Forgot to mention before that this story is a collaborated effort between me and Wilson Kieran Kitsune. Enjoy!

Tinker turned slowly to see a figure in heavy armor and carrying a large amount of weapons, one of which, an assault rifle, was pointed at the two siblings. She could see through his eye visor but couldn't quite make out anything other than the malicious intent in the man's eyes. "Who are you?" she asked, hoping she could have a chance to grab her smoke grenades or her sniper rifle.

"Ever heard of a tech hunter," he said, "I've been trying to get into this compound for a while, and I don't want the lock damaged just in case that seals it or sets off a security system."

Trick smirked, "Well since you asked so nicely. " In his mind he was calculating how fast it would take him to reach the secret gun in his arm holster as well as cursing himself for not having heard the man sneak up on him. That thought made him pause, his hearing was better than anybody's, "So how exactly did you get the drop on us oh menacing tin can?"

The man seemed to ignore Trick's insult but still answered his question. "I didn't sneak up on you. I've been here for a few hours and when I heard a vehicle approaching I hid. You two walked right past me while I was lying in wait in those stick bushes over there, I just stood up when I heard you were trying to get into the building."

"Very clever," Tinker said, shuffling closer to Trick so the man couldn't see her slip her hand behind her back and pass Trick one of the smoke grenades she had brought with her.

"That's right, now either you figure out how to get in that base, or you leave, or I kill you. The choice is yours." The man said.

"Decisions, decisions." Trick gripped the smoke grenade his sister passed him. "What do you think sis? I'm quite partial to options one and two."

"I'd prefer to stay and find out what's in here and we won't leave!" With the last words she dashed to the side and Trick threw the smoke grenade. The man was blinded by the smoke and fired wildly, missing the twins by a long shot. Tinker pulled out her sniper rifle and began shooting at the man, shots bouncing off his armor but doing some damage.

Trick jumped on him from behind, putting him in a head lock and wrapping his legs around the man's legs. "Now what do you say you calm down before I make you calm down in a less agreeable nature." He pointed his concealed gun in the visor of the man's armor.

The man seemed to relax, but suddenly drew a knife and stabbed the hare's hand, managing to get free and drawing a sword at his side. He held both weapons in a dueling stance. Tinker fired her rifle at the man's helmet, making a noticeable crack in the visor.

Trick cursed and held his bleeding hand. "You bastard!" Taking off his head bandana he wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding. Picking up both his guns he pointed him at his assailant and began firing away.

The man did his best to dodge, but his armor took a few hits. His face mask cracked and he was forced to discard it. Tinker saw his face and shouted, "Wait! You're a Care Bear!"

The man, who was revealed to be a gray Care Bear, gave them a look. "So, I've never run into you guys before, why should I bother now?" he asked.

"Because, we shouldn't be fighting, there's enough fighting going on right now," Tinker said, lowering her rifle.

The bear sheathed his swords, "Fine, I won't kill you two, so what are you two going to do?"

Trick lowered his guns but kept his hands on them. Many of his friends had given into their trusting nature and paid the ultimate price. "If I told you to turn and leave and forget you ever saw us, would you listen?"

"Not exactly. If you're going to get into that compound I want to see what's in there, but once the place is cleared out and we've split the loot I'll leave and forget about you." Indy smiled, "You're the first people who've been willing to listen rather than just fight, so I'll work with ya for now. My name is Independent Bear, though most don't live long enough to find out, just call me Indy"

Tinker appeared to be relaxed, but her mind was working furiously. She didn't trust this bear but she had to give him at least one chance as they were all edgy and untrusting in this world.

"All right, Indy," she said warily, "but don't pull any tricks on us, Trick is my brother's name after all."

"Well why don't you go 'tinker' with the lock then sister dear so we can get away from this social slacker and back to our charming hole in the ground." He lifted his foot and gave Tinker a gentle kick on the butt, moving her towards the door.

Tinker glared back over her shoulder at her brother then sighed, smiled and went to work on the lock. She carefully removed the front of the plate on the circuitry and looked to the circuits to bypass the door altogether.

Indy sat by and watched, having holstered all his weapons, "So there's more of you left eh?" He asked.

"A few. Barely enough to make a significant impact on much of anything. A lot of the older guys couldn't take the change in the world. Lucky for me and my sis we don't know anything else." Trick leaned back against the wall, looking Indy over.

