The NAVY man was handcuffed to the table with a broken nose and two black eyes. He had not been cleaned up in any way, instead as soon as they arrived at the D.H.S. facility he was separated from his wife and children and handcuffed to the table where he waited for hours without any water or bathroom breaks.

He had no idea how many hours he sat there before the only door of the room opened. In stepped President Seviston, backed by more than half a dozen Secret Service agents. The aging Latino man scowled at John Vacca and turned his head back toward the hallway, "How much of a fight did this man put up?" He asked briskly.

A D.H.S. agent in a suit stepped into the room, adjusting his tie, "He attempted to disrupt a lawful detaining of his wife and children, sir." The agent replied, not directly answering the question.

President Seviston's face morphed into a scowl, "Yes he did... by ATTEMPTING TO TALK TO YOU AND YOU NOT ONLY TASED HIM NEEDLESSLY, BUT YOU BEAT HIM SENSELESS, TASED HIS WIFE WHO HAS A HEART CONDITION, AND TRAUMATIZED THE CHILDREN!"

The D.H.S. agent had to exert a significant effort not to flinch, "We acted to ensure the family was taken into custody, sir."

President Seviston sneered at the agent, "Yeah, and you left the media's camera running A LIVE FEED while it was pointed straight at you! Now NEWS CHANNEL 10 is running a story about government conspiracy and the damnedest thing is THAT I AGREE WITH THEM!" He snarled, spittle flying out of his mouth, "Get out of my sight and get me somebody who knows how to treat people and will get this man," he hollered, pointing to John Vacca, "Out of handcuffs and get him and his family some goddamned medical attention!"

The D.H.S. agent held up his hands, "Sir! You can't just..."

"I am the President of the United States and by God I'm taking over this investigation because you jackbooted sons of bitches have hosed it all up! NOW UNCUFF THIS MAN!" President Seviston might only have been five feet, four inches tall, but the D.H.S. agent was thoroughly cowed as if by a man twice that height. He exited the room and mumbled something about needing to retrieve the keys as he went.

President Seviston sighed heavily and pulled out the chair across from John then sat down and folded his hands, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all this, Mr. Vacca. I've been after these gestapo wannabes ever since I got into the office. Thanks to this debacle I can finally shut the department down permanently, so hats off to you, sir." He laced his fingers and leaned forward, "Now as to your family, I can guarantee they will be taken care of and you can see them as soon as these Homeland Security nuts get off their laurels. Furthermore I'm not leaving until you and your family are with me."

The D.H.S. agent from before entered the room and quickly unlocked John's hand cuffs. As soon as the cuffs were off, John stood up and lunged at the D.H.S. agent. The agent, trained as he was, could not stand up to the strength of the enraged Italian man. President Seviston rose from his chair before John could throttle the man. The President placed his hands on John's shoulders with a firm grip, "Easy there, sailor."

John's movements slowed and stopped. He turned his head toward the President. Arturo Seviston smiled down at him and patted his shoulder, "You have plenty of evidence against the department to win a dozen court cases, including the backing of the majority of the U.S. Don't throw that away by murdering this man." John bit his lower lip, but nodded in agreement. He accepted the President's hand up and rose to his feet.

The D.H.S. agent staggered to his feet, eyes flashing with rage. President Seviston smirked at the man, "Now, how about you take this man to get his wife and children, hmm?" President Seviston folded his hands behind his back, "Oh, and of course a few of my men will be going with you to ensure the process is taken care of with alacrity." He reached out his left hand and patted the D.H.S. agent on the shoulder, "There's a good man."

* * * * *

John and his wife and children were reunited in short order. John was shocked to discover that his wife, Chrissy, had lost consciousness when she was tased and instead of having been treated my medical staff, she had been left in a holding cell.

The family was taken to the medical bay of the D.H.S. facility while President Seviston and his Secret Service personnel stood guard. The children were physically fine, but their constant and endless crying and clinging to John was a sure sign of mental trauma. Chrissy was checked out by the D.H.S. medical staff and it was discovered that her arrhythmia had grown worse than the last time she had been to a doctor. Her heart would beat a few times, then stop for more than thirty seconds before beating again. The D.H.S. medical staff were continuously stating and restating that the agents using tasers on her had nothing to do with her losing unconsciousness or the worsening of her condition.

President Seviston made a number of calls and before long the entire D.H.S. facility and all staff members had been arrested and charged with various assault charges including, but not limited to attempted murder, willful negligence, child abuse, child endangerment, excessive use of force, and a plethora of other charges.

It was also discovered that a great many other people who had connections to Chris had been arrested and all of them had suffered significant injuries from the D.H.S. agents. President Seviston set into motion, the proper channels for freeing them as quickly as possible.

President Seviston sat down next to John in the D.H.S. facility cafeteria while his children continuously wept and clung to him. They had quieted down, but they were still crying. John held his little girl in his arms while his son sat on his knee, holding tightly to his Father. President Seviston knew his job was about to become much more difficult. He felt for the man and his family. He bordered on rage at what the family had been forced to suffer, but he knew that the country had needs that he could not deny and he needed John's help. The cafeteria was silent except for the sniffling of the children. Only the family, the President, and his Secret Service personnel were in the cafeteria.

President Seviston cleared his throat quietly, "John," he addressed the NAVY man, "I know that nobody has any right to ask anything of you, especially after everything you and your family have gone through... but I need to make you aware of a few things."

