I would like to point out at this time, that even though I (slightly) edited/added to these two chapters, I still feel my writing can be better. No, that doesn't mean I'll be re-posting these chapters again (unless it's a WHILE from now). I promise though, it will get better as I continue writing.

Also, I notice that I received a comment or two that it needs to be funny. Again, even though RvB is hilarious, this is not a comedy fanfic. I might try to squeeze in a "heh" moment or two once in a while, but again, this is not a comedy. I can't stress that enough.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own the rights to Red vs Blue or anything from it. Wait… Does merchandise count? No, I suppose it wouldn't.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: On the Right Path

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"MY room...?" Allison asked, looking around an empty room. There was a bed in the corner, and a night table with a lamp standing on it. Nothing more. Moonlight shone in through the shades on the window.

"That's right" Jenna said, smiling at her. "It's all yours."

The house was beautiful. At least to Allison it was; a handmade single level cottage about ten miles down the road from town. It wasn't very big, or fancy, but it was exactly to Allison's liking.

Suddenly Allison's expression changed, from one of excitement and cheer to one of guilt.

Jenna looked at her, confused. "Is something wrong?"

"I..." she looked down a the floor. "I don't deserve this..."

"Nonsense" Jenna replied. "You've put up with more than any child your age should have to. You had to spend most of your childhood in an orphanage."

Allison walked over to the bed and sat down. "It just doesn't... feel right."

"I would only suppose it wouldn't." Jenna responded. "It'll take some getting used to." Suddenly she noticed the scar on her leg. "Where did that come from...?"

Allison looked out the window at the full moon, partially hidden by clouds. "It's nothing. I just hurt myself."

Jenna knew something had happened. She didn't force anything though. Instead, she just sat on the bed next to her. "Tell me, what do you know about your parents?"

Her eyes didn't stray from the window. "Nothing. Only that my mother was in the army."

"I see. And, how does that make you feel?"

"That she would rather fight in some war than raise her own daughter? Horrible."

"I'm sure she had her reasons..."

The level of Allison's voice rose. "No! She didn't have a reason! She just abandoned me!"

"Allison..." Jenna had been trying to comfort her, but was losing her grasp.

Allison turned away from the window and towards her. Tears were streaming down her face. "Why would someone do that!"

"Allison, sometimes there's just no telling exactly why people do the things they do. You need to understand that." Suddenly, she realized who she was talking to was only a child. She put an arm around her and pulled her close. Allison quickly put her arms around Jenna and began to cry her heart out. Jenna rubbed her back and tried to calm her down.

A couple of minutes later, she regained her composure. She looked Jenna in the face. "I'm sorry..."

"For what?"

"For making you have to see that."

"You don't need to apologize to me, Allison. You've obviously been through a lot maybe you should get some rest."

"Maybe."

"If it's alright with you, I would like to talk to you about this tomorrow. Would that be alright?"

Allison nodded.

"Okay." Jenna got up and walked to the doorway, looking back at her. "Are you going to be alright?"

She nodded again.

"Goodnight, Allison." She left the door slightly ajar, just in case she was the type who needed a little light.

"Goodnight..." Allison muttered, as she curled up on the bed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Allison woke up to the sound of birds singing outside her window. She got out of bed, wearily made her way across the room and looked out her door. All was silent. She walked down the hall and into the kitchen where she caught the attention of Marcus. He was reading the newspaper silently and now the two were stating at each other, both waiting for the other one to break the awkward silence.

"Uhhh... Hi." Marcus said. He didn't seem to know what else to say.

"Hello..."

"Did you, sleep okay?"

"Mm-hmm. Thank you for asking." She wasn't accustomed to being so polite to people. It was a little odd. "Where's Jenna...?"

"Oh, she went to town to get some food. You hungry?"

"A little bit, yes." She was lying. For some reason she didn't have much of an appetite this morning.

"Well don't worry. She should be back any minute now." He forced a fake smile. It was obvious he was still getting used to the idea of taking her in.

"I, uhh..." She tried to think of something to say. "I really... appreciate you... y'know... adopting me and all..."

Marcus just looked at her sternly and said, "Don't mention it." without a hint of emotion on his face. Allison began to worry about him on this note.