"Huh, well I wasn't sure about you guys, you two are the first people who even tried to talk to me when we're not in the middle of an exchange of goods," Indy said, "So what do you think is in here?" he asked Tinker.

"Not sure, but we'll find out soon." At that moment, Tinker managed to break the locking circuits, opening the door. She stood up and peered inside, the back wall of the room had a large computer built into it and the other two sides of the room were lined with locked lockers; the ones on the left wall seemed to be electronically locked while the ones on the right had simpler key or combination locks.

"Now this is promising," Tinker said, moving to the computer and deciding to try and hack the system to find what she could.

Trick moved slowly into the room, gun at the ready. Slowly he scanned the sides of the room, looking for any danger that might be lurking in the corners or behind the lockers. When it appeared to be clear he moved over to lean on the desk next to Tinker. "And dad said all that time on the computer would rot your brain."

Tinker smiled and playfully shoved her brother away, "Get back, I need my space to concentrate," she said, "Check the lockers, see if there's anything we can use."

Indy was already at work doing just that, he picked one of the locks and opened the door, "Well hello, ammunition." He said, pulling out a box and opening it up to find a collection of shotgun shells inside, "This place looks like a gold mine for ammo."

Yelping when his sister shoved him away, he resolved to give her a wet Willy later and opened the nearest locker. Inside he found multiple old fashioned hand grenades and smoke bombs. Taking them out he moved on to the next locker, and almost jumped out of his skin. Inside were rounds for both of his guns, something he had been running very low on. "Merry freakin Christmas to me!"

"There's good stuff in here too," Tinker said as she finally broke through the security on the computer. "Good thing we didn't try to break down the door or this place might have killed us. Don't try to open those electronically locked lockers either, I still need to crack a few more codes, but apparently this was a prototype storage bunker and weapon's locker. There's also some positional data that the satellites can't pick up, maybe more treasure troves."

"Sounds good," Indy said, opening up another locker and box and finding ammunition that would be good for Tinker's sniper rifle. He passed it to Trick telling him to give it to his sister when she had a minute.

In the next locker, Trick found something a little unusual. Picking up the object he spread it between his fingers, "Hey sis? Do you think I should bring this back for Ruby?" Waggling his eyebrows he showed Tinker the bra he had found in the locker. That's how he saw the thin seam on the inside. Examining it more closely he saw it was a secret compartment. "Who would need a bra with a secret compartment?"

Tinker rolled her eyes, "probably a girl who wanted a private place to hide something. What use could you have for that?" Tinker asked.

He held it against his chest, "What you don't think it's my color?"

Tinker couldn't help but snicker, "If you want to wear that thing I won't stop you."

Indy just rolled his eyes, "How can you two behave like such kids?"

"Years of practice man." Pulling back one of the straps and holding the other with his thumb he shot the bra at Indy. "Sis are you done yet? I don't want to spend the whole day here you know."

Indy managed to block the bra and knock it to the ground, sighing.

"Almost done, got the location data, now just need... there!" There was a series of electronic clicks as the electronic locks disengaged. Tinker walked over to one and opened it, "Take a look at this!" She pulled out a small sleek black pistol, "Looks like some sort of prototype energy weapon, according to the info I downloaded."

Indy's interest increased as he opened one locker to find a few rifle like weapons similar to Tinker's, "Now this is a gold mine, guess we'll split this stuff three ways huh?"

"Three ways huh?" Trick sat on the computer desk. "You know, my sister did most of the work getting us in here. You didn't do anything beyond harassing us and attacking us. So this has me thinking that splitting it three ways hardly seems fair."

"Well," Indy tested the weapon, "We could go back to the shooting bit, and besides this way you both still get most of the loot. Mind if I come with you then, I haven't spent time in even tolerable company for a while."

Tinker eyed him suspiciously, she still didn't trust Indy, "Maybe, but be warned, one false move and you won't live to regret it."

Trick smiled at him, "Yeah we have a pet tiger and she hasn't had fresh meat in a while." Getting off the counter he moved for the outside. "You'll have to get there your own way though, my baby wasn't built for three."

Tinker climbed on Trick's cycle, "I'm sure you'll be able to follow us easily." She held on to Trick, not wanting to fall off as he sped off.

