#no wonder she broke her stealth girl I would have been THROWN

[shitpostingkats]

Okay but.

You've spent your entire life chasing the highs of heroism. You've whittled away for highschool years watching. Manipulating. Circling your prey like a hawk. You have died. You know your target down to the last detail, your rival, your nemesis. You have built your everything around defeating the golden boy, the rogue who's unfairly blessed.

In the middle of your climactic showdown, the culmination of all your cat-and-mouse, you watch.

As he wanders off.

And very deliberately goes and jumps into a pool of lava.

[sabinemorans]

Mission Impossible: Nanny

Quinn McKenna x female reader

Words: 2,679

Warnings: none!

A/N: This was co-written with @nothing-but-a-comedy the title credit goes to @sailorsquadgoals

Quinn was finally starting to get the hang of caring for Rory, but there were some days he wished he had some help. Shared custody with his wife was already a bit of a struggle, and Quinn knew that Rory could use an extra caregiver or two. It eased his mind that Rory was actually the one to suggest this idea since his mother had hired a nanny recently. Of course he said it in his way– very blunt and matter-of-fact– but Quinn enjoyed it actually.

Even though everything had changed after the Predators had come, this was a good thing to come of it. He felt closer to Rory now than ever and it would take a special person to be good enough to watch him, and a very special ad to draw them in. It was a normal ad detailing the basics up until it mentioned protection for his son, including the lines “people with ex-military or security background preferred.”

It took a little longer than Quinn had hoped, even if it was a unique ad, but he finally found the perfect candidate hit. She was educated, well reviewed, and passed a background check on the nanny site with flying colors.

That would have been enough for anyone else, but Quinn knew with his line of work, he’d have to do a deep search just to be on the safe side. He sent her name to Nebraska, knowing he could trust him to find out about any red flags. Surely she would understand, and if she didn’t, then Quinn would know she wasn’t right for the job.                                 

The best part was her suggestion for a secondary nanny as the request had mentioned this was protection for the child as well. The second one, a man, also passed with flying colors and was sent to Nebraska. When there were no red flags to be found after Nebraska had essentially done a deep dive-Quinn emailed them. Cause if Nebraska couldn’t find anything, then there was nothing to find. 

It looked like a solid deal, and Quinn was a little excited to be getting some extra help and a chance to make Rory happy. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was how attached he would become to her. To you. 

~~~

You’d partially given up on finding a new nanny job when finally good news was in your email. Quinn McKenna wanted to interview you! Grinning, you immediately called your backup and very best friend Din, telling him the news. 

“If he wants to see me, he probably wants to see you too, considering,” you said, moving from your kitchen counter to your stove where pasta was boiling. You had your headphones on so there was less chance of you dropping your phone into boiling water which had only happened once but Din acted as if it had happened a dozen times. Honestly, it couldn't have happened after he had left your apartment?

“Good, his was the only interesting job on there. I wonder if he’d be ok with me bringing the baby along at times. Maybe if the kid takes a liking to us, it might be good for him to socialize with a baby.” Din had adopted a baby at the beginning of the year. He’d gone with a mutual friend of yours to an adoption agency and just fallen in love. It had taken forever but as he put it, he’d just known as soon as those big dark eyes had found his that they were meant to be. 

“We’d definitely need to build some trust first. I know my little one doesn’t cry much, but to a child on the spectrum, it can be very hard to handle. That would be the best case scenario though since there’s two of us. Though this McKenna guy mentioned protection, so maybe he’s a political person or something. We don’t wanna bring that dark eyed angel into any danger.” You strained your pasta and dumped it a bowl, pouring sauce on top and beginning to mix.  

“Fair enough. Guess we’ll see, sweet girl, huh?” 

You smiled and shook your head at the affectionate nickname. “Don’t call me that Din, you know better. I always think you want something from me when you call me that.” 

“What me? Never,” came the reply where he was so obviously grinning like an idiot. God you hated him sometimes, it was so hard to love someone so ridiculous but you managed it even with knowing him as long as you did. You could ask for better company than him sometimes but you couldn’t ask for a better best friend. Bastard knew it too. The two of you were bonded for life, for better or worse.

“Smartass. I’ll call you with the details when he emails me back, love you Din.”

“Love you back, sweet girl.” You heard a laugh before he hung up and you pulled your headphones off. 

“Silly man,” you muttered as you began to eat your pasta and homemade sauce on the way to your couch. Turning your TV on, you settled with a comfort show so your brain could wander as you ate. Quinn McKenna...what an interesting name.

~~~

Mr. McKenna had been busy with work over the weekend, so it took a few days for the interview to happen. You arrived with Din by your side, as Mr. McKenna had proposed you had applied more or less as a team and would be interviewed as such. He told you that he liked your forethought to mention a second you already trusted, and that compliment made you smile. Thinking ahead had always been a strength of yours. 

“Should you knock or should I knock?” Din looked at you and you shrugged back with an indifferent look on your face. 

“Do you think it matters?”

“I guess not.”

“...you want to knock don’t you?”

The door to the cozy two story house had an old school knocker on it and Din’s grin gave you all the information you needed. 

“Go on then,” you chuckled, waving your hand at it. 

He knocked three times and sighed, satisfied with that stupid grin on his face. You shook your head. Ridiculous man. 

The man who answered the door looked anything but ridiculous. He was absolutely not what you’d been expecting at what-six foot two? Filled out well too with bright blue eyes you could get lost in, blonde hair shorter on the sides a little bit flopping at the top and a smile that screamed “good ol’ boy” more than anything you had ever seen.

And you were fucking hooked.

But you were a professional and despite the sudden mental images of jumping on him and pressing your body to his (likely muscular and strong and maybe even a bit pudgy) body you simply smiled brightly and hoped that Din would keep his professional manner even though Quinn McKenna was definitely one of your types. 

“Mornin’, thank you both for comin’,” McKenna said before waving the two of you in. 

Din let you lead and he followed both you and McKenna to the dining room table where your possible employer sat in front of both of you. He was prepared, both your resumes sat before him and he had them side by side with what looked like prepared questions written down. Din and you shared a glance that spoke volumes. He was very serious wasn’t he? Maybe he was political, maybe he was a part of the mob or maybe he was some kind of paranoid kook. It was a nice house and it actually reminded you of David Lieberman’s house in ‘The Punisher’ and then a fourth option to what Mr. McKenna did crossed your mind quickly followed by a fifth. 

Either he was a government spook, or he was the Punisher. Either way you weren’t that mad about it.

“Take a seat,” Quinn gestured to the chairs in front of him with a face that didn’t betray much emotion.

You noticed that he glanced at you a few times too many, but he made it hard to read what was going on in his head. He must have noticed the confused looks on your faces, because he gave you a reassuring smile as you sat down before clearing his throat. “You must be wondering why I needed two nannies with your type of background,” he chuckled.

You exchanged a look with Din for a split second before Mr. McKenna broke the semi-awkward silence. “I’m in the military too and I wanted people I could trust with my kid’s safety,” he explained. His answer was still a little vague for you, but you figured you’d ask him more about it later. It was nice to know he would understand the two of you though, you’d worked security for a little while and were amazed at how much people pushed back when asked what you thought was safest. With Mr. McKenna you might fight over strategies but at least he’d understand them.

You found yourself wondering what branch he was in, what his rank was when Din spoke, pulling you back to the present. 

“Well, in that case, you found the right people for the job,” Din said in a professional manner. “We both served in the Marines. I was a Corporal and she was a Sergeant as I’m sure you saw by our records.” Din explained, and you took a moment to admire how well he always pitched the two of you as valuable assets. He went on to detail (as much as he was allowed to) how you’d worked together for years. You did chime in here and there with details Din couldn’t remember and explained your individual special skills. 

Din was a master of stealth, infiltration and quiet extraction were his specialties. You on the other hand were a sniper. Your furthest confirmed kill was clocked at 1110 yards– a near record. The pair of you were well trained in hand-to-hand combat and familiar with most guns that could be thrown at you though with the choice between a gun or a knife, you favored the K-Bar while Din favored his Sig Sauer.

Mr. McKenna  crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving Din an impressed look as he heard his pitch. His eyes had lit up when you said you were a sniper and you smiled back, recognizing the look of a fellow sniper in him. The fact that you had something so specific in common was mind blowing really!  While you both derailed for a moment to talk about things you saw Din smirking a little. Ass. He knew exactly what it meant when you grinned like that. Trying to stay professional (and not give Din the satisfaction of knowing your thoughts too well) you locked down the thoughts of the two of you on a date, seeing who could  hit the farthest target even if it would probably be you. 

“Both of your resumes are impressive, but I’m wonderin’ why you guys left after spending so much time climbing the ranks.” Mr. McKenna quirked an eyebrow at you, so you chose to answer this question instead of leaving it to Din.

“It was just time for us to get out. With all the jobs I’ve had in the world I’ve listened to my gut about when it was time to seek out something else. Din trusted me enough that when I said the Marines wasn’t the right career for us anymore that he put in to leave when I did. A few months after we left we got word that a lot of our unit had been badly injured in an ambush masquerading as a rescue mission.” You shifted your hair from one side to the other and kept eye contact with Mr. McKenna, who let out a sigh through his nose and nodded. Nothing else needed to be said about that.

After that it lightened up. You felt at ease answering his questions; he didn’t seem as intimidating as you initially thought him to be, and the interview eventually flowed more like a friendly conversation than a job interview. You all even laughed about things! Maybe it was the fact that the three of you could bond over your military backgrounds (Quinn as he insisted on being called after the third time he was referred to as Mr. McKenna, was a Ranger Captain), or maybe it was because of the way that Quinn looked at you differently than he’d look at Din. You didn’t have time to put your finger on what kind of look it was exactly before a young boy came walking out of a nearby hallway but it certainly warmed you all over. It was nice to talk so freely with another man besides Din too, someone else who understood.

Din’s face lit up as he saw him, and you couldn’t help but smile as he exclaimed, “Oh hey, little man! Is that Rory?” He asked as he turned to Quinn with a bright smile.

“Yup,” Quinn responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gestured for Rory to sit beside him. He ruffled Rory’s hair and pointed in yours and Din’s direction to introduce you to him. “These might be your new nannies, whaddya think of that, bud?”

Din held his fist out for Rory to bump and you shook the little guy’s hand in a greeting, smiling widely at how cute he was. You glanced up at Quinn as Din and Rory exchanged a few words, already acting like they were the best of friends. Quinn was obviously very protective of his son, happily watching the exchange, but you could tell he was watching closely to see how Din would get along with him. Din was being his usual self around children, boisterous but at a respectful volume, which was so different from how he was around most new people. You laughed at a stupid joke Din made which made Rory smile before running your hands through your hair again. Your eyes were pulled towards Quinn in soft glances and you noticed when he glanced at you as well, carefully timed to when you were listening to Rory talk about what he liked to do and how he liked things to be.

Before your eyes could meet Quinn’s and you could really analyze those glances, you heard Rory mention something about a fight. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart what did you say?”  Quinn looked at Rory, stunned and then at the two of you. 

“Now hang on buddy I don’t-“ His father started but Rory kept going anyway. He was definitely determined and had been waiting to say this. 