Suddenly the front door opened. It was Jenna, lugging heavy plastic bags with her.

"Oh hello, you two." She said, smiling.

Allison lit up at seeing her face.

"Well hello there, sleepy-head." Jenna said, grinning down at her, "How are you doing this morning?"

"Fine." she said, returning her smile.

"Are you hungry?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"Well, I'll make you some lunch then, hmm?"

"Lunch? What time is it?" Allison had lost all track of time after she was taken from the orphanage.

Jenna looked at her watch. "Oh, about 1:30. You're quite the heavy sleeper, aren't you?"

"Wow, I guess I am!"

Marcus went back to reading his newspaper.

"And how are you, dear?" Jenna said to Marcus.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm doing great. You?" His eyes never left the newspaper.

Jenna's expression seemed to change slightly. She was still smiling, but she looked different now; almost like she was forcing herself. "I'm... great."

Something seemed wrong about Marcus. Allison couldn't quite place a finger on it, but there was just something odd about him.

Jenna had lunch whipped up for all three of them in a matter of minutes. She made a sort of salad, with tiny chunks of chicken and blue cheese in it. Once Allison got a taste of it, she practically inhaled the rest. It was like nothing else she had ever tasted while she was an orphan.

"Allison," Jenna grabbed her attention, "what do you say we go into town and buy you some new clothes, hmm?"

Allison choked on the words. She nearly went into shock. "C-Clothes? For me?"

"Well sure" Jenna responded, "I mean, all you came here with is what you have on, right? C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"Well... I guess. Alright, let's go!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Within two months, Allison had become a lot more accustomed to living with Jenna. The two had gotten much closer over this time, and had started to think of each other as family. Allison had started going to school as well. She didn't make any friends, but that didn't bother her. Kids were still far beneath her, she believed. Eventually, over this time, Allison finally discovered what it was about Marcus that seemed so off; he was a very uncaring person. He didn't pay much attention to her or his own wife. He would go to a bar in town and come home drunk. He didn't even have his own job - it was Jenna who worked during the day. She had worked as a psychologist during the day, while Allison was at school. Allison finally figured it out, why Jenna wanted to adopt a child: She needed the company. She didn't care about the reason though. All that mattered was that she had Jenna, and Jenna had her.

One day though, Jenna came home to find Allison lying down on her bed, facing the wall.

"Well?" Jenna said, "Do you want to tell me what happened at school today?"

"The school called you." Allison pouted, "You know what happened."

"I want an explanation."

"He should have let off."

"Allison, this is the second fight you've gotten into since you started school last month."

She still didn't turn to look at her. "He was just an idiot."

"What he was, Allison, was being a little kid. That's what little kids do, is act like that."

"I asked him nicely to stop, like you said. He should have known better."

"Maybe so, but that doesn't give you permission to do what you did to him."

"He'll be fine. Nothing was broken." Allison didn't know that for certain. It's not every day a child has their arm twisted around their back and through their legs

"That doesn't mean you didn't do anything wrong, Allison. You know that."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm afraid you're grounded, little lady." Jenna said sternly.

Allison sat up and faced her at this comment. "What?"

"For the next week, every day, you are to come straight home after school. No more casually strolling down dirt paths, taking your time here, understand?"

The look on Allison's face seemed to change at least three times within only a second. She was angry for being punished, which quickly changed into guilt about what she did, and just as fast came emotionless acceptance. "Yes ma'am..." she murmured.

It was difficult for Allison to try and get over her way of doing things. She usually just looked out for herself and to hell with everyone else, but Jenna had been trying to teach her that you need to have a little caring and understanding in life. It wasn't a simple concept for her to adapt to, but eventually Jenna's lessons would sink in.

Suddenly, there was a pounding at the front door. Jenna turned around in surprise and then quickly back to Allison. "Wait here, okay? I'll see who that is."