Indy sighed and took off after them, Tinker was right, as long as he kept moving he could keep up with them until the winds blew the trail away.

Trick pushed the communicator button in his helmet. It linked directly to his dad. "Yo dad, Tinker and I are coming back...with company. Can you, Ruby, Arrow, and Loyal Heart meet us in the garage?"

"What do you mean company? I thought you were checking out an abandoned warehouse?"

"Yeah we were. But we got a little surprise when we got there. You'll see when we get home."

He heard his dad sigh. "Cause I don't have enough grey hairs...yea yea we'll be there."

Shifting gears Trick pushed his bike on faster.

When they returned to the compound, Tinker and Trick were forced to wait while Indy caught up to them, which was surprisingly not long in coming. Once he arrived, panting slightly, Tinker led them to the hidden entrance down to the garage, and let first Trick then Indy go in first, opting to go in last and keep an eye on Indy from behind.

Trick wheeled his motorcycle into the garage and saw the group waiting for them. "Honey, I'm home!"

"Did you get a good haul?" Ruby asked him. She had her eyes on the door behind him, flame thrower ready to go if their guest proved to be a problem.

Parking the bike he came to stand next to her and her brother, "We did indeed. Presents for everyone! And we got a bonus prize." He indicated Indy who was coming into the garage.

Arrow smirked casually twirling his bow, "I would have asked if I could have traded him in for something a little cuter."

Indy glared at Arrow, "Cute means little out there, though I am impressed by the setup you guys have down here."

"Don't get any ideas," Tinker said, "but feel free to mingle, I have to analyze the map data I got from that computer." Tinker strode off to her work station to do just that but called back, "Careful with those new energy weapons, we don't know how powerful they are!"

Ruby scowled at him, "Or feel free not to mingle. Really, you don't have to." She didn't trust him and didn't want to get to know him.

"Manners Ruby. Pretend like you've heard of them." Grumpy scolded her before holding out his robotic arm to Indy, "I'm Grumpy Bear."

Indy took Grumpy's hand and examined as he shook it, "Cybernetic limbs? I've never seen anyone with artificial limbs as sophisticated as yours before."

"And you're not likely too," Loyal Heart said, speaking up. He too did not trust Indy, Harmony however, was more willing to be kind to him.

"It's nice to meet you, my name is Harmony Bear, we don't have much down here but there's enough for you to stay here for a while."

"Thanks, call me Indy, or Independent Bear," Indy replied.

"I'm Arrow, brother of miss congeniality here." He elbowed Ruby causing her to stumble a few steps forward. Shifting her fingernails into claws she swiped at her brother.

Trick grabbed her other arm, "Now, now Ruby. It's been ages since we've had anyone new to harass, humor us?"

She yanked her arm away and turned to Indy, "If you've been doing fine living on your own why did you agree to come here with Trick and Tinker?"

"Simple, they were willing to stop fighting once they saw what I was rather than just trying to keep shooting at me. You guys are the first people who haven't been obsessed with fighting, at least around here," Indy explained.

"Around here?" Loyal Heart asked, confused.

"Yeah, the war has pretty much ended. There are only few groups of fanatics that keep fighting as though their nations are still relying on them to win. Most other areas have calmed down as people are trying to build a new world to live in, trying to raise some animals, or trying to grow some food. I haven't seen much of them but I do trade technology with them when I come across these small pockets of civilization."

Arrow's face brightened momentarily, Ruby shook her head knowing what question was following. "What kinds of animals are still left?" He had never given up on the chance that his parents were still alive somewhere and had just been held captive instead of killed. Ruby thought it was foolishness. Her argument was that if her parents were alive, they would have found a way back to them.

Grumpy answered Arrow for Indy, "Probably just farm animals. You know they were kept alive all these years for food sources."

Arrow nodded to him, "But what if the reason they are doing better now is because someone-"

"Drop it Arrow! It's not because mom and dad are alive! Stop bringing it up and just freakin move on." Ruby cut him off viciously, flashing her eyes.

Trick changed the subject, "So Indy, what's the coolest thing you found traveling around and trading?"

"Well to be honest, you guys and that cache of energy weapons would have to be the coolest thing that I've found, "Indy said before turning to Arrow, "As to what animals, mostly just farm animals and lots of bugs and other hard shelled creatures are what I've seen, they are very resilient little pests. Though I do remember seeing a couple people with pet dogs or cats."

