Gru jumped to his feet. This – this punk, the son of his worst enemy, had hurt his girls?! "FREEZE RAY!" He yelled, pulling out the ray gun to the fear of all in the room. Antonio scrambled to get out of the way. Margo threw herself at Gru, grabbing the gun as it fired. It harmlessly blasted a small statue on the table. "Gru, stop!" "He hurt you, Margo!" Gru protested, grabbing for his handy gadget. "No, he didn't!" Margo yelled, her face angry. "He protected us!" "That's right!" Edith hopped off the table, wearing an ear-to-ear grin. "It was totally awesome, Antonio kicked butt!" The ex-villain's blue eyes widened, and he stared at the small boy. Staring at the ground, he looked the picture of discomfort, probably thinking about their past. "Mr. Gru," The dark haired boy said softly in his Hispanic accent. "I don't get it," Gru frowned. "If you didn't do it, who did?" "I don't know!" Edith cut in, bouncing up and down. "There was this big kid, and he was wearing a hat and sunglasses, and he came up and started kicking dirt on us and laughing." "Then Edith punched him in the stomach," Margo said. "Then he gave me my black eye! And Margo tried to push him and make him go away, but he threw her into the fence!" "That's when Antonio ran over and beat him up!" Margo grinned. "He ran across the field, straight into the fence, but he ran UP the fence, put the kid in a head-lock using his legs –" "And wham, threw him to the ground just like a NINJA!" Edith shouted, trying to demonstrate and nearly running into the wall. Antonio shifted, still looking at the ground. "It wasn't that much, Señor. After I did that, la cabeza de huevo just ran off. He was a coward. Especially for picking on people smaller than him." Well, this information definitely floored Gru. Looking from the girls to the nurse, his eyes finally landed on Antonio. His gaze softened. "Come on, kid," Gru said gently. "We need to talk." Antonio had no choice but to follow him out the door. The girls watched, looking nervous. "No, I won't keell him!" Gru called over his shoulder. "Be back in a meenute." The two walked out the nearest exit and sat on the empty steps. Gru couldn't blame the kid for being quiet and embarrassed after what had happened the last time they'd seen each other. "Thank you," Gru finally spoke up. Antonio's eyes flew open wide, and he turned to look at the girls' intimidating father. He definitely hadn't been expecting that. "It was a very good think for you to do," Gru smiled a little. "Now, I need to know. Where are you living now dat… well…" He trailed off, feeling awkward. It was, after all, himself who had sent Antonio's father to jail. "I am not proud of what my father did, Señor," Antonio looked down again. "I didn't like El Macho. I liked mi padre, Eduardo, better." In the following silence, Gru felt his heartstrings pulled, but he still felt slightly mad at the boy. His rude and flippant attitude had been the bane of his existence during those few days when Antonio and Margo had been in love. And, he'd broken his little girl's heart. But Gru also knew what he had to do. Leaving Antonio on the steps, Gru walked into the principal's office. The rotund little man looked up in surprise. "Yesh, may I help you shir?" The taller man in front of him smirked a little bit at the pronounced lisp. "Yes, you can. Look, I need to know about dat kid out dere, Antonio Perez." "He'sh new. Shtarted coming to thish shchool only a week ago. He'sh in 8th grade, I think." Only a grade ahead of Margo… and it was a big school. No wonder they hadn't seen each other until today. "Who are hees parents?" Gru had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew Antonio didn't have a mother. "He'sh living in Hendrick'sh Home for Boysh until he get'sh adopted by shomeone, Mishter Gru." Oh wonderful. He didn't want to adopt the kid. Well, now that he knew that Antonio wasn't homeless, his work here was done. "Thank you," Gru said, and disappeared out the door. He looked out the exit that he and Antonio had been sitting by. The lonely-looking, dark-haired orphan was ascending the last few steps of the bus. And then just like that, he was gone. Gru stared for a minute, then shook himself. Time to get the girls and head home. _ "Gru! Gru!" A few days later, Gru was busy fixing Agnes' bike when his two youngest girls nearly ran him over. "Gurls? What's wrong?" He asked, confused and concerned. "Antonio's missing!" Edith yelled. "Antonio?" "Yes Antonio! We were going to visit him at the Home but he's gone!" Agnes wailed. "Gurls, you know he probably got adopted out…" "But I wanted Agnes to meet him again! After the whole fight thing! It was so cool!" Edith kicked at the ground. "I wanted to say thanks. I didn't get to thank him for what he did." Gru's eyes widened in surprise. That was rare for Edith. "Well, I guess I can go and find out what happened," he sighed reluctantly. "Yay!" Agnes bounced up and down. "You're the greatest Dad EVER!" That made him smile. "Huh. Well, I am pretty great," he nodded in approval as he headed for the car. _ "I'm sorry, gurls. They don't give away the locations of kids who've been adopted out," Gru apologized later that evening to his three distressed kittens. "But Gru, we can't let anything happen to him after what he did for us!" Margo protested, her eyes frowning from behind her glasses. "Hey, keeten." Gru sat down and pulled them into his lap. "I'm sure dat someone great