“I wanna see you guys fight, you know, see who’s better. And the winner can fight my dad! If you can beat my Dad or just hold your own you’re definitely good enough to be my nanny.” The sweet faced little boy was so succinct about his needs that you laughed a little incredulously but with no small amount of humor.

“You know what you want sweetheart I’ll give you that,” you said with a grin and shrug to Quinn and Din. “I’m game, but we probably shouldn’t swing to really hurt each other. Do you have boxing gloves maybe or we could do more Jiu Jitsu and grapple rather than throw punches.”

“Yeah no, no real hits. But if the little man wants to see a fight he’s gonna get a fight.” Din was already standing, making to take off his nice jacket and you were following suit when Quinn stood and waved his hands. Jesus-his hands were huge. How had you not noticed that yet?

“Hang on hang on,” he said looking at the pair of you, both paused with your jackets pooled at your elbows.

“But Daaaaad,” Rory whined, looking up at him.

Quinn raised a brow at his son before smirking and letting out a small chuckle. “You guys shouldn’t fight…” He grinned at Rory before adding, “...in the house.”

[iggy-of-fans]

Part 6, here we are! Also, I hope nobody thinks I don't like Raven. She's literally my favorite TT ever. Hopefully I didn't lose too many of you to her turning. She does get a redemption, I promise! 

Now, we're going to have the conclusion and the epilogue and then I'm done this one. 

What is will always be

Damian had seen several of the magic users take to corners in the ballroom, and so when Jason returned fully costumed he took the Cat Miraculous and ran to the cave. He found Tim about to transform and stopped him. 

"Take this one and transform instead" he said, "the weapon is a staff anyways. Give me the fox. I have an easier time hiding the eears under my hood. And my costume is brighter. No one will look twice at orange thrown in."

"That is…. Brilliant…. No One would believe you switched to a baton, and I don't know if we can switch weapons… Not that a flute is all that… Useful." Timothy said, handing the fox tail to Damien. They transformed quickly and threw on their costumes, finishing just in time for the others to start making their way down. Timothy tried to make it look like he was hiding something much larger than the little black triangles that blended into his hair, while Robin made sure his hat stayed securely on.

"The situation we find ourselves in today…." 

When the JL saw that they had two missing teens Alfred decided to step in. He was out of practice, but he was sure he could help the teens. He looked to Oracle and begged the Miraculous box to open for him. It seemed his prayer was heard, at least somewhat, as the butterfly Miraculous fased up through the box. 

"Oracle, take this. I will need your help to save those kids" Alfred handed her the Miraculous. Noroo awoke and looked at the woman, sitting patiently in a wheelchair and he gasped. 

"oh my poor fairy! Who hurt you so?! I was hurt before too, do you want to help each other heal?" Noroo was quite young in comparison to the others in the inner circle and had very little experience out in the world. But he was eager to redeem himself in the eyes of the world. Barbara was shocked, but nodded. When the light faded, she sat in her chair with new purpose. A butterfly was born from her good intentions to help and landed on her hand. "Magic is so weird" she mumbled, before she thought of how to help the kids. She'd seen the fear in the shorter boys, but the taller one was determined to do the right thing. Him then. She powered up the butterfly, watching as Alfred concentrated hard as well. With a wave of his fan, the butterfly and feather took off to Metropolis. 

… "Here's the plan, everyone. I need Tim to create an illusion of Robin to get close to Adrien and Alya. Then-" 

"Sorry to interrupt Angel, but I don't fight with a staff" Robin stated, lifting his hood slightly to reveal the long fox ears. He dropped it and Guardian Angel looked shocked for a second. 

"You brilliant, brilliant man!" she called, "Okay, new plan. We need a comm from their end. Can anyone do an impression of someone? Like Bane or something?"

"That would be me!" Red Hood called through the comms, shooting another assassin between the eyes. 

"Perfect! Robin, use the mirage to create a ring under your left glove, make it real. You will have to be able to fake a cataclysm midway through, can you do that?" Robin just nodded his head, pulling the flute out from under his Cape and creating a perfect Bane replica. The battle still raging produced the perfect cover for them. 

" Now, make it look like he's dragging you, don't fight too hard, or your illusion will vanish. Superman, get the real Bane and at least break his comm. Take the nerve toxin from Red Robin. Someone get the Red Hood the enemy communicator. Wonder Woman, assist Superman. Supergirl and Superboy. Are you recovered enough to take the ground troops out? Perfect. Remember Robin, you'll have to make an illusion of the ladybug earrings too. Tikki knows to run and hide as soon as he's distracted." 

In Metropolis, Max had long since gone from scared to catatonic. Barely breathing and too terrified to speak. He'd been separated from Nino after their message was discovered. He was as good as dead. 

Nino on the other hand kept tugging at his binds. There is a way out. Ladybug and Marinette would've found one. By Wayzz he hated himself. Why the hell had he let Lila get in the way of years of friendship? How had he believed the utter crap that came out of her mouth? 

Luther had decided it wasn't worth the trouble to kill them since Adrien planned to just resurrect them with his wish, so he left them tied (and beaten and bloody) in a couple of offices on the top floor.. Nino glared at the door, anger coursing through him. 

"Justice, I am Fairy Oracle, from Gotham. I can help you and your friend escape from not only this maniac, but away from the ones you once called friends." 

"And I am Påfugl. I will lend you a companion to aide in your escape. If you accept our aide, unlike when you were Akumatized, you will remember and have ultimate control of your actions. What do you say?" 

"I accept" Nino whispered. Immediately a green light overtook him. He felt the new powers coursing through him, but looking down he didn't look like his outlandish Bubbler form, but rather a bit like the American heroes, with a simple green spandex suit. He flexed his muscles. He didn't look too different from usual, didn't feel too different. But the binding broke from his muscles like glass. He wondered what the power up was hidden in. He hadn't seen the butterfly… Shrugging he looked to the door. He knew roughly that Max was in another office to the right of his own door. He also knew he had a minimum of four guards to fight through. He looked around for the companion he was supposed to receive.

"Look outside" a voice whispered through his head. He looked and saw a falcon flying in the distance, "when you're ready, jump. We will catch you." 

Oh… Okay. He looked at the door and checked the slit to see if it was locked. Of course it was. Okay. Let's see how strong he really was. He yanked the door with all his might, pulling the door clear off the wall. Oops. The guards turned to look at this unknown and lifted their guns. Well, so much for stealth, Nino thought as he threw the door at the two guards. He saw the two that had take Max running down the hall from his right and he quickly picked the door back up and threw it at them too before taking off towards the rooms at the end of the hall. He broke three doors before he found Max, gaping at him like he had two heads. 

"Let's GO!" Nino yelled, breaking the rope on Max and jumping out the nearest window. 

"OH please dear God if I rot in jail, please just get us out of here" he whispered as he and Max fell fifteen stories and counting. Suddenly they abruptly stopped falling, claws closing in on their shirts as a giant falcon swooped over them and lifted off towards Gotham. Distantly Nino still heard the shouts from guards to shoot, but they were out of range. 

With Bane subdued with Neuro-inhibitors, the assassins placed into bullet proof glass boxes, Scarecrow on his way to Arkham, and a quick Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage, the heroes were left with a passed out Adrien and a cuffed Alya. Commissioner Gordon wanted to have Adrien brought to the hospital for treatment and Alya to the police station for questioning. But the heroes wouldn't be left out. Batman insisted he and Wonder Woman head to the hospital with Adrien. Red Hood nodded and asked Supergirl to accompany himself with Alya. Nightwing nodded to the passed out Raven, being held in cuffs by Star fire. Robin took hold of Guardian Angel and offered her a ride home on his Robin Bike. She smiled and was about to nod when a bird cry was heard from above. Looking up, everyone saw a giant falcon landing with two boys in its claws. They recognized them immediately as Max Kantê and Nino Lahiffe. Commissioner Gordon took them into custody as well, to decide what to do with them after, giving the heroes not joining for the Interrogation a rest. Guardian Angel thanked Comissioner Gordon, and went with Robin back to the batcave. 

Once there, along with several other heroes who were recovering, Marinette tuned in to the screen where Red Hood and Supergirl were with Alya. 

"Miss Cesaire, I am curious about what led you to follow Mr Agreste to Gotham" a translator sat in the room, turning her head to Alya. 

"Lila Rossi is not a liar! I'm a journalist, I know this! She can't be a liar. That means Ladybug is and I just wanted her to admit Lila was telling the truth!" Alya screamed in frustration. The translator frowned as she spoke to Comissioner Gordon. 

"What does that have to do with this incident?" 

And so Red Hood gave the run down of Paris and what happened to Rossi, including her deportation and multiple lawsuits she was facing currently. The translator explained to Alya that the lawsuits were from both individuals who'd been lied about, including Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale, as well as the city of Paris on behalf of Ladybug. Alya paled with the words, shaking her head frantically. 

"Did you or did you not lead the planned attack on a former classmate on behalf of Lila Rossi?" Red Hood asked. But Alya was mute. She wasn't wrong. She wasn't wrong.

" Marinette was just jealous" Alya whispered. She wasn't wrong! "Marinette was just so jealous, she bullied Lila!" she finally screamed, "Ladybug could have fixed her!" 

"Has the girl mentioned, Marinette, ever shown bullying tendencies before? Been outwardly cruel or antagonistic when provoked or jealous?" Comissioner Gordon broke in. Alya froze. She thought about Kagami and Chloe and all the girls involved in Adrien's life and tried to come up with an example. She lowered her head and shook it no. 

" Has Ladybug ever been able to bring back a deceased that was killed outside of a magical attack by these Akuma?" 

"She cured Lila's tinnitus!" she exclaimed. 

"the same Lila that lied about being bullied, and has lawsuits against her from multiple sources? You believe this to be a credible source? Let me ask this, has she ever cured anyone else of chronic illness?" Gordon asked. Alya shook her head. 

"So you came here with the intention of what… Using Ladybug, aka, Guardian Angel, to bring back all those you and your partner killed?" Gordon looked skeptical. 

"you can wish for anything with the jewel of creation and destruction. Even for life to be breathed into the dead" Alya said clearly. 

"Is that a fact?" Gordon turned to Red Hood. He shook his head. 

"The consequences of making any wish can be destructive. A wish for peace might kill half the population, simply because less population means more resources. The law of Alchemy states that everything must remain in balance. To bring back a dear friend, you have to lose another dear friend first. To bring back 14 innocent people, 14 other innocent people would have to die. From my understanding, they planned on not only resurrecting the people they themselves killed, but also the classmate who committed suicide. On top of this, they also planned on creating a "perfect world" in conjunction, to make sure no conflict happened in their class specifically" Red Hood played the video on his phone of Nino explaining this before he was caught. Gordon frowned. He glared at Alya, who was pale. They couldn't bring them back. They couldn't bring any of them back and that meant Marinette was dead and she'd never be able to see or hug or apologize or…. Alya puked on the floor. The realization that even limitless power was in fact limited. Gordon nodded and told an officer to put her in a cell and call Paris. 

When Adrien awoke, he was cuffed to a hospital bed, his head was bandaged down past the right eye, and his torso was strapped to the bed with a warm blanket. In the room with him were Wonder Woman and Batman. He frowned. 