"Well it's good that there are humans trying to at least get back to a fairly ordinary life," Harmony said, actually smiling. "Once we've found a way to pick up and go maybe we should try to settle near them."

"I wouldn't recommend it; people out there are very xenophobic and suspicious of strangers." Indy said, his face hardening, "The only reason I've been able to get close to most of those places is because I have goods to trade, things they can use, so they let me into trade and then I leave."

"Oh," Harmony was crestfallen but Loyal Heart placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"That's all right, I doubt we could try to move out of here any time soon anyways," Loyal Heart said.

Trick scoffed, "Like we would want to leave here." When the others looked at him he continued, "For a lot of us, this is home."

Loyal Heart nodded in agreement with Trick.

At that moment, Tinker came back, "The weapons look all good and I've got some new data, another location on the GPS was uploaded. It's pretty long ways off but I'm willing to bet that no one knows about it, so we'll have to make more preparations for the next trip if we go, Trick."

"Of course Tinker. I'll be sure to pack lots of whoopee cushions and stink bombs."

"I'd like to come too if it's all right. I need some fresh air." Arrow voiced.

"Sure, that would be fine, Arrow," Tinker said.

"I'll tag along too if you don't mind," Indy said.

"Fine, if you want too, but don't expect much," Tinker replied

"It's getting too late for you to go out now. I want you to wait till tomorrow before you leave again, when there is still a lot of daylight left." Grumpy told them, crossing his arms and glowering at the group who wanted to go to this new location. "I really don't like the idea of you kids going so far away from the base."

"I know, dad," Tinker said, "but we need to take whatever opportunities to gather supplies that we can. And if this not so secret base we just found had weapons that high tech in it, imagine what's in this next location. We could find equipment we never even though possible to exist." Tinker yawned, "But I guess I should see to my other duties for now." she said as she turned to leave.

"Yeah I've gotta go check on the egg." Ruby cast one more glare at Indy, daring him to set one foot further into their home, before striding towards the door. As she passed Tinker, she whispered, "I have night shift tonight. Make sure he stays somewhere I can keep an eye on him." Without waiting for a response she left.

"I will, that's for sure," Tinker said.

Indy had gone to sit in a corner, "Guess I should be expecting everyone here to be uptight," he said, well guess there's not much to do but lie down and sleep."

"All right then," Tinker called, "Stay there and don't try anything!"

Indy just rolled his eyes.

Trick clasped his hands together in front of him and adapted a British accent, "Well we do hope you enjoy your stay at Casa de Hole in the ground. Turn down service and room service is extra and we ask you do not put your feet on the furniture. If you need anything...tough it out till morning."

Indy mumbled something under his breath before closing his eyes and falling asleep, he was tried mostly from having to run to keep the trail of Trick's motorcycle

Grumpy got his kids attention, "Finish up whatever you have to do then come find me, and grab some dinner. I want to hear all about the warehouse you visited today. Plus I want to go over some details for this adventure you guys want to go on." His tone indicated they could not argue their way out of this talk. Going to his garage sanctuary he sat at the table he often worked at. Moving aside an engine he was tuning, he pulled forward a picture of Swift Heart. In it she was smiling, sitting on bench as the sun set behind her. He traced his thumb over the picture, "You'd be surprised at how fast the kids are growing. You won't believe then new idea they told me today." He then began to rant to his deceased wife's picture.

About 20 minutes later Tinker and Trick arrived in Grumpy's garage sanctuary and stood. Once they had his attention Grumpy's twin children began to explain their adventure to Grumpy, finding the compound, their meeting and short fight with Independent Bear, the information they had gathered inside and the experimental energy weapons they had found in the weapon's lockers.

"And that's the whole story," Tinker finished, "We plan to head out and check this new seemingly secret site the computer in that old base had just in case there are more technological marvels from the before the fall hidden there."

He crossed his arms, "I want you guys to take extra ammunition with you, and check in every few hours so I know no raiding parties have got you."

Trick propped his feet up on his dads work bench, "Don't sweat it pop. We'll be just fine. Arrow is going to be our eye in the sky so we'll have added protection."

