A RUMOR OF PEACE

          Logan opened the sheet of paper and read what was written there in his brother's neat handwriting.  He blinked.  Looking up at Roark and Harry as he passed the note to Fili.  "A secret bank account?  Here on Aquaria?" he asked as he saw Fili pass the note to Kili out of the corner of his eye.  "I don't believe it," he all but snarled, his blue eyes beginning to burn with fury.  "THAT," a wave at the note Kili held, " just is not possible.  The only account Kale had was on Caprica."

          "No, it isn't, and don't worry, the ones that matter don't believe it either.  As we speak, Chris and his team are investigating further."

          "It's too obvious," Kili spoke up then, looking between them, "and as it IS so obvious, why frame him at all?"

          "Because he's dead, little brother," Fili answered.  "He can't protect himself."

          "Exactly so.  Whoever killed Kale planned this very well, but they have also made a few mistakes."

          "I'd sure as hell say so," Logan snapped out.  "He'd have to know that Dad...that the family would never sit still for this.  That we'd defend him, that we would leave nothing unturned to PROVE he would NEVER have betrayed the uniform he wore, nor the vow he took to the Warrior's Code.  The same vow we all take upon graduation."

          Roark nodded.  "Yes, they would...YOU would," a pause, then, "but you're not going to.  WE aren't going to."

          His fists clenched.  "WHAT?  WHY?!"

          "Logan, THINK," came instantly from Harry.  "As hard as it is to remain objective, and as hard as this is on you...on ALL of you, you need to look at this from a strategic and tactical point of view.  We don't like it either, but for now, there is no other option open to us.  Calm down.  Think.  What would be your first reaction, other than anger, at finding out someone is framing your brother?"

          "We'd immediately go on the defensive," Fili said softly, looking thoughtful as he spoke. "We'd take our attention away from what was REALLY important.  The case.  We'd stop everything we were doing to prove that there was no way in HELL that Kale would EVER betray the Warrior's code or the uniform he wore with such pride."

          Nods and smiles from the brothers.  "Exactly, Fi.  Taking you away from the one thing you need to stay focused on."

          "Riddle.  His Terminators.  Who REALLY killed Kale."  Kili said then, looking at each of them.

          Logan sat forward then, picked up his wine glass, before sitting back, sipping from it thoughtfully, finally having calmed down enough to begin to think clearly, to think about where the brothers were going with this.  "Then there are our leaks.  Because they, and you want them to continue to think we know nothing about them, and therefore they are in the free and clear to continue to work as they have been so that you could...what?  Flush them out?  Hope they'll get careless enough to expose themselves?" he shook his head.  "That may work, but..." he looked between the Peverell Potter brothers, "there is just one problem."

          Harry arched a brow and smirked.  "Just one?"

          "Well, no, all the same, you've seen it too, as has Rory.  How could you not have?  Being the strategic and tactical experts that you are?  Surely, whoever is behind this would know that I...that Dad, as well as the rest of the family, would never sit still for this."

           "You're right, but that is going on the supposition that he, or she actually knows anything about the Durin family.  Most families, Logan, are nowhere near as close as yours is.  That's why, on the off chance that they DO know just how close you all are, Harry and I sat down with your Dad, Commander Thorin, and Raphael when this was first discovered."

          "We had a nice long talk about his, and a few other things besides."

           "Hum...mm.  They would have told you it was all a matter of perception.  No matter at what angle you look at this from," Kili said thoughtfully, seeing their nods, their smiles, both waiting for him to go on.  "If we were to play this right, we could make them believe pretty much anything that we wanted them to.  We could have them believing that we DO, in fact, believe that Kale had gone bad.  We may not like it, but given the circumstances we now find ourselves in...What real choice do we have?"

         "None that I can see," Fili said as he sipped from his whiskey.  "I have this sinking feeling that they ALSO told you we were going to be doing a lot of things we aren't going to like doing, but...given this case, and who we are up against...there really IS no other choice for any of us."

          Roark nodded, watching their faces pale a bit at the prospect of having to work out of the Code they all took such pride in.  "Tom Riddle...his Terminators...the people that work for him, nor those he has bought as spies and places within our ranks will scruple about ethics, therefore neither will we."

         "Riddle and his people are going to do whatever it takes to stop us from doing our jobs, therefore WE will do whatever we must to DO our jobs.  We will not be dropping completely to their level, but there are going to be times that we have to do things we will not like doing."

          "It's all going to come down to judgment," Logan said quietly.  "How we answer the things that they do.  Right or wrong doesn't really matter anyway when it comes to someone like Tom Riddle, his Terminators, and the people that work for him."

          "Yes, exactly,"  Harry said.