"Mr Agreste. Do you know where you are?" Wonder Woman asked. He tried to shake his head but he opened his mouth anyways. 

"Gotham City" his voice was scratchy and dry. 

"Do you know why we are here?" 

"I tried to get the Ladybug and Cat mirculouses."

"Why?" 

"Because Ladybug should've healed Marinette. My Princess should be here with me. Ladybug was jealous and let her die and sent Lila away and took my ring and my family from me! Everything was ruined because of her!" Adrien shouted. Batman looked at him. This was going to be a long day.

"Tell us what happened from your perspective?"

And Adrien did.

Okay, so.... Here's part six. Seven will be really short but I couldn't find a way to include it in this.

@bookreader20003

@mooshoon @artxyra @spicybelladonna @northernbluetongue @kuroko26 @mystery-5-5 @2sunchild2 @iwantswifttoblessmysoul @zelladane @ellerahs @thedarkwhiteangel @resignedcatservant @scribblinggraveyard @alexzandria-747 @nyctamaximoff @mysteriouslyswimmingfan-blo-blog @sapphiraazure2708 @tinybrie @dudet @thatrandomfandomsgirl @lunar-wolf-warrior @zazzlejazzle @zebrabaker @constancestruggle @unabashedbookworm @ginamarie1512 @mindfulmagics @bitterheart12224 @captainmac6 @blue-peach14 @enduskdragon @multishipper1needshalp @abrx2002

@throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen

[rexsjaigeyes]

Mission Impossible: Nanny - Part 1

Quinn McKenna x female reader

Words: 2,679

Warnings: none!

A/N: this was co-written with @sabinemorans​​ and the title credit goes to @sailorsquadgoals

Quinn was finally starting to get the hang of caring for Rory, but there were some days he wished he had some help. Shared custody with his wife was already a bit of a struggle, and Quinn knew that Rory could use an extra caregiver or two. It eased his mind that Rory was actually the one to suggest this idea since his mother had hired a nanny recently. Of course he said it in his way– very blunt and matter-of-fact– but Quinn enjoyed it actually.

Even though everything had changed after the Predators had come, this was a good thing to come of it. He felt closer to Rory now than ever and it would take a special person to be good enough to watch him, and a very special ad to draw them in. It was a normal ad detailing the basics up until it mentioned protection for his son, including the lines “people with ex-military or security background preferred.”

It took a little longer than Quinn had hoped, even if it was a unique ad, but he finally found the perfect candidate hit. She was educated, well reviewed, and passed a background check on the nanny site with flying colors.

That would have been enough for anyone else, but Quinn knew with his line of work, he’d have to do a deep search just to be on the safe side. He sent her name to Nebraska, knowing he could trust him to find out about any red flags. Surely she would understand, and if she didn’t, then Quinn would know she wasn’t right for the job.

The best part was her suggestion for a secondary nanny as the request had mentioned this was protection for the child as well. The second one, a man, also passed with flying colors and was sent to Nebraska. When there were no red flags to be found after Nebraska had essentially done a deep dive-Quinn emailed them. Cause if Nebraska couldn’t find anything, then there was nothing to find.

It looked like a solid deal, and Quinn was a little excited to be getting some extra help and a chance to make Rory happy. What he wasn’t expecting, however, was how attached he would become to her. To you.

~~~

You’d partially given up on finding a new nanny job when finally good news was in your email. Quinn McKenna wanted to interview you! Grinning, you immediately called your backup and very best friend Din, telling him the news.

“If he wants to see me, he probably wants to see you too, considering,” you said, moving from your kitchen counter to your stove where pasta was boiling. You had your headphones on so there was less chance of you dropping your phone into boiling water which had only happened once but Din acted as if it had happened a dozen times. Honestly, it couldn't have happened after he had left your apartment?

“Good, his was the only interesting job on there. I wonder if he’d be ok with me bringing the baby along at times. Maybe if the kid takes a liking to us, it might be good for him to socialize with a baby.” Din had adopted a baby at the beginning of the year. He’d gone with a mutual friend of yours to an adoption agency and just fallen in love. It had taken forever but as he put it, he’d just known as soon as those big dark eyes had found his that they were meant to be.

“We’d definitely need to build some trust first. I know my little one doesn’t cry much, but to a child on the spectrum, it can be very hard to handle. That would be the best case scenario though since there’s two of us. Though this McKenna guy mentioned protection, so maybe he’s a political person or something. We don’t wanna bring that dark eyed angel into any danger.” You strained your pasta and dumped it a bowl, pouring sauce on top and beginning to mix.  

“Fair enough. Guess we’ll see, sweet girl, huh?”

You smiled and shook your head at the affectionate nickname. “Don’t call me that Din, you know better. I always think you want something from me when you call me that.”

“What me? Never,” came the reply where he was so obviously grinning like an idiot. God you hated him sometimes, it was so hard to love someone so ridiculous but you managed it even with knowing him as long as you did. You could ask for better company than him sometimes but you couldn’t ask for a better best friend. Bastard knew it too. The two of you were bonded for life, for better or worse.

“Smartass. I’ll call you with the details when he emails me back, love you Din.”

“Love you back, sweet girl.” You heard a laugh before he hung up and you pulled your headphones off.

“Silly man,” you muttered as you began to eat your pasta and homemade sauce on the way to your couch. Turning your TV on, you settled with a comfort show so your brain could wander as you ate. Quinn McKenna...what an interesting name.

~~~

Mr. McKenna had been busy with work over the weekend, so it took a few days for the interview to happen. You arrived with Din by your side, as Mr. McKenna had proposed you had applied more or less as a team and would be interviewed as such. He told you that he liked your forethought to mention a second you already trusted, and that compliment made you smile. Thinking ahead had always been a strength of yours.

“Should you knock or should I knock?” Din looked at you and you shrugged back with an indifferent look on your face.

“Do you think it matters?”

“I guess not.”

“...you want to knock don’t you?”

The door to the cozy two story house had an old school knocker on it and Din’s grin gave you all the information you needed.

“Go on then,” you chuckled, waving your hand at it.

He knocked three times and sighed, satisfied with that stupid grin on his face. You shook your head. Ridiculous man.

The man who answered the door looked anything but ridiculous. He was absolutely not what you’d been expecting at what-six foot two? Filled out well too with bright blue eyes you could get lost in, blonde hair shorter on the sides a little bit flopping at the top and a smile that screamed “good ol’ boy” more than anything you had ever seen.

And you were fucking hooked.

But you were a professional and despite the sudden mental images of jumping on him and pressing your body to his (likely muscular and strong and maybe even a bit pudgy) body you simply smiled brightly and hoped that Din would keep his professional manner even though Quinn McKenna was definitely one of your types.

“Mornin’, thank you both for comin’,” McKenna said before waving the two of you in.

Din let you lead and he followed both you and McKenna to the dining room table where your possible employer sat in front of both of you. He was prepared, both your resumes sat before him and he had them side by side with what looked like prepared questions written down. Din and you shared a glance that spoke volumes. He was very serious wasn’t he? Maybe he was political, maybe he was a part of the mob or maybe he was some kind of paranoid kook. It was a nice house and it actually reminded you of David Lieberman’s house in ‘The Punisher’ and then a fourth option to what Mr. McKenna did crossed your mind quickly followed by a fifth.

Either he was a government spook, or he was the Punisher. Either way you weren’t that mad about it.

“Take a seat,” Quinn gestured to the chairs in front of him with a face that didn’t betray much emotion.

You noticed that he glanced at you a few times too many, but he made it hard to read what was going on in his head. He must have noticed the confused looks on your faces, because he gave you a reassuring smile as you sat down before clearing his throat. “You must be wondering why I needed two nannies with your type of background,” he chuckled.

You exchanged a look with Din for a split second before Mr. McKenna broke the semi-awkward silence. “I’m in the military too and I wanted people I could trust with my kid’s safety,” he explained. His answer was still a little vague for you, but you figured you’d ask him more about it later. It was nice to know he would understand the two of you though, you’d worked security for a little while and were amazed at how much people pushed back when asked what you thought was safest. With Mr. McKenna you might fight over strategies but at least he’d understand them.

You found yourself wondering what branch he was in, what his rank was when Din spoke, pulling you back to the present.

“Well, in that case, you found the right people for the job,” Din said in a professional manner. “We both served in the Marines. I was a Corporal and she was a Sergeant as I’m sure you saw by our records.” Din explained, and you took a moment to admire how well he always pitched the two of you as valuable assets. He went on to detail (as much as he was allowed to) how you’d worked together for years. You did chime in here and there with details Din couldn’t remember and explained your individual special skills.

Din was a master of stealth, infiltration and quiet extraction were his specialties. You on the other hand were a sniper. Your furthest confirmed kill was clocked at 1110 yards– a near record. The pair of you were well trained in hand-to-hand combat and familiar with most guns that could be thrown at you though with the choice between a gun or a knife, you favored the K-Bar while Din favored his Sig Sauer.

Mr. McKenna  crossed his arms in front of his chest, giving Din an impressed look as he heard his pitch. His eyes had lit up when you said you were a sniper and you smiled back, recognizing the look of a fellow sniper in him. The fact that you had something so specific in common was mind blowing really!  While you both derailed for a moment to talk about things you saw Din smirking a little. Ass. He knew exactly what it meant when you grinned like that. Trying to stay professional (and not give Din the satisfaction of knowing your thoughts too well) you locked down the thoughts of the two of you on a date, seeing who could  hit the farthest target even if it would probably be you.

“Both of your resumes are impressive, but I’m wonderin’ why you guys left after spending so much time climbing the ranks.” Mr. McKenna quirked an eyebrow at you, so you chose to answer this question instead of leaving it to Din.

“It was just time for us to get out. With all the jobs I’ve had in the world I’ve listened to my gut about when it was time to seek out something else. Din trusted me enough that when I said the Marines wasn’t the right career for us anymore that he put in to leave when I did. A few months after we left we got word that a lot of our unit had been badly injured in an ambush masquerading as a rescue mission.” You shifted your hair from one side to the other and kept eye contact with Mr. McKenna, who let out a sigh through his nose and nodded. Nothing else needed to be said about that.

After that it lightened up. You felt at ease answering his questions; he didn’t seem as intimidating as you initially thought him to be, and the interview eventually flowed more like a friendly conversation than a job interview. You all even laughed about things! Maybe it was the fact that the three of you could bond over your military backgrounds (Quinn as he insisted on being called after the third time he was referred to as Mr. McKenna, was a Ranger Captain), or maybe it was because of the way that Quinn looked at you differently than he’d look at Din. You didn’t have time to put your finger on what kind of look it was exactly before a young boy came walking out of a nearby hallway but it certainly warmed you all over. It was nice to talk so freely with another man besides Din too, someone else who understood.

Din’s face lit up as he saw him, and you couldn’t help but smile as he exclaimed, “Oh hey, little man! Is that Rory?” He asked as he turned to Quinn with a bright smile.

“Yup,” Quinn responded, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he gestured for Rory to sit beside him. He ruffled Rory’s hair and pointed in yours and Din’s direction to introduce you to him. “These might be your new nannies, whaddya think of that, bud?”