"It's more this Indy guy I'm concerned about. I don't want you letting him out of your sight for a moment. Do you understand me?"

"I don't plan on it, not even for a second," Tinker said, "Which is why I'm going to be on foot while he rides with Trick, if he tries anything I can blast him off the bike without hitting Trick or his bike."

Trick looked nauseated at the very thought of his bike being put in harm's way. "Does he haaaaaaaaaave to ride on her? Can't I just drag him along behind?"

"If you're that concerned, we could build a temporary side car that can be detached if he tries anything," Tinker suggested

Trick looked at his sister as if she was speaking a foreign language, "Absolutely, no snowballs chance in hell way!" He got up and paced, "See adding a side car would fall under the category of altering my bike. And as you know you promised me long ago that you would never tinker with my baby."

Grumpy groaned, "Trick you need to agree to one or the other. Otherwise it's going to take you guys three times as long to get anywhere."

"Ha! Fortunately my brain is smarterer then yours and I have thought up a solution. We have Arrow carry him."

"All right, if he'll allow that," Tinker said frustrated. "But if he doesn't then you're gonna be stuck, and if Arrow is carrying him then I might not be able to keep tabs on him.

Trick brushed off her concern, "Psshhhhh Arrow can keep tabs on him just fine. He has eagle eyes after all ha ha ha."

Slapping his hand over his eyes at his sons pun Grumpy groaned.

Tinker groaned too, "I'll go and talk to Arrow about this then I'm going to bed," she said, turning and leaving to find the Pegasus.

Arrow had snuck out after the meeting to lie on the roof of the abandoned warehouse they lived under. He would often come up here and hide in the shadow of the chimney, looking at the industrially smogged sky. Sometimes he would get flashes of a velvet night lit up by thousands of stars. All around him he would hear munching as others grazed, occasionally broken by a whinny. But those memories were from his earliest days alive and as such faded quickly. Soon enough he was once again immersed in the depressing sounds of his new world.

"I thought I might find you up here," Tinker Bear said as she climbed up the ladder to meet Arrow, "Thinking about the days I can't even remember?" she asked.

"You're lucky. Sometimes I wish I couldn't remember them. Then I wouldn't have to feel sad every time I remember the smell of grass after it rains or the feeling of being enveloped by a herd after you've fallen." He sighed, not looking away from the stars yet, "I was there for a month before mom took us to live in Care-a-Lot, when the Hunters finally won."

"I know how it feels to have lost someone important to you," Tinker said, "but I know you've had it worse, somewhat, but that's not why I'm here, I'm here to ask for your help tomorrow on the expedition Trick and I are taking."

He tilted his head back farther so he was looking at her upside down, "The one I'm going on too? What do you need of me other than my presence?" Grinning at her in teasing.

Tinker smiled then sighed, this was the hard part, "Well, Trick won't carry Independent Bear on his bike and I'm going to be on foot, and since Independent Bear can't run as fast as I do, we need you to carry him so we can keep an eye on him just in case he tries something. If you fly high enough I'm sure he won't try anything for fear of falling to his death."

"I can do that." Rolling over to lay on his stomach he propped his chin in one hand, "Just give me an earpiece so I can keep in contact with you guys on the ground."

"No problem, Arrow," Tinker said, "I'll give you one tomorrow before we leave." She waited for a moment then asked, "Are you going to wait up here for a while. I don't have anything to do before I go to sleep, I could stay up here if you want," she offered.

He patted the roof next to her, "Pull up some roof. I'm not ready to go inside quite yet." Returning to laying on his back he told her, "You've got to relax and lay out though."

Tinker waited for a moment, then took off her tools and lay down on her back next to Arrow. She sighed, "Maybe you're right, but it's hard to relax when we have to be on guard all the time."

Putting his arm around her shoulders he let Tinkers head use it for a pillow, "That's why I sneak up here whenever I can. It's quiet and out of sight so I don't have to worry about being spotted."

"I can see that," Tinker said. She felt her eyes drooping, she was quite tired from the day's events and felt like she could just fall asleep right here

Feeling her relax, he looked over and saw her eyelids drooping, "Grab some shut eye. I'll wake you up when it's time to go in."

"Mmhmm, thanks Arrow," Tinker muttered, actually smiling which was a rarity for her in the best of circumstances, just like her father.