John said nothing. His children were all that mattered to him at the moment and while he was very thankful for President Seviston rescuing his family, he had absolutely no intention of letting his precious children out of his sight for a very long time.

"As you know, your brother popped up behind me today as I was dedicating the memorial to those who we thought had lost their lives at The Complex. We have since discovered that a great many of those people may still be alive. An... entity, calling herself Luna, has made contact with the C.O. I left in charge of the containment area set up around that... hole in space. This 'Luna' claims that there are hundreds of Humans living on their world, yes world. Supposedly they are doing fairly well, but your brother pioneered a way for them to return home."

John slowly turned his head toward the President. His mind was awash with questions, by the hundreds, but one thought pervaded all the rest, "And what do you want me to do about it?"

President Seviston closed his eyes and bit his lower lip before opening his eyes and speaking, "I want you to come to that containment facility and speak with the person who claims to be your brother. I need you to verify that he really is, who he claims to be." Arturo Seviston leaned back in his chair and huffed out a sigh, "If this is as real as it seems, we are in the beginning of something that is going to open a new chapter in history. If this 'Luna' is to be believed, other people who disappeared from around the world are alive and well." He leaned forward and placed a hand on John's shoulder, "We have a chance to reunite thousands of families all over the world. We cannot pass this up, John. I'm asking you, I'm begging you, please... please help us... help these families."

John's face contorted angrily, "You mean you want me to talk to this guy who claims to be my brother, and put as much of a positive spin on this as possible. Downplay what happened the second somebody thought we might be linked to what happened and decided to treat us like we were terrorists."

President Seviston sighed sadly, "What happened to you and your family was wrong, John. It was wrong on so many levels." He crossed his arms and shook his head, "I'm not going to ask you to downplay anything and I'm not going to ask you to omit anything either. All I am asking from you, is to verify that the person on the other side of that portal is your brother. Whatever you talk about will be up to you. Nobody is going to give you a script and nobody is going to be waiting with their hand hovering over a mute button to silence you if you say something we would rather not disclose, so long as it is not a state secret or anything along those lines." President Seviston blinked twice and scratched his right nostril, "If you chose to decline, then we will continue on without your involvement. You will not be treated poorly in any way, should you decide to decline. I can have that in writing, should you wish it."

John sat in silent thought for many long minutes. Scenarios played through his head, all with different possible outcomes, both good and bad. There were so many possibilities, it was staggering. He found not only himself, but also his family involved in dealings far, far larger than anything he had ever anticipated or even dreamed of.

John slowly came to a decision. He turned his head back to President Seviston, "If I do this, my children and my wife come with me."

President Seviston blinked in true surprise. He had never expected the man to ask that his unconscious wife join him. The likelihood of a positive outcome to the situation dropped drastically with the presence of his wife. Curiosity needled at his mind and he found that he needed clarification, "John, forgive me for asking, but why would you want your wife there?"

John answered with a firm tone, "I can't trust my family to any authority figure in this country any more. If it happened once, it could happen again and I will not expose my children to that possibility." He turned away from President Seviston, "I want to be able to bring my family, my whole family and have the option to go to this other world, if it proves to be a better alternative, and I don't want anybody to stop us."

President Seviston was deeply saddened by the man's words. The treatment his family had received at the hands of the D.H.S. had been deplorable to the extreme, yet he had held out hope that the NAVY man who had faithfully served his country for more than twenty years, would be willing to trust his government. Arturo Seviston understood the kind of pain the man had to have been going through, and he found he could not blame John. He was saddened and hurt by the statement, but he understood his reasoning. John's family came first, before all else, and the sanctity of their security and safety had been violated by the same people who were supposed to protect them from all threats, both foreign and domestic. John saw the failing of his government and he judged it unworthy of forgiveness due to the severity of the crimes against them.

President Seviston, however, was a man of his word, "John, if you decide to go this route, you will have no rights to whatever monetary gains might be had from the prosecution of the agents who did so much to your family. You would be giving up hour citizenship and your retirement from the NAVY. I am not saying this in any attempt to sway your decision, nor appeal to greed or anything like that, I am trying to make you aware of what would not occur."

John did not need to give the matter any thought, "I don't care about money. I just want my family to be safe." His gaze shifted to President Seviston, eyes glistening with tears, "As President, it was your responsibility to ensure the protection of the citizens and you failed at that. You had your entire first term to do something about the Department Of Homeland Security, and you did not. I want the option to defect and bring my family with me. They have suffered enough. I'm not saying that I will defect for certain, I have a lot over here that I have worked for, but if a good enough offer presents itself, I want to be able to take it."

President Seviston felt the truth of the man's words weigh on his conscience. John was right, it was his fault. Every man had the right to do what he felt was best for his family and John had decided that the United States had failed badly enough to warrant abandonment. Despite the ways he wanted to make it up to John and his family, he understood the man's reasoning. Seviston sighed heavily and bowed his head, "I don't know if it will mean anything, John, and I don't expect it to change your mind, but I am truly sorry for what you and your family had to endure." He closed his eyes and nodded, "If this is really what you want, I'll have the paperwork waiting for you when we arrive at the Containment Center. You have my word."

John nodded, "Good." He sighed heavily and looked down ho his two children then back up to Seviston, "I'll do it."

"Thank you, John." President Seviston said plainly.

Author's Notes:

Took me long enough. Heh, I started a new job and became the primary company-wide Dispatcher in less than 6 months, due to my experience. No excuse, just the reason why.