Din held his fist out for Rory to bump and you shook the little guy’s hand in a greeting, smiling widely at how cute he was. You glanced up at Quinn as Din and Rory exchanged a few words, already acting like they were the best of friends. Quinn was obviously very protective of his son, happily watching the exchange, but you could tell he was watching closely to see how Din would get along with him. Din was being his usual self around children, boisterous but at a respectful volume, which was so different from how he was around most new people. You laughed at a stupid joke Din made which made Rory smile before running your hands through your hair again. Your eyes were pulled towards Quinn in soft glances and you noticed when he glanced at you as well, carefully timed to when you were listening to Rory talk about what he liked to do and how he liked things to be.

Before your eyes could meet Quinn’s and you could really analyze those glances, you heard Rory mention something about a fight.

“I’m sorry sweetheart what did you say?”  Quinn looked at Rory, stunned and then at the two of you.

“Now hang on buddy I don’t-“ His father started but Rory kept going anyway. He was definitely determined and had been waiting to say this.

“I wanna see you guys fight, you know, see who’s better. And the winner can fight my dad! If you can beat my Dad or just hold your own you’re definitely good enough to be my nanny.” The sweet faced little boy was so succinct about his needs that you laughed a little incredulously but with no small amount of humor.

“You know what you want sweetheart I’ll give you that,” you said with a grin and shrug to Quinn and Din. “I’m game, but we probably shouldn’t swing to really hurt each other. Do you have boxing gloves maybe or we could do more Jiu Jitsu and grapple rather than throw punches.”

“Yeah no, no real hits. But if the little man wants to see a fight he’s gonna get a fight.” Din was already standing, making to take off his nice jacket and you were following suit when Quinn stood and waved his hands. Jesus-his hands were huge. How had you not noticed that yet?

“Hang on hang on,” he said looking at the pair of you, both paused with your jackets pooled at your elbows.

“But Daaaaad,” Rory whined, looking up at him.

Quinn raised a brow at his son before smirking and letting out a small chuckle. “You guys shouldn’t fight…” He grinned at Rory before adding, “...in the house.”

[ashwayssunny]

Macdennis playing 7 minutes in heaven 👀

hi anon! thank you for a requesting a prompt!! here you go, i hope you like it!! :)

-

Tim Murphy had explained the rules of the game as eloquently as he could, but no one yet had moved to make a first selection. Dennis estimated there were fifteen to twenty of them huddled around a hat which held each of their names  on a slip of paper. Tim Murphy hadn’t even technically invited them to this party, but an entire swath of classmates with whom he had no real relationship had descended upon the get-together like a school of fish, having heard about it in a hundred different games of telephone, finding safety in the anonymity of each other. Tim was too plastered by the time they all arrived to care that the party was far over capacity. 

Dennis had planned on going anyway, of course, but the cover of others made it much easier for him to sneak in Dee, Ronnie the Rat, and Dirtgrub, and he was pleased that neither of them had caused too much of a fuss thus far. Charlie hadn’t thrown his name in the ring, but Dennis watched as Ronnie snuck a piece of paper from the pile, scribbled his new nickname ‘Mac’ as quickly as he could, and tossed it in with such stealth it actually impressed him. 

The object of the game, Tim had explained, was to spend seven minutes alone in a closet with the person whose name was chosen alongside your own. There were few ground rules, except that the lights must be out, the door must be locked, and every non-chosen ear must be pressed against the door, listening. Dennis hoped to score with Nikki Potnick; out of the girls who’d submitted their names, she was by far the best looking, and Dennis hadn’t been involved with the incident which had led to the destruction of her car; in fact, he’d taken extra precautions to make sure Nikki never saw him with Ronnie – sorry, Mac – or Charlie the whole night. Now was his time. 

He wondered arbitrarily if Mac was after the same thing, wanting both to revel in the genius of Dennis’s plan while also preparing to steal his thunder. Dennis wouldn’t let that happen tonight. He’d make sure of it.

“Somebody’s gotta go first,” Tim slurred. “How ‘bout I just pick?”

Noises of agreement came from the group. Dennis made no reaction, betrayed no emotion. He caught Dee’s gaze as she sat across from him in the circle, and he wondered if the universe could possibly be cruel enough to pair them together. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if his sister was paired with someone else either, but to lose his chance with Nikki to such a disappointing partner… he scowled at the idea. 

Tim hiccuped, the beer in his palm sloshing in the bottle as he reached out and retrieved two strips of paper from the hat. The group collectively held back breath as he read the name on the slip once, twice, a third time before smirking a bit. “Dennis,” he blurted, and all eyes turned to him. 

The look of determination on Dennis’s face was set in stone. Some of the girls around the circle looked intrigued, some seemed a little more uneasy, but everyone was surely interested. Tim flipped the first paper behind the second, and at the sight of the second name, his face traveled through several different unidentifiable emotions before landing on a positively mischievous grin. 

“Damnnnnnn,” he said, elongating the word, “it’s Ronnie the Rat!”

Several members of the group burst into full-on laughter, but everyone snickered. “Wow, dream come true for you guys, huh?” Tim mocked. 

Dennis’s blood ran cold. He was sure the color had drained completely from his place, but he fought against every instinct in his body and kept his expression entirely neutral. “Pick someone else,” he said evenly. “Two dudes can’t do it.” 

“Yeah, you can’t do seven minutes in heaven with your bro!” Mac exclaimed from across the circle. He and Dennis avoided eye contact like it would kill them. It only elicited a fresh wave of laughter from the group, and Dennis felt his ears growing hot. 

“I don’t know, I mean…” Tim Murphy trailed off, taking a long swig of his beer and burping without losing an ounce of smugness from his face. Dennis wanted to bash his teeth in. “The rules say you can’t change the names that you pick, so…”

“You never said that in the rules!” Dennis’s voice hitched on the final syllable, but he fought desperately to keep calm, digging his nails into his pant leg. 

“I also didn’t invite you to my party.”

Another round of laughter. Dennis’s fists clenched so tightly he feared he would break his own fingers. 

“We should’ve made, like, a thing for dudes and a thing for chicks,” Mac pointed out, cognizant of how white Dennis’s knuckles had gone. “You know, so we could pick separately. Or do you just really wanna think about two dudes kissing?”

A few people chuckled, and for a moment, Dennis felt proud. It was short-lived, however, when Tim replied almost immediately, “Uhh, nobody said you had to kiss, bro. But it’s good to know that’s exactly what you were thinking about.”

Mac’s cheeks flushed, and he recoiled. Dennis heaved a great sigh, shifting the tension from his shaking fists to the space in his back between his shoulders. He replaced his grimace with an easy smile. “Fine, it’s whatever,” he said casually. “It’s totally a waste of a turn, though.” 

“We’ll see,” Tim responded, and Dennis nearly hurled his beanbag chair across the room.

Then they were being herded by the crowd like sheep to the bathroom they’d prepared for the occasion, complete with romantic fragrance and minimal lighting provided only by a lavender-scented candle belonging to Tim’s mom. People continued to snicker, and Mac and Dennis continued to refuse eye contact, until it was just the two of them side-by-side in the darkness, watching as Tim closed the door and snickered, “Have fun!” From the other side, they could hear the click of the alarm clock Tim set for exactly seven minutes begin. 

With the door shut, the candlelight reflected off both their faces as they slowly turned to each other and adopted positions at opposite ends of the room. Dennis’s stomach churned. 

“This is weird, bro,” Mac said, painfully honest when Dennis did not require his honesty; he forced himself to bite back a nasty retort. 

“Don’t fucking make it weird, then,” he snarled, “you’re the only one making it weird.”

“No, I’m pretty sure everyone is making it weird.” 

“Well, don’t encourage them!” he snapped, his voice rising above the whisper he’d been trying to use to keep the conversation only between them. Mac spoke normally, of course, and it only further irritated Dennis. 

Mac’s big dark eyes followed him, and Dennis could feel the intensity of his gaze even in the darkness. He slid down the length of the wall into a sitting position and stretched his fingers, forcing a deep breath down into his lungs. Mac followed suit. “Oh!” Mac suddenly exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and digging around while Dennis tried not to scream. “Hang on, I think I have something that’ll make this, like, ten times more better.”

The ticking noise began to grate on Dennis’s ears, and he balled his hands into fists yet again. Mac was grinning at him now, and the rush of blood through Dennis’s head forced him to look at the object his counterpart now held between them – a joint, thick, sleek, and nicely rolled the way Mac knew Dennis liked them to be. “Ehhh?” Mac smirked, wagging the joint between them. 

“Oh, fuck, give me that,” Dennis nearly growled, reaching for it ferally, as if he needed it like the cure for a venomous snake bite. Mac relinquished his grasp on it, and Dennis brought the butt to his lips in one swift movement. 

“Light?” he asked impatiently, and Mac returned to digging in his pockets until he produced a purple BIC lighter that had definitely seen better days. He leaned close to Dennis, flicking at the lighter until the flame ignited and cast a soft orange light across both of their faces. Mac cupped the flame with his palm, letting Dennis take a long, intimate drag while they stood practically nose to nose. Mac tried not to stare at the way Dennis’s lips curved around the end of the joint, elected instead to drink in the soft fluttering of his lashes against his bony cheeks. Abruptly, Dennis’s eyes snapped up as Mac leaned closer, and the shock of electricity that came with their eye contact caused Mac’s mouth to run dry. Dennis took the joint from his lips, erupting into a hearty coughing fit that stymied the previous moment of tension. “Fuck,” he choked out, “shit, dude, that was a big hit.” 

“Sorry,” Mac said half-heartedly, his eyes resting still on the redness of Dennis’s cheeks. “I mean, it wouldn’t be if you weren’t such a pussy…”

“Shut up!” Dennis passed the joint to Mac with ire in his voice, and Mac managed to take several drags in quick enough succession to elicit his own miniature coughing fit. Dennis smirked at him, and Mac’s face broke so easily into a compatible grin that he did it without even meaning to. 

“How many minutes do you think are left?” Mac asked.

Dennis grimaced as if, for a moment, he’d forgotten they weren’t alone. “Too many,” he sneered. “Give that back.”

They passed it back and forth in silence for what seemed like years. Dennis tried to ignore the fact that they were, despite their best protestations, sharing saliva. Mac looked to be deliberating something in his mind, and Dennis shuddered to think what it could be. After a moment lasting ten thousand years, Mac opened his mouth to speak. “Hey, Den, I wanted to talk to you about something –”

All at once, the alarm clock began to blare from outside, and Dennis’s hands jumped so violently from the noise that he lost his grip on the joint, letting it tumble down the front of his body until the lit end landed on the front of his pants, burning through the denim and causing Dennis to cry out.

“Oh, shit, dude –”

“Fuck!” Dennis shouted, jumping to his feet. “Oh my God, dude, I burned my dick –”

“You totally burned your dick,” Mac observed, dropping to his knees to root around on the ground for the missing joint. 