A few seconds after Jenna left the room, Allison heard who was at the door: Marcus. He had been missing for the past couple of days. This had happened once before, after the last time Marcus had gone drinking. About a month ago, Marcus had gone missing and Jenna was beside herself with fear. "What if he's hurt?" she would keep asking herself, as well as other questions. When he finally came back, he was in a drunken rage over some unknown incident. He accused Jenna of being unfaithful, and beat her with his bare hands. Allison had actually seen this happen right in front of her. Jenna fell to the floor, bleeding from his strikes and sobbing uncontrollably. Before Marcus could throw another punch though, he fell down unconscious. He swore he would never drink again, after he later came to realize what he had done. Today would be no different from that event.

"Marcus!" Jenna screamed.

"Y-you!" Marcus replied, "You bid-ch! You been ad' it agin!" His words were far past slurred from the amount of drinking he had done.

"Marcus! You've been drinking again! Look at you!"

"Lookit' me! Lookit' you, you ssslut!"

Allison heard something break from inside.

"Marcus, stop!" Jenna's crying could be heard now, as well as a few rough strikes and her back hitting the wall.

Marcus grabbed her by the arm and threw her to the floor. "Now you'll learn not to go an' do that anymore!" He lifted his foot and was about to strike down on Jenna's back, was it not for a glass vase that suddenly struck him in the face and shattered on impact.

"Stop it!" Allison screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Marcus looked at her confusedly. The vase didn't seem to have affected him. "You shaddap, you," he said, pointing a shaking finger at Allison, "or you're neksht, hear?"

Suddenly, Marcus' eyes became dull, and he fell backwards into a recliner and fell asleep.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A year later, Marcus seemed to finally drop his drinking habit, and things started to seem a lot better. The morning after the second incident, he woke up on the front porch. When he asked Jenna to let him inside, he was told about the things he had done the night before. Although he couldn't remember a single detail of it, he swore that he felt nothing but guilt about the whole incident. He promised her again that he would never drink again, but this time that if he ever did again, he would leave by his own will. Marcus still paid minimal attention to his wife, but stuck to his promise.

Within that year, Allison showed change as well. Through living with Jenna, she was able to learn about being a better person. She was still a bit of a tomboy, and her resentment of those her own age didn't change, but she learned how to control her actions more easily, and how to have a better understanding of people. She never forgot about her blood mother, and never stopped dreaming about one day finding her. At this point, Allison was more than content to call Jenna her "Mother".

One night, Jenna had her family visit from out of state for dinner. When Allison was introduced to them all, she saw them all as a very warm, friendly group. She wasn't far off, either. Upon meeting Allison, everyone praised her, going on and on about how cute she was and things of that nature. It wasn't exactly something she was comfortable with, but she endured. She wanted to make a good first impression on them all, in hopes of being easily accepted into their family. In an attempt to present herself as a sophisticate, and not a tomboy, she had even put on an uncomfortable sweater and skirt, in contrast to her usual ensemble of a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt, and had her hair out and well groomed. At one point during dinner, one of the family members brought attention to Allison's adoption. He was a wide, jolly looking man with a musty old toupee, whom everyone just seemed to refer to as 'Beebo'. Allison had suspected he was Jenna's father, but she could not see any physical resemblance.

"So tell me, Allison" Beebo said, calling himself to her attention by pointing an already half-eaten turkey leg at her, "What do you know about your parents?"

Everyone suddenly stopped eating, and the mood of the room was verging on awkward silence. They all knew the conversation had gone into uncomfortable territory. All, of course, except for Beebo.

Beebo still sat there, stuffing himself in between words, unaware of the fact that he was sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

"I mean," he said, "did they just leave you, or are they… y'know, no longer with us?"

Before he had the chance to say another word, Allison excused herself from the table and silently made for her room, creating a stir at the dinner table.

Jenna walked into Allison's room to find her sitting on her bed again, looking out the window. She had changed back into her usual pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and her new clothes were strewn into a pile in the corner. Jenna looked at her sympathetically and asked, "Are you alright? You left dinner in quite a rush."

"I'm fine." Allison said. It was an obvious lie, and she knew Jenna could see right through it.

"Was it something they said?"

"I..." She paused for a second. She didn't want to bring herself to say it. "I just can't talk about it. About her."

Jenna slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to her. "You mean your mother."

She nodded.

Jenna put a hand gently on her back. "You're still having a hard time with this, aren't you...?"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I couldn't expect you to ever entirely get over something like this."

