Disclaimer: Mortal Kombat and its subsidiaries belong to the Netherrealm studio and don't belong to me. Only the plot is mines.

Author's Note: Hi! I'm back with the sequel! Let's see where this one takes us, shall we? Hope you all enjoy.


"Hey, Mom. What's up?" the young woman asked her commanding officer,forgetting she was technically on duty. With a leveled look, the superior raised an eyebrow at her charge. "Sorry. Corporal Cage reporting," she altered. Cassandra Cage was standing in front of General Sonya Blade inside the latter's office, awaiting her next assignment. It shouldn't be too hard, seeing as how she and her team just finished their tour in Darfur.

"I need you to meet Mr. Cage in the gym for some one-on-one combat training. Just to brush up on your skills a little," General Blade told the young woman in front of her. After overhearing her daughter and honorary niece Private First Class Jacqueline Briggs gossiping about her irritable attitude, she saw no harm in trying get back on her good side by letting her spend some quality time with her father. This was the only way she could achieve this without compromising her rank else how.

"Yes, ma'am," Cassie replied curtly as she left the general's office. Sticking her ear buds back into her ears, she continued to listen to a song she personally dubbed as her fight anthem as she made her way down to the base gym. She spotted her dad Johnny Cage doing practice jabs and hooks in the air, oblivious to the world around him. She smirked. Judging by his fierce concentration, she deduced that he wasn't exactly expecting company. She cleared her throat, catching him in the middle of an aerial high kick. She walked up to him and removed the head buds once more. "Cage match!" she announced in good humor.

Kicking his leg once more in the air with green sparks flying off, he replied just as good natured, "You didn't just say that."

She clicked off the sound and got into her standard judo formation. "I am your daughter."


Cassie opens her eyes and frowns at the sunlight, completely void of any emotion or feeling. It was just another day in the Cage residence; she could hear her mother Sonya's feet patter softly across the floor and she could swear she heard, if she listened carefully, the sound of a sizzling pan in the kitchen a full flight of stairs down. Buried in her blankets despite the onslaught of a heatwave, Cassie sighs softly, unwilling to move.

She knows it's coming. It always does. Her father Johnny walking up the stairs, trying to sneak past the trick step that creaked loudly, her parents soft mutterings (today, he gets the last word), and him shuffling his way outside of her door. Three, two, one, she counts in her head before there is a double knock on the door. Not waiting for an answer, he carefully opens the door and crosses the threshold. She's aware of his bribes. They don't work. Not always.

"Made ya Shadow pancakes," he states apprehensively. His daughter's temper in the past week has been volatile. Some days she'd curse him. Others, she'd throw the plate on the floor like an ill-behaved cat. Once in a while, she'd ignore him, unspeaking. Those days he preferred because at least she took a bite of food. "With honey glazed turkey bacon," he adds after a pause. Shit, he thought, I forgot eggs.

As if reading his thoughts, she softly inquires, "No eggs?"

This was the first time in a while since she spoke. Taken aback, he replies, "Your mother's eggs are better than mines."

Slowly removing herself from her personal cocoon, Cassie turns her head to face her dad. "In what universe?" she jokes with a hint of a smile.

Johnny laughs. "Yeah, you're right." He visibly relaxes now, ecstatic that his little princess is actually conversing with him. He doesn't want to lose the momentum, so he puts off the mentioning of her personal leave and strokes her head instead. "Do you need anything else, Punkin?" he asks her gently.

She finally sits up in bed and stares at her breakfast. "A fork would be nice, Dad," she teases. He stares at the plate in disbelief. Of course, he thinks to himself. Nonetheless, Cassie picks up a slice of bacon and takes a small bite. Then another bite. Then she shoves the rest of the bacon in her mouth, obviously pleased with the taste. It's been a while she ate anything remotely decent since... She swallows, suddenly losing her appetite. Johnny's delayed reaction proves to be detrimental to his glee. She shoves the plate in his hands and dives back under the covers. "Thanks for trying, but I'm not hungry anymore," she mumbles in a thinly veiled voice, trying her best not to cry.

Dejected, Johnny sighs, heart broken. He suddenly wished Quan Chi was still alive just so he could resurrect that bastard Kano and kill him over and over again. He gets up and leaves, making his way downstairs.

He finds his (ex) wife Sonya in her pajamas and his favorite robe drinking a cup of coffee by the ivory colored marble island counters. Frustrated, he slams the plate on the counter, effectively causing Sonya to choke. A retort is on the tip of her lips until she sees his reaction and checks herself. "What happened?" she queries instead as he grabs fists full of his hair.

"Dammit, I was so close!" he shouts, banging a fist on the table.

She eyes the plate. "She ate a bacon strip," she notes. He sighs again. She follows suit before asking, "What are we gonna do?"

"What the hell are we supposed to do, Sonya?" he asks her, thoroughly frustrated. "We can't force feed her, she won't talk to us, she won't get out of bed... what else can we do?"

Sonya closes her eyes in defeat. "I don't know," she mutters softly before she slips away to change out of her pajamas.