“Shit, fuck, goddamnit, get it off –” 

“Hang on, there’s burning ash still there, let me get it –”

Mac began frantically to brush the smoldering ash from Dennis’s crotch, but as his hands gripped the waistband of Dennis’s jeans to find footing in the dark, the bathroom door swung open and treated Tim Murphy and a gaggle of their other classmates to the sight of Mac knelt in front of Dennis, face inches from his crotch, with Mac latched onto his belt loops and brushing the front of his jeans in a decidedly unscrupulous way. Dennis and Mac froze in their respective positions, and Tim’s eyes grew wide as the moon.

“Oh my God, I fucking knew it!” came a voice, and Dennis’s eyes scanned the crowd immediately so he could put a face with the voice of the person he decided he was going to kill. The shrill voice was all too familiar as he connected the source of it to none other than Sweet Dee. “They’re gay, they’re totally gay!” She cackled, loud and obnoxious, as others joined. 

“NO!” Dennis cried. “No, no, no, this isn’t what it looks like –”

“Yeah, sure, Dennis!” Dee screeched back, as the cacophony of laughter and whispering grew behind her. “See, Tim, I totally told you they’d do some gay shit if you put them alone together –”

“I’m gonna kill you!” Dennis shouted, lurching forward and wrapping his hands around his sister’s throat. The laughter turned to screaming as their classmates scattered, and Dennis tackled Dee to the ground and planted himself firmly above her, squeezing. Mac attempted to pull him back, and Charlie appeared to aid in the fiasco, but the four of them soon became such a hectic tangle of limbs and shouting and curse words that the neighbors who called the police would later note in their statement they feared a murder was taking place. 

It was the first and last time any of them saw the inside of Tim Murphy’s house. 

[classic-return]

Too Much To Loses

((Darsa))

I’ve been scruffed a bit when I was a kid. Some of the monks would pick me up by my shirt and get me to somewhere I could run around and not knock over ink pots. Since I got over six feet in height, no one has really done that until now. As I’m being thrown into a room, I know I’ve been traveling for a little bit. Late at night someone broke into my ‘house’, it’s really a poor excuse of a rented room, but, whatever, they broke into my fucking place and picked me up. It’s been about an hour and they threw me into a small farm our inside of Elwynn Forest.

Just outside I can see the bright green trees, whatever reason I’ve been brought out this way, it didn’t stay for a mystery long. Looking up I see some boots that lead to pants, that lead to a belt, that lead to a vest, that lead finally to a red scarf. Fuck me side-ways. I know this fucker. I know him because he’s the big ol’ cunt who used to work in Stormwind when everyone was rebuilding it.

Edwin Fucking VanCleef. 

“Get up.” He said offering a gloved hand for him to help me up. Near by is a small table with a pitcher of water and two glasses. Once I’m up on my feel VanCleef poured me a glass of water and offered it out. “Sorry my men were so rough. You’ve been dodging me.”

Course I’ve been dodging him. I know exactly who the Defias are and I know that’s a path to get you chucked off to prison. Enough of VanCleef’s men are pulled into Stormwind, I see them get marched over to the Stockades and aren’t even put on trial. It’s that kind of shit that pisses me off. I know the shit the nobles of Stormwind have pulled, and now I see the normal folk suffering for them too.

“Well I’ve been kinda busy.” I admitted as I took the glass and sniffed it to make sure it was alright.

VanCleef drank deeply from his and watched me, as if expecting me to be paranoid. The water tasted fine so I drank as he continued. “You’ve been dodging me. Ape told some of my men you’ve been doubling up your work.”

“Since my kid sis got shipped off to the other side of the world, haven’t been feeling, all of this.” I said nodding to the near by red scarfed men. “Nobles are shits, but, there’s other shite I have to work through first.”

“If you need money we can pay you. You have a good head on your shoulders, you’re also one of the people who has been directly hurt by nobles. I remember how they treated you when you were younger. No one wanted to adopt you, noble strung you along until they could give you back? The nobles told you you weren’t able to stay with the monks you were left with?” VanCleef reached out and tapped my shoulder roughly. “You know what it’s like to be throw away.”

Fuck he knows how to preach to me. Everything he said was true, but there’s something new. “I got people now. Marie, she don’t got anyone with her kid gone. If I’m getting into all of this, I might get exiled from Stormwind, like you. How could I keep her safe with something like that?”

There’s more to life than bringing down the nobility. I know Edwin’s heart is in the right place. After all, he’s been hurt as bad as I have. Labeled as a criminal just so he could get fair pay from those silk incrusted tarts in town. It’s a crime, it is, and he’s making the best of the shit that’s been going down. I’m just not sure I can throw myself into such a cause.

Say what you want about VanCleef, there’s one thing people forget, he cares about his men. He wouldn’t be doing this shit if he didn’t. So he raised up his glass and nodded. “Sometimes we have to protect our family the best way we can. I could always use you among the ranks Darsa. But, you take care of your family. There’s no bad blood between us.”

“You promise?” I asked feeling wary about that. Other gangs have said the same thing, just all of them were talking out of their ass so they could get what they really wanted. But, VanCleef hasn’t lied to me yet. I’ve seen the proof of his anger, and I don’t doubt it for a moment.

Holding out his hand to be he nodded. “You have my word on it. If you ever want to come back, I’ll tell my men to let you in with open arms. But you and yours, I would protect you if you let me.”

Fuck this guy knows how to sell his shit. But I have to stand my ground. I’ve got too much to risk to throw myself into his gang. But I shake his hand anyway, making this a proper deal. “I’ll remember that mate. If I ever hear shite in Stormwind that your guys need to know, I’ll send it your way.”

“Papa.” I heard a little voice from the doorway and stop. The girl is a spitting image of her father. Black hair, bright eyes, she slides into the room with as much stealth as she’s probably picked up around all the rogues in her life. “You said you were going to help me make lunch.”

Letting go of my hand VanCleef turns to his daughter and squatted down so he was eye level. “I did didn’t I?” He said his voice lighter around her. The guy chose to fight a fucking war against the nobles, but his daughter is the true weak spot he has. “Go head to the kitchen, I’m just finishing a talk with Mr. Noman.”

Vanessa, the little girl who looks too much like her father looks up at me and gives me a suspicious look. “Are you angry with Daddy?”

“No Miss, just doing some catching up.” I said quickly but smiling so she doesn’t catch on. “You have fun cooking with your Da.”

That quelled her questions for now, as she backed away I waited till she was out of sight before keeping my tone neutral. Who knows if she’s still listening in. And kids have to stay kids for as long as possible. “Mind having you guys give me a lift back to town, and maybe fix the locks on my doors?”

“They can give you a ride to town.” But then he grinned at me. “You have shit locks on your door anyway. Shouldn’t be surprised with you being Gilnean,”

“Oi.” I said but wasn’t angry. It was a normal reminder I had. I’m not like the Stormwind folks, it’s noticeable in my complexion and my accent. Still I grin and shrugged. “Fine. You keep everyone on their toes mate.”

Before I turned I heard him say something, but for the rest of my life I’ll be wondering what it was. It was probably a quip to balance my own sass, but it’s not like I’ll be asking him for a good long while.

[mariakarina-blog1]

Cupcakes and Cherry Blossoms- 7: Electric

It had been about two weeks since that night, and the entire street had been thrown into utter chaos. Not only did the group lose their homes, they lost most of their possessions that they couldn't get back. The city had forced them into living in a hotel for a while, at least until they could assess the damages and decide what to do. While in the hotel, the group found a new street to live on, "Lover's Lane," (Zane wasn't too fond of the name) but they couldn't move in yet. The group was eventually told that their entire street needed to be demolished, and that they had one day to get any salvageable items before the wrecking crew came. Unfortunately, only a few of them were able to come help get all the stuff out of their houses, as most were working that entire day.

"There!" Aphmau spoke as she slammed the back of the moving van shut.

"Can we go back to the hotel now? We've been at this all day," Garroth spoke.

"Yeah, I hate to complain, but this is gruesome work. Can we please go take a nap?" Katelyn agreed.

"Ya Katelyn," Travis flirted, "let's go take a nap together~"

"No guys," Aaron spoke, before Katelyn could react. "I know we're all tired. Believe me, I could fall asleep in the middle of the road if I just laid down. But we need to finish this. We haven't even started the girl's house, and it's already getting dark. Come on, let's get going."

The group sighed and walked over to Aphmau, Katelyn, and Kawaii~Chan's old house, while Aaron climbed into the front of the moving van to drive it over there. Aphmau, through tired eyes kept close watch on Zane. He was prone to try slipping away from the group if he got a chance, probably wanting to go back to the hotel and take a cat nap. Speaking of cats...

"Has anyone seen Kawaii~Chan?" Katelyn looked around, "She was here just a minute ago..."

While the rest of the group spoke with each other, confused, Zane just smiled while Aaron parked the moving van. As soon as he opened the door, Aphmau ran up to him and asked about KC. He didn't know anything, and Zane smiled as Aaron opened the van's door to find a purring Kawaii~Chan, sleeping on one of the packed mattresses. He had saw her when she slipped in there, looking like death. He was jealous of her cat-like stealth, knowing that if he had that ability he wouldn't just take a nap in a moving van. No, sir, he would be out of there faster than you could call his name.

"Kawaii~Chan!" Aphmau shook the poor girl, "Wake up!"

Zane slipped out of sight of the van for a moment as the girl woke up. He wouldn't admit it, but he had been avoiding her since the night of the flood almost two weeks ago.. Every time he heard she was going to be somewhere, he refused to go, when he saw her the few times he left his hotel room he made sure to not make conversation, so much as eye contact was too horribly awkward for him to handle. So, he hid like the coward he was, just out of sight of the girl. He heard a yawn.

"Huh?"

"Kawaii~Chan," Aphmau started, "I know you're tired, but we're almost done. we just have to clean our house out, and then we can go back to the hotel and sleep all we want."

Kawaii~Chan, although Aph made a pretty convincing argument, groaned and rolled over. At this point, Garroth, Aaron, and Travis had started getting stuff from inside and bringing it to the yard. Katelyn sighed.

"Kawaii~Chan, didn't you want to get your pink mass of a tree from your room?" Katelyn questioned. KC immediately shot up.

"Cherry blossom!" She exclaimed, jumping up and sprinting into the house. Aphmau laughed.

"What is it with her and that tree?"

"That's right, you haven't been rooming with us in the hotel. She's been having a lot of anxiety problems lately, and it has something to do with the tree? I dunno. Whenever she gets in a mood, she complains about how we couldn't come here and get the cherry blossom from her room. I think it calms her or something. She's been having it a lot worse since this flood."

"Man, I hope she's okay. I've always known she had slight anxiety, but never anything like this. What do you think brought it on?"

"I dunno. I can tell it's not new though." There was silence for a moment between the two girls. Everyone else was inside getting things, and now Zane was in a bit of a predicament. If he went inside, the girls would see him and think he was eavesdropping on a deeply personal conversation (Which was exactly what he was doing, though it wasn't intentional). If he stayed here, he would be eavesdropping even more, which he didn't want either.

"Katelyn," Aphmau started, "Have you ever wondered why we don't know anything about Kawaii~Chan's family? Her past?"

"Now that you mention it, I do think it's a bit odd. We've known her for years, since high school. I wonder why she hasn't told us anything..."

"Don't ask," Aphmau spoke, quickly. "If she's having trouble with anything, she can come to us. She knows that."