"It's just..." Images of her mother leaving her at the orphanage ran through her head; the cliché case of a poor mother leaving her child in a wicker basket. She was well aware this wasn't how it happened though. She remembered being told she was found on the cold concrete in front of the facility.

"I mean, I can't help but feel betrayed by her somehow. I know she and I weren't even together long enough to know each other, but that's just how I feel."

"That's understandable."

"All I have is this letter she wrote. It doesn't mean anything to me, but I keep holding onto it. It doesn't make sense."

"You know, there's nothing wrong with keeping it."

Allison turned to face her. "I just wish I could forget about her." It was true; she wanted nothing more than to lose all memory of her mother, or what little she had. She would have liked nothing more than to tear up that letter and throw it away, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"That isn't an option. You know that."

She looked down at the floor. "I know..."

"Don't worry. Everything will get better with time. You'll see."

Allison paused. "… Jenna?"

"Yes?"

"Why…" she was almost afraid to ask. "Why, of all the kids at the orphanage-" She stopped herself short.

Jenna caught on quickly. "Why did I pick you?" she asked, "Is that what you were going to ask?"

She gave a simple nod, embarrassed to ask any further.

"Well," Jenna said, "when I first saw you, I could tell just how special you were. Perhaps, I suppose, I saw a little bit of me in you – just looking for help." She gave a bright smile – one Allison could tell was honest. "And here we are." Allison couldn't help but smile back with the joy she was feeling.

"Plus," Jenna added, throwing her a clever grin, "did you see those other kids? Hideous!"

They both broke out into laughter at this comment. Clearly, the bad mood had been broken. Allison then grasped Jenna tightly in a hug, taking her slightly by surprise. Allison hardly ever showed her emotions that much, even after all this time with her. She returned the hug and said, "Now, what do you say, do you want to go back out there?"

Allison released her hold on her. "Do I have to put that back on?" she said, pointing at the clothes she was just wearing, slung over a chair in the corner.

"You know what?" Jenna asked with a grin, "I think it's time everyone met the real you. Here." She had grabbed a band from Allison's night table and tied her hair back into a ponytail.

The two quickly gave each other one more hug and both went back to dinner. As expected, the second they had sat down, Beebo was back to his questioning.

"Now where was I…? Oh yes!" the fat man exclaimed, "So do you remember anything at all about your original parents?"

The rest of the family was dumbfounded by Beebo's inconsiderate actions. Suddenly, Allison burst out, "Shut up, Beebo!" her teeth clenched. One or two family members gave a gasp, and everyone's attention was on Allison.

The jolly man was suddenly not so jolly. Stunned, he looked around the room for someone to correct her behavior, but to no avail. Then someone yelled out as well, "Yeah, Beebo! Shut up!" Everyone's attention was now drawn to Jenna, giving a sly grin to the fat man. Needless to say, Beebo got the hint and kept his mouth shut for the remainder of dinner, not even to eat. When the commotion was over, and everyone else went back about their own conversations, Allison gave a smile to her mother for the assistance, and Jenna gave her a satisfied wink.

The very next day, almost everyone in Jenna's family called her – even a few of the ones who didn't show up to dinner. They didn't want to talk to Jenna though. They wanted Allison. Apparently they all wanted to commend Allison on being the first in the family to open her mouth and shut Beebo's. She couldn't help but notice that she was already being accepted as family. This was something that she had never felt before; people wanting to talk to her, wanting to thank her, and compliment her. Each one of them welcomed her warmly into the family now, and all it took was a simple outburst.

Once the seemingly endless wave of calls ended, Jenna complimented Allison as well.

"I'm really proud of you, you know."

"Because I yelled at Beebo?"

"No"

Allison arched an eyebrow. "No? Then why?"

Jenna gave a smile and told her, "Because you're my daughter."

With that simple sentence, without another word, Allison just seemed to collapse into Jenna's arms, and the two embraced each other.

The two truly cared for each other, completed each other, and they knew it. Without each other, they would have both been lost. Allison would be even more miserable than one could comprehend, and Jenna - she would not have lasted if it were not for Allison. They really were a family now, and for the first time, Allison truly felt like she belonged.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------