Since resigning from the military, Sonya was unable to keep herself busy at home. Granted, she didn't mind staying at home with Cassie while the latter was on an extended personal leave, but dealing with her daughter's anxiety and depression began to take a toll on her. Sonya's own trauma started bubbling to the surface painfully each day she decided not to accompany Johnny on his movie star adventures. Her only fix was to either find a job or go back to school. Even though she enrolled in a few classes using the G.I bill, it was still mid-summer; she had to wait a few weeks more before classes began.

A few minutes later, Sonya comes back wearing an olive green hoodie with a black tank top and black yoga pants, which Johnny ogles from the couch. "Uh, nice outfit?" he tells her. She levels a stare at him. "I mean, there's no way you can not look sexy in anything you wear, but uh... is today training day?"

Sonya rolls her eyes. "No," she starts, "I've changed my mind. I want to be a consultant on your new film," she tells him. He stares at her. "At least until classes start." Genuinely shocked, Johnny's jaw comes unhinged. "Oh, for the love of God," she grumbles. "Don't make me change my mind again, Cage."

Johnny raises his hands in surrender. "I'm not, I'm not. It's just... I'm really happy you're here, really. And I would love for you to help out." He beckons her closer and she complies, sitting on his lap. He wraps his arms around her waist and says, "You did a very noble thing, you know that? I know if it were truly up to you, you'd be on base right now. You gave up a lot Sonya."

She wraps both arms around him and buries her head in the crook of his neck. "Then why do I still feel powerless to help our daughter?"

"It's gonna take time. You said so yourself, but Cass is a strong young woman and we both know that when she bounces back, she'll bounce back hard. And we'll be here for her when she does, right baby?" She smiles into his neck. "Aww, you didn't object this time," he jokes.

"This is usually where I tell you to 'shut up', but you're right," she admits.

"You're just full of surprises today, aren't you?" he asks her as he places a sweet kiss on her cheek. He sighs again after a moment. "At least she ate a Bladed Bacon," he notes. She mumbles something inaudible. "What's that?"

"Now I'm telling you to shut up," she says as she kisses his neck. "It's because my cooking is better than yours."

"Oh yeah? Well... my pancakes are better than those floppy disks you try to pass off as food."

"My eggs are better," she argues in jest. He snorts. "What?"

"In the words of our princess, 'in what universe?'"

Sonya gapes. "She said that?" Johnny nods. "Liar," she accuses him as she tickles him under the chin. He laughs as he catches her under the arms with his fingers. They launch into a tickling game with Johnny quickly gaining the upper hand. "Take it back!" she struggles to say through laughter.

"Not until you surrender!" he informs her as he continues his assault. In her bid to get away, Sonya shifts and loses her place on the couch. They both tumble off and she hits her hip bone on the corner of the coffee table and he lands on top of her. "Shit, you okay?"

"Son of a bitch!" she swears as she rubs the injured bone. He helps her up and they reoccupy their respective places on the couch. After a moment, she concedes; "This counts as a win for you, Cage."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he replies as they share a kiss. When they break apart, he stares at her for a few minutes. "I'm not sure Cass would like you being away from home today, though," he realizes. "It seems like she's a little less… agitated when you're around. It's not like her, and that worries me."

Sonya thinks about his statement for a moment. "Do you think it has anything to do with her little impromptu trip to the doctor's last week?"

He shrugs. "Could be," he answers, "but it's not like she'll tell me any time soon. Maybe…?" he questions and she instantly catches on.

"If she won't talk to you, what makes you think I'm any better?" she asks him warily.

"Uh, because you're her mother? And mothers usually knows best?" he tells her matter-of-factly. She nips at his neck painfully for his tone of voice. "Can you please try? For me, Sunny?" he requests politely. She finally removes her head from his neck and stares at him incredulously. He grins at her sheepishly. "Well, I tried," he says as she begins untangling herself from his figure.

"You haven't called me that since…" she starts to protest as she slowly smiles at him. "You're a pain in the ass, John, but you're probably right. I'll go check on her," she tells him. When Sonya reaches her daughter's room, she notices Cassie under the covers and trembling. "Cass?" she calls her softly as she puts a hand where she thinks her daughter's shoulder is.

"I'm not hungry," Cassie laments.

Sonya sighs. "I'm not here to force you to eat sweetheart," she tells Cassie tentatively.

Uncovering herself from her cocoon once more, Sonya notices Cassie's bloodshot eyes and red face. "If you're here to lecture me—"

"Cassie!" Sonya snips at her. Cassie snarls at her mother. "I..." she starts hesitantly, "I just wanna talk to you."

"Well, I don't wanna talk to you or anyone else," Cassie snaps back at Sonya. "You weren't there! You don't know what the hell I'm going through!" she yells, making Sonya inch back in shock. "So do me a favor and fuck off, General," she draws out her former rank nastily. She huffs and covers herself in her blankets once again.

Stuck between wanting to berate her daughter and slinking away in defeat, Sonya chooses the latter and gets up to leave. "For what it's worth, you're right; I don't know what you've been through, but I won't stop trying to understand Cassandra," she says before closing the door gently. She turns to see Johnny staring at her from across the hall. "That went well," she mutters miserably, her lips trembling. He holds out his arms for a hug which she complies with, sinking into his arms accompanied by a strangled sob.

This was going to be the most difficult and longest challenge they would have to face as a family.


A/N: Reviews are pretty. Lemme know what you think so far. Thanks again for reading. Your support is much, much appreciated.