Another silence. Zane, now deeply uncomfortable, stood perfectly still, trying not to make a sound. He just needed a way to get out of there without the girls seeing him.

Thankfully, Travis walked over with a box full of salvageable items.

"Heeey Katelyn," He spoke in a tryhard flirty voice.

"Oh Irene," Zane thought.

"Is there any way I could move these boxes into your heart?" Zane cringed. It was so bad. But it was the perfect distraction. Katelyn, appalled, grabbed the box from the white haired boy and stomped on his foot- hard.

"OWW! WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Travis grabbed his foot and hopped on the other one, when he lost his balance and fell over. Zane ran over to the house as the girls laughed and helped him up.

When he got inside, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He did not want to know what would have happened if he stayed out there. After regaining composure, he looked around in shock. You could tell it had once been Aphmau's house, but it was a shell of it's former self. The dank house smelled of... something rotting. Furnture was upturned, miscellaneous items were strewn everywhere, and floorboards creaked as Zane walked from room to room. After a bit, he saw Aaron, searching the kitchen.

"Oh, Zane, there you are. Garroth and I can take care of this floor. Why don't you go help Kawaii~Chan with the second floor? We're almost done down here."

Zane scoffed. He was trying to avoid Kawaii~Chan, not help her! "What about the basement?"

"Don't even try. The stairs broke and we can't get down there. Besides, I can't imagine there would be anything salvageable down there anyways." Zane sighed, unable to think of a comeback. He started heading upstairs, figuring that he could still avoid the meif'wa even if they were on the same floor. That plan was immediately ruined when he walked into Aphmau's old room to find everything already packed up. His entire plan was to clean out Aph's room, as he was closest with her, but it seemed as if Aaron had cleaned it out before he he'd even got into the house. He had even cleaned out the ensuite! Now Zane had no idea what he was going to do. He couldn't clean Katelyn's room because she would snap his neck, he couldn't help out Kawaii~Chan because of... obvious reasons, and...

"Wait a second," he thought, "The bathroom!" Zane left Aphmau's room in a hurry, clearly proud of himself for coming up with such a brilliant idea. Though, when he passed Kawaii~Chan's room, he stopped himself. The door was open.

"Where is it?!" The meif'wa groaned in frustration as she slammed her nightstand drawer shut. Her room was in shambles, and not because of the water. She seemed to be looking for something, something important by the looks of it. As she slammed another drawer shut, she turned around and saw Zane staring at her, and immediately blushed. Zane averted his eyes, also blushing. He stared at his feet, trying not to make the situation any more awkward than it already was.

"Shit," He thought. Kawaii~Chan, though, didn't wait a moment.

"Zane~Kun, could you help Kawaii~Chan find something?"

"Aah," Zane fumbled on his words. "W-What is it?"

Kawaii~Chan sighed and turned to Zane, looking directly at the floor.

"It's a- a silver pendant... with a pink cherry blossom charm on it. K-Kawaii~Chan has had it with her," She paused, gulping. "All her life" She gripped her skirt, wrapping the fabric around her clenched fists. She clenched her jaw and shut her eyes tight. Zane could see her lip starting to tremble. Before she could start to cry, though, Zane remembered something.

"Hmph," Kawaii~Chan turned and leaned against the wall, knees pressed against her chest. She fiddled with something silver in her hands. It reflected against the minimal light in the room, shining in Zane's eyes. "What do you two even do, anyways? The only thing you have in common is ponies! Kawaii~Chan doesn't even see how you could be friends!"

"That thing she had... that must be what she's talking about..." Zane thought. Then he remembered her dropping it... He ran downstairs.

"Zane~Kun?" Kawaii~Chan brokenly called after him. She didn't follow, though, instead she sniffed, wiped her eyes, and set back to finding it. If anything, the whole conversation just made her more determined. She didn't need his help anyways, she thought. Meanwhile, Zane was tearing apart the living room. To be fair, it was already in shambles, he was just... Adding to it. He looked in every crevice he could think of, to no avail. The only thing really keeping him going at this point was that he didn't want to just leave her up here all sad, though he wouldn't admit it, even to himself.

"I'm trying to avoid her," He thought, "I just am searching for this thing to get away from her." Even he was having trouble convincing himself of that at this point. He kept searching, and finally, finally, he found the small piece of chain. The water from the flood must have really gotten to it, because it was tangled up in the insides of the couch. Zane worked carefully to try and untangle it, easier said than done. After probably five minutes of work, he finally got the necklace out from the inner workings of the couch. He took a moment to admire the piece of jewelry in front of him. It was simple and cute, though it had a touch of elegance to it. Though, upon further inspection, he noticed something. One of the blossom's petals was completely split in half.

"Oh no," Zane whispered, holding the necklace in his hands. After a bit of searching, he found the other half, though it had a large scratch through it, that probably happened when it broke. Zane knew that Kawaii~Chan would be devastated, based on how much she seemed to care for the jewelry, but she would be even more so if she never saw the necklace again. She had to know.

Zane climbed up the stairs and stepped into Kawaii~Chan's room. She had her back turned to him, looking in her bedside table probably for the millionth time. He knocked, and she turned and looked at him, her eyes red and puffy.

"Zane~Kun? Kawaii~Chan thought you left." She sniffled and shut her nightstand drawer.

"I found it."

Kawaii~Chan turned so quickly you would have thought that she broke her neck. "What? Are you serious?! Let Kawaii~Chan see!" She ran over to him, eyes shining brighter than Zane had ever seen them. The light was immediately put out when he laid her eyes on what Zane held out to her.

Her fragile hands covered her mouth as her eyes stared to well up with tears. Trembling, she took the necklace as her knees gave out on her. As she fell to her knees, she released a sob as she held the chain in her hands.

"Shit," Zane thought, "Why is it that the only person I've ever had to comfort was her?" Zane sat down on the floor next to her, trying so hard to be comforting, though he was just too awkward to do so, also she was crying pretty freaking hard. After some ugly sobs, Kawaii~Chan turned and rested her head in the crook of Zane's shoulder. She didn't care who it was, she just needed to be held right now, and Zane's big comfy sweater was perfect for the job. Zane, at this point, was blushing madly, and after the shock wore off, he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like that for a while, holding each other, until Kawaii~Chan's ugly sobs turned into soft, quiet ones. After a moment, she let go, immediately regretting leaving his body heat. She was still very close to him, but even so he hugged onto herself. Zane was staring at her intently, she knew that even as she brought her hand up to look at the necklace again, touching the broken part softly with her other hand.

"This was Kawaii~Chan's mother's..."

[thatcrazyfanfictionwriter]

Secret of the Sewers: True Lies

In a small bar in one of the seedier parts of New York, the purple dragons were crowded around the counter, empty bottles of beer littering the counter. Hun downed a bottle alongside dragon face, determined to drink the other under the table. From the redness on the tattooed face of the purple dragon, Hun was close to succeeding.

"Boys!" Hun cheered. "For the first time in four years, New York City is ours once again!"

His shout was met with a loud chorus on cheers as the other dragons lifted their fists or their bottles.

"The Shredder chased those shell backed freaks right outta the state, and once more, the Purple Dragons run these streets!"

Once more, everyone cheered.

"Soon, we will show every last man, woman, and child that walks our streets that The Purple Dragons are not to be messed with!"

Now everyone was screaming and yelling, some even lifting makeshift weapons into the air. As they shouted, the front door of the establishment was kicked in, causing the noise to grind to a halt. Everyone turned to see Raphael walking in, cracking his knuckles and grinning like a maniac.

"Hello boys." he greeted. "Hope you don't mind me crashing your party."

Hun's eyes became the size of dinner plates when he saw the turtle in the door.

"What is this?!" he exclaimed.

"What, you didn't expect us to just run off with our heads in our shells, did you?" Donny asked, appearing on the left side of Raph.

"Especially when there are stupid thugs like yourselves to kick around." Mikey added, appearing on Raph's right.

Hun looked at them, then he smirked.

"Just you three?" He questioned. "Guess two-fifths of your team didn't survive the trip."

"Think again, Hun!" Leo interjected from the rear entrance.

Once more, all of the thugs in the building turned to see Leo in the rear doorway, Hisako right beside him.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Hun practically screamed. "Both of you!"

"The reports of our demise were greatly exaggerated." Hisako quipped. "Tell Shredder he needs to work on his aim."

Having heard enough, Hun slammed his bottle against the edge of the bar, cracking it into a makeshift blade.

"Get them!"

The dragons charged at them head on. Wasting no time, Raph tackled several dragons to the ground wailing on them. Donny and Mikey then engaged some other dragons, not even bothering to take out their weapons. They just kept blocking, kicking, and punching anyone that came close.

Leo and Hisako were in a similar position, fresh out of recovery and with new found confidence, the dragons weren't ever a challenge for them.

"Man I have missed this." Leo exclaimed just sweeping one dragon's legs.

"Same here." Hisako told him, throat punching a dragon and grabbing him by his shirt to throw him. "I think I missed this the most out of everything we left behind when we left."

As one dragon was getting up, Raph popped up from behind the counter and broke a bottle over his head knocking him out.

"Man I've always wanted to so that." Raph let out.

Finally fed up with seeing his men getting beat up, Hun ran at the turtles. Hisako stuck her leg out, tripping the behemoth as he fell to the ground, Don took out his staff and smacked him in the face, sending him colliding with the counter. The siblings looked around at the fallen, groaning dragons as they exchanged smiles and high threes.

"Man that felt good!" Raph declared.

"Couldn't agree more Raphie boy." Mikey agree.

Leo walked over to a groaning Hun, lifting him up and slamming him against the bar.

"Listen closely Hun." He growled. "You tell Shredder that the turtles are back, and that we're coming for him. And Karai."

Leo shoved him into the bar, then he nodded to a sibling. They all ran out of the now trashed bar just as the sirens began to approach. Leo lifted a manhole cover as each of his siblings dropped down. Finally, he leapt down too as the police arrived.

…

Up on a nearby roof, the Hamato siblings were ecstatic, laughing and cheering at their landslide victory.

"Aw yeah!" Mikey exclaimed. "The turtles are back dudes. I give us a 10 for style, an 8 for skill…. And a 2 for stealth."

"Well stealth was never part of this mission, little bro." Hisako reminded him.

"Yeah, we were sending a message, one that says that no freak in samurai armor can take us down!" Raph exclaimed.

"I couldn't agree more, Raph." Donny commented.

Even Leo was laughing.

"You know who I'd hate to be right now?" He asked.

They all exchanged knowing glances, speaking in unison.

"Hun."

"Man I'd love to be a fly on the wall to see what happens to him when he tells Shredder about this." Raph remarked.

…

"WHAT?!" Saki exclaimed, slamming his fists on his desk and rising to his feet.

Hun, who was kneeling on the ground in front of the desk, cringed violently at his master's fury.

"So let me get this straight," Saki spoke still irritated. "Not only have the turtles returned, but their ranks haven't dwindled in the slightest?!"

"N-no Master..." Hun stammered. "Both Leonardo and the girl were still alive..."

Saki growled at this fact.

"Anything else you care to report?" Saki asked.

