowed to miss Fiona too. She was good and a lovely woman."

She sighed softly and reached for a napkin to wipe her eyes. "Well, for all of our sakes, I hope this all works out the right way."

He squeezed her arm gently. "Of course. I'm sure that Owen has figured it all out." He said before getting up to see if there were any of Sang's muffins around for her to try.

(Fade)