Smiling, Arrow absently let his fingers trail up and down her arm. As he stared at the sky and felt Tinkers warm body next to him, he too found himself nodding off. His last thought was feeling Tinker snuggle deeper into his side.

Trust Heart was getting bored with the tunnel so he left to go up to the roof. He had followed Arrow up there secretly one day and hadn't told anyone. Climbing up to take a look he stumbled across Arrow and Tinker, sleeping and snuggled up against one another on the roof. The young dog with the purple heart patch over his eye snickered at the sight, "Man I wish I had a working camera, everyone would get a kick out of this, hey," he grinned to himself and snuck back downstairs, "I gotta tell Trick about this," he said.

Trick had gone to his room to pack a bag for the next day and to oil his guns. He had now moved to doing his exercise and was in the middle of a set of pushups when Trust Heart knocked on the wall outside his "door." "What can I do for you want small fry?"

"Come with me," Trust Heart motioned, "I found something you've got to see."

Grabbing a towel off his bed he wiped his face. "Lead on." On the way out his door he grabbed his water bottle and took a swig from it. After a brief walk, Trick realized Trust Heart was leading him to the roof hatch. "Why were you on the roof?"

"Just getting the lay of the land, but take a look and who I found up here," Trust Heart said. Once on the roof he pointed to where Tinker and Arrow were sleeping snuggled up together, doing his best to hold in his laughter.

Seeing his sister and Arrow caught him by surprise and for a moment all he could do was stare. Recovering however, Trick moved to where their heads were and upended the contents of his water bottle onto them.

Sputtering the two awoke instantly, wiping water from their faces.

"Did you two have a nice siesta?" Trick asked them as he gazed down at them.

Tinker glared up at her brother, "What was that for, Trick, I was having a nice sleep too," she was still up close to Arrow as she said this.

"Oh I can see that." He knelt down and put an arm around each of their shoulders, "You two just looked so snuggly and cute up here together...in the open...alone...together...alone...squished together...that I had to wake you to ask if I could cuddle too!"

Arrow realizing what must have happened smirked at Trick. "Sorry Trick, but you're not my type. Besides, we were just trying to sleep somewhere your snores wouldn't be echoing in the background."

"Got that right!" Tinker said, laughing. The blue bear grabbed the items she had removed when she lay down and yawned, "but as long as we're awake we might as well head down to bed. You coming Arrow or are you going to sleep up here?"

"I'm coming." getting to his feet he started to walk after Tinker, Tricks hand grabbing his arm stopped him however. He smiled at his twin, "You go on in. We'll be right behind you. You too Trust Heart."

"Fine, whatever," Trust Heart said, heading back down. Tinker just rolled her eyes at her twin brother before following Trust Heart inside.

Trick waited for the hatch to close before whacking Arrow on the shoulder, "Dude! How long have you been seeing my sister?"

"What are you talking about? We're just friends." He rubbed the spot where Trick hit him. "Besides, if we were sneaking around don't you think someone would have discovered it before now? I'm either with Ruby all the time or with the group and Tinker spends all her time in her workshop with your dad. It would have been pretty obvious if we were both missing."

Trick had opened his mouth to argue but realized Arrow had raised a valid point and instead closed it. Arrow patted his shoulder, "And you were so sure."

Moving to the hatch he began to descend the ladder, "It's too bad actually. I think she would loosen up if she got some action."

"I promise Trick, if I do take your sister in a romantic fashion I will first go running to tell you."

Laughing Trick jumped off the ladder, "That's all I ask."

Tinker was just going to bed at that point, she had to admit spending time with Arrow was more relaxing than anything she'd done in, well, ever. As she lay down on her scavenged bed she thought that maybe she'd try to spend more time with the Pegasus, when she wasn't busy working on something.

Arriving in the large room he and Ruby shared, Arrow smiled when he saw her fast asleep in her bed. She was probably grabbing a few hours before she went on night guard. The egg sat in its incubator on a table by her head, so if it began to hatch in the middle of the night she would be sure to hear it. Leaning over her he smoothed a hand over her stripped hair and placed a kiss on her forehead, "G'night Rubes." Going to his bed on the opposite side he kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers. Crawling under his covers he gave one more small laugh at how crazy Trick had sounded; accusing himself and Tinker of sneaking around.