"They..." Hun choked a bit, fearing his next words may be his last. "They told me to send you a message… That they were back…. And they're coming for you…. And Karai."

Saki went wide eyed at that last part. He looked at his desk, to where a photo of a young Karai wielding a wooden sword and a large trophy stood. He picked up the picture, looking at it before straightening up. Setting the picture aside, he walked up to Hun, grabbing him by his ponytail.

"Double the patrols on the streets. Scout every rooftop, sewer tunnel, look under every rock. Find them!"

"Yes Master." Hun winced.

Saki dropped Hun, who quickly scrambled to go and complete his mission. As he left, Dr. Chaplin walked in, a big smile on his face.

"Master." He called. "I have wonderful news!"

Saki turned to him, his face still a mask of pure rage. Chaplin flinched slightly, but adjusted his glasses and continued.

"Master, Karai has finally awoken." He announced. "More than that, she seems to have made a full recovery."

"Finally." Saki said exiting the room.

…

As he entered the infirmary, Saki had to dunk in order to avoid being struck with a tray of surgical tools being thrown all around the room.

"I take it your recovery is going well." Saki remarked.

Karai ripped off the various cords attached to her, yanking the IV from her arm.

"Miss Karai,” A nurse trying to tend to her begged. “You must stay-"

"I am not staying in this stupid bed any longer!" Karai screamed, getting out of bed. "And where are my clothes?!"

"It would seem you have made a full recovery, just as Dr. Chaplin has informed me." Saki commented.

"Made a full recovery, and I am ready to get back out there!" Karai replied.

She stalked out of the infirmary, making her way to the elevator. Saki followed behind her, entering it with her. As the doors closed, he spoke once more.

"You may get your chance." Saki told her. "The turtles are back."

Karai's eyes went wide, then she hit the emergency stop button, stopping the elevator from moving.

"What?" she questioned.

"And it seems Leonardo and Project Oracle survived our last encounter." Saki continued. "It seems some creatures are too stubborn to die."

Karai's fists clenched, then she punched the wall of the elevator.

"Damnit!" she shrieked.

"Indeed." he agreed. "I thought you would like another chance to eliminate them."

Karai gave a grim nod.

"You're right dad." she agreed. "But this time, I'm not leaving until I've turned those turtles into soup and their sister into mincemeat!"

"I expect nothing less." Saki told her. "But to insure this, take the Elites with you."

Karai flipped the elevator back on, rotating her shoulders.

"Absolutely."

…

A few minutes later, Karai was dressed in all black, plates of silver armor across her arms, legs and chest. She had a mask on over her face and her bright pink hair tied up in a tight bun. She walked into the Elite's training area stopping a few feet inside.

"Elites! To me!" she exclaimed

Just then, a cloud of smoke engulfed the room and the Foot Elites appeared and knelt in front of Karai. She looked down at them all, her face grim under her mask.

"Elites, the turtles has survived our last encounter and have returned to the city." She informed them. "All four of them, as well as Project Oracle."

"We will find them and destroy them mistress." one Elite told her. "We will not fail again."

"No you will not, for we will not rest until they have been destroyed, and their corpses brought before my father!"

…

"I see… Mikey stuffing his face with Cheetos." Hisako declared, pointing up at the stars.

The others laughed at that observation.

"I see… Splinter using Hun as a bowling ball." Mikey found.

That got everybody laughing hard, Donny even having to wipe a tear from his face.

"Good one Mikey." He commented.

"Not that I ain't enjoying myself, but what's taking the Foot Clan so long?" Raph asked, sitting up. "I mean, I figured hearing we were all alive and well would have him sending his armies after us in no time."

"Have a little patience Raph." Leo told him. "Something tells me we'll encounter the Foot before we know it."

"And what makes you say that?" Hisako asked.

"The fact that I can see them approaching from the north."

The others turned to see Karai and the Elites approaching fast. They were leaping across the rooftops, being led by a familiar head of pink hair.

"Bout time." Raph remarked, drawing his sai.

The others drew their weapons, assuming a defensive stance as Karai arrived on their rooftop, the Elites assembling behind her.

"Long time no see, Leonardo." She greeted, removing her mask. "Looking for star drawings?"

"Yeah." Leo confirmed. "In fact, I just saw one of a turtle with a dagger in his back."

"Apparently it didn't penetrate deep enough." Karai snapped. "I thought you were dead. You and that witch you call a sister."

Hisako's eyes narrowed, her eyes beginning to glow slightly. Donny took her shoulder, shaking his head slightly.

"We're not here to fight Karai." Leo explained. "We just want to talk."

Karai snorted, then burst into laughter, slapping her knee in hysterics.

"You?! Wanna talk?! Ha!" she chortled.

Raph growled.

"Look princess, you're gonna listen to what we have to say, or I'm gonna pound your face in until you do!"

"Raph, not helping." Donny hissed.

Karai just snickered, replacing her mask.

"You wanna talk to someone, talk to my blades." she declared. "Elites, attack!"

"You guys take care of the Elites, Karai is mine." Leo told his siblings.

With that, the turtles and Hisako took on the Elites while Leo made a beeline for Karai. As the others dealt with the Elites, Raph taking on two at once, Leo and Karai locked swords as Leo attempted to get a few words in.

"Karai, I really don't want to fight you." Leo pleaded.

"Well too bad. You should have thought about that before you got involved in our affairs!"

"There's something to know." Leo continued blocking another sword strike. "It's about your father!"

"What about my father?" Karai demanded, attempting to slice off Leo's head. "You want a rematch with him too? Eager for another beat down?"

"I'm not talking about the Shredder." Leo replied. "I'm talking about your father. Your true father. Hamato Yoshi."

Karai's blade froze mid-swing, her eyes going wide. She knew that name. The other Elites paused as well at the sound of the name. This caught everyone off guard.

"How do you know that name?" she asked, her voice unusually quiet and meek.

"Because it's the name of my master." Leo answered. "Splinter. He's your father Karai."

"Your Master…. That rat…. Is Hamato Yoshi?" she repeated. "He's alive?"

"Yes." Leo confirmed.

All of a sudden, Karai's eyes narrowed. Her grip on her sword tightened and she let out a rage-filled scream. She began to viciously attack Leo with such a ferocity that put even Raph's worse temper flairs to shame. Hearing her scream, the others seemed to snap out of their trance, the Elites attacking with almost equal ferocity.

"What the-?" Hisako questioned.

"What's going on here?" Raph asked, just barely avoiding being skewered.

"Whoa." Leo let out just barely blocking her attacks. "What the-"

Karai continued her wild frenzy of attack, her blade catching Leo on the arm.

"Hey, what's all this about?" Leo demanded.

"Hamato Yoshi took everything from me!" Karai screamed. "He killed my mother and left me and my father to die!"

Now all of the Hamato siblings were shocked. If the Elites were not actively trying to kill them, they all would have just been standing their dumbstruck.

"What?" Leo exclaimed. "No! That's a lie!"

"No you are the liar!" she exclaimed. "Hamato Yoshi betrayed the Foot Clan, and murdered my mother!"

"Your mother died in an accident!" Leo attempted to rationalize.

"Is that what he told you?" Karai snapped, ceasing her attacks. "Then tell me this, has he told you about how he betrayed Oroku Saki, his aniki?"

Leo raised an eyebrow at this.

"I don't even know who that is." Leo told her.

Karai spun on her heels, sweeping Leo's legs out from underneath him and sending him to the ground. She aimed her blade at his throat before any of the others could react.

"Leo!" Donny screamed.

The Elites took advantage of their surprise, taking them down with ease and disarming them. Before any of them could deliver the final blow, Karai held up her hand.

"Stop!" she ordered. "Don't kill them yet."

She bent down so she was looking Leo in the eye, her own eyes glazed over in fury.

"Run back to your precious master." she spat. "Ask him about his old friend, and about the treasonous actions he took!"

She lifted her blade, allowing him to rise. The Elites did the same with the others, gathering together as Karai made one final declaration.

"Go!" she screamed. "And tell him that he will pay for his crimes, like he should have over 20 years ago!"

With that, Karai and the Elites vanished, leaving the turtles and Hisako more confused than ever.

"What the shell was that all about?" Mikey asked.

"And who is this 'Oroku Saki' guy anyway?" Donny questioned.

"Yeah, Master Splinter never mentioned anyone by that name."

"Bet it's the Shredder's real name." Raph answered.

"But did you hear what she said?" Hisako wondered. "I mean, betrayed the Foot Clan? Kill her mother?"

"No way Sensei was a Foot Clan ninja." Raph declared. "No way no how."

Mikey snorted.

"I'm picturing sensei in the motorhead gear." he chuckled.

"I am getting ready to slug you Mikey." Raph told him.

"We need to talk to Splinter about this." Leo told them.

…

Karai returned to Saki Corporations, making a bee-line for her father's office. She threw the doors open, much to his surprise.

"Karai." Saki said raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing back here?"

"Father, I have news about the turtles." she told him, bowing respectfully. "More specifically, about their rat master."

"Oh? And what news is that?" Saki asked.

"The rat was a human before his mutation." She informed him.

"So? What relevance is that?"

"His human name..." her fists clenched and her teeth scraped against each other, "Was Hamato Yoshi."

Saki was utterly shocked at this. One he thought dead for years was alive, and trying to destroy everything he had worked for.

"Yoshi…" he said just above a whisper, "That explains why the turtles fighting was so familiar. I should have guessed it sooner."

"Leonardo tried to sell me some tawagoto story about Yoshi being my father." Karai spat. "They will say anything to save their traitorous master."

"Indeed." Saki confirmed. "This makes it all the more imperative that we find and destroy them."

"I couldn't agree more, father."

…

Splinter sat meditating in his room as he heard the elevator doors open. He turned to see his children coming out one by one. They all looked a bit worse for wear, not to mention more than a bit shaken.

"My children." He greeted, standing up. "Is everything alright?"

"Depends on how you define alright." Raph spoke.

"Because if your definition of alright is 'we just got our shells handed to us by Karai after she threw a hissy fit that made Hisako's Dark Phoenix mode look like a walk in the park', then yeah we're fine." Mikey supplied.

"Sensei we need to talk to you about something." Leo told him.

"What is it?" Splinter asked.

They all sat down in front of their sensei meditation style, Splinter retaking his meditation mat.

"Sensei..." Hisako began. "Does the name Oroku Saki mean anything to you?"

Splinter couldn't believe it when he heard that name. He blinked in surprise, then steadied himself, placing a paw on the ground for a moment, a torrent of images flitting through his head. Hisako winced as she felt the flood of memories permeate through the mental walls Splinter had set up.

"I'll take that as a yes." She said, rubbing her temple.

"Yes… it's a name I haven't heard in a long time." Splinter answered. "A very long time."

"We think he's the guy behind the Shredder mask." Leo continued.

"Yes…" Splinter confirmed. "That would explain… everything."

"Sensei… How do you know the Shredder?" Donny inquired. "And why does Karai think you betrayed him?"

"Oh she thinks he did more than that." Raph interjected. "She also said you betrayed the Foot clan, not to mention murdered her mom."

"But it's gotta be a trick, right Sensei?" Mikey asked hopefully. "I mean, there's no way you'd be a Foot ninja, even if you would look awesome in a motorhead outfit."

Raph whacked Mikey upside the head, snapping him back into reality. Splinter just sat there, silent, for several moments.

"There is… a half truth in what she believes." Splinter finally answered.

This threw all five of them for a loop.

"What?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"Which part?" Donny asked.

"It can't be the part about her mom." Mikey figured. "I mean, she was killed in that crash."

"... It is a long story. One you and Karai need to hear."

"No offense Sensei but I don't think she wants to hear anything from us right now." Leo told him.

"More than that, I doubt she'd even believe us." Raph added. "I mean, you heard what she said Leo."

"So how do we convince her of the truth?" Mikey asked. "It's not like we can show her the past."

Leo then perked up at Mikey's choice of words.

"We can't… but you can." he declared, turning to Hisako.

Hisako looked over at her brother, then realization dawned on her.

“Wait… you want me to what?” she asked.

“You’ve pulled memories out of people’s heads before.” Leo reminded her. “Maybe you can do it again.”

“Take Splinter’s memories of what really happened, then we can show them to Karai and fix everything.” Donny surmised.

“But… I was high on power at the time, and I left my victim an amnesiac.” Hisako argued. “What if I do the same to Sensei?”

"Do it." Splinter said.

The turtles and Hisako were all surprised by his sudden declaration. He stood up, walking before his daughter and placing a paw on her shoulder.

"Splinter..." Hisako said softly, "Are you sure? I’m not even sure I could if I wanted to."

"I am certain of this." Splinter confirmed. "She needs to know the truth."

"But… if I do this, you could lose years of memories. You wouldn't even remember her... Or I could put you in a coma… I- I can't risk that Sensei."

"I am willing to take that risk if it means getting my daughter back." Splinter insisted. "Hisako please."

Hisako looked at her sensei, seeing the pleading look in his eyes, one she knew all too well. She sighed and stood up, gesturing to his mediation mat.

"Sit down before I change my mind." she said quickly.

Splinter obliged and took a seat. She walked up behind him, sweat dripping down her brow as she flexed her fingers. She took a deep breath, reaching towards his head. However, at the last second, she pulled her hands back, turning around.

"I can't!" she exclaimed. "I can't do it!"

"Hisako," Splinter said taking her hand. "Please."

Hisako looked back and saw the sadness in his eyes. She saw that, and let out a groan of fear and worry.

"I… But what if I…."

"I trust you my child." Splinter comforted. "I trust you with my life. And my mind."

Taking a deep breath, Hisako turned back to Splinter, plunging her fingers into his skull. She focused on what she wanted, trying to block out the pained noises Splinter was making, or the sound of his paws clenching onto his staff hard enough to make the wood creak. Finally, she pulled the memories free, holding a large mass of green energy. It wasn't as big as when she's destroyed Stockman's mind, but it was still fair sized. She looked at the mass of memories, then at Splinter.

"Sensei…?" she asked hesitantly.

"I am… alright." Splinter told her. "My mind is… intact."

Hisako let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that. Then she looked at the memories in her hand.

"Umm…. now what?" she asked. "What do I do with this?"

The turtles thought for a moment, then Mikey came up with an idea.

"Hold that thought." He said before running off.

The others looked at each other, then they registered what Mikey had said. Hisako was the first to laugh, bending over as fits of laughter bubbled out of her. The laughter proved infectious as Donny fell victim to it next, followed by Raph, and then Leo. Even Splinter had to chuckle at the sheer hilariousness of Mikey's choice of words.

"Hold that thought!" Hisako bellowed, letting out huge belly laughs. "What else can I do with it?!"

Mikey eventually returns with a dusty old mason jar, most likely taken from Donny's lab due to the label on the lid reading "Hex bolts".

"Put it in here sis." He suggested, holding the jar open.

Hisako looked at the jar, then at Donny. Donny gave a shrug.

"Look, I gave up trying to understand your powers after our first trip to the dump." he argued. "Don't look at me."

With nothing else to try, Hisako slid the memories into the jar. Once she removed her hand, Mikey slammed the lid on it, screwing it shut. The memories settled into the confines of the jar, swirling around like a cloud of sorts.

"Well, this gives a whole new meaning to the term brain in a jar." Hisako commented, taking the jar from Mikey.

The others laughed at that remark. Splinter took note of this and smiled.

"It has been a long time since I have heard this much laughter in my home." he commented. "I have missed it greatly."

"Well, now that we have these memories, how are we gonna get them to Karai?" Hisako asked. "I mean, after what I tried to do last time, I doubt she'll just let me put them in her head."

"We just need to draw her out again, then hold her down long enough." Leo decided.

"How we gonna do that?" Mikey asked, then his stomach growled loudly. "And could it possibly include us getting some food?"

Leo smiled.

"I think it can Mikey." He decided. "I think it can."

…

April wiped off the tables in Mr. Murakami's shop, smiling to herself. She couldn't believe that she hadn't been fired after disappearing for months on end. Murakami had been beyond understanding, though he did say the days would come out of her vacation time, which she was willing to give up.

"I'm almost done with the front, Mr. Murakami." she called out.

"Excellent, April-san." he told her. "And just in time. It seems we have some customers."

April turned as the front door opened, letting in the turtles and Hisako. She grinned.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey April." Donny greeted. "I see you still got your job."

"Considering she had lost her home because of recent events, I figured it would be cruel to deprive her of her job." Murakami answered.

"Hey Mr. Murakami." Leo called. "Hope you don't mind us dropping in so late. We're trying to draw out some of our enemies, and Mikey got hungry."

"Of course not." Murakami replied. "Come take a seat."

The Hamato clan sat down at a corner booth, Hisako placing the jar on the table. April glanced at it, then over at Hisako?

"Do I want to-?" she began

"No." Hisako interrupted.

"Okay."

From the kitchen, Mr. Murakami continued his conversation with the turtles.

"It is fortunate that you've shown up turtles-san." Murakami said. "I have a new dish for you to try."

"Oh?" Mikey asked. "I'm always up for trying new stuff."

"Ms. O'Neil told me you five have an affinity for pizza." he explained. "So I decided to make these."

Murakami then came out with a tray of what almost appeared to be dumplings. However, upon closer inspection, they were instead gyoza, though the filling was a deep red color.

"Pizza Gyoza." he declared.

The Hamato siblings looked at the dish, then picked up a gyoza and ate it. Immediately they fell in love with the dish, and proceeded to consume one gyoza after another. April chuckled as they devoured their meal, shaking her head.

"Three months on that farm and you guys still don't know the definition of manners." she lamented.

"Manners were never part of our training April." Donny informed.

"Well, I am glad you are enjoying your meal turtle-sans." Murakami told them with a sly smirk.

The Hamato siblings then stopped mid-bite upon realizing what he said exactly. April threw her hands up in her defense.

"I didn't say a word." She insisted.

"I may be blind but I have other senses." Murakami explained. "Like touch, and smell."

The turtles and Hisako turned on Raph in a blink. He lifted his armpit, taking a sniff.

"I don't smell that bad… do I?" he questioned.

"So wait, you know these guys are turtles, and that doesn't bother you?" April questioned.

Murakami smiled.

"You turtles are honorable beings, ones who protected my shop even though you did not know me." he told them. "That, and as a blind man, appearances mean little to me."

That earned a chuckle from the others as they continued to devour their food. April took their plates once they were done, heading to the back to clean them. Mr. Murakami went to say something else, then his ear twitches and his face fell.

"My friends, it would seem the ones you were trying to draw out are coming."

The merriment slowly died down as the turtles reached for their weapons, Hisako taking the jar and sliding it into her lap.

"Mr. Murakami, please take April out the back door." Leo insisted. "We'll do our best to keep your restaurant intact."

"Of course." he told them. "Just be careful my friends. Even from here I can sense their malicious intent."

…

Outside Mr. Murakami's restaurant, perched on an adjoining rooftop, Karai and the Elites watched as Murakami and April walked out the back. Karai couldn't help but smirk.

"They know we're here." she declared.

"Your orders, Mistress?" One of the Elites asked.

"Wait out here until I give the signal." she ordered. "I want to see what those freaks have planned."

The Elites nodded, then slipped into the shadows. Karai then jumped off the roof, landing in front of the door. Smirking, she opened it, turning to the corner booth where the Hamato siblings sat.

"You know, when I let you and your siblings run off, I thought you'd be smart enough to flee the state again, not eat noodle soup out in the open."

"Well maybe we just wanted to get your attention." Leo joked.

"If that was your plan, then it worked." Karai told him, drawing her swords. "Now, we can do this one of two ways. You all can surrender and tell me where Hamato Yoshi is, then your deaths will be swift and relatively painless. Or, you can try to fight me, in which case I will make you suffer until you beg for death's embrace."

"I think we'll take door number… 3" Mikey answered.

Karai blinked in surprise. Then she saw Hisako pull the jar of memories from her lap. Karai's eyes went wide as she realized what was going on here.

"Oh no you-"

"NOW!" Leo shouted.

The turtles jumped from the booth and tackled her to the ground each turtle grabbing hold of a limb trying to pin her to any flat surface they could. Unfortunately, this was proving to be incredibly difficult, especially with Karai flailing, fighting and biting every chance she got.

"Hisako hurry!" Donny exclaimed.

Hisako tried to open the lid, but found it screwed on far too tightly. She struggled with the lid for about five seconds, then looked at it in nervous anger.

"Oh for shell's sake!" she screamed.

She threw the jar on the ground, shattering it to pieces. The cloud of memories bubbled and floated upwards, allowing Hisako to grab it before shoving it towards Karai. It slid into her head, cutting off Karai’s protests in an instant. Karai's body then sagged in their grip as she fell unconscious. They all looked at Karai, gently lowering her to the ground as they glanced at Hisako.

"Did it work?" Leo questioned.

"I… I think so." she told them. "I've never transplanted that many memories before."

"So… what do we do now?" Mikey asked.

Raph and Leo set Karai down on the booth, all of them just staring at her.

"Should we take her back to the lair with us?" Donny suggested.

"Bad idea." Raph interrupted. "Remember what happened the last time we brought her home?"

"Fair point." Donny admitted. "So what do we-?"

That's when the Elites came crashing through the various windows. The turtles turned to them, Mikey letting out a groan.

"Oh come on!" she shouted. "We promised we wouldn't trash the place!"

The Elites gripped their weapons, murder in their eyes. Then the Kama Elite caught sight of Karai on the booth.

"What have you monsters done to our Mistress?" He demanded.

"Look, you hooded hoodlums." Leo said. "You guys have two choices. Either fight us, or you can get your master's…. Daughter, to a doctor."

The Elites looked at Karai, then at the turtles. Reluctantly, they stowed their weapons, approaching Karai's prone form.

"Enjoy your freedom while it lasts monsters." a different Elite warned. "For when our Master learns about this-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's gonna turn our shells into ash trays, we know." Raph taunted.

The Elites took Karai, then disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving the turtles alone in the restaurant.

"That went… better than expected." Donny finally said.

Hisako focused on her powers, using them to gather up all the shards of glass and deposit them in the garbage can.

"Now what?" Mikey asked.

"Now, we wait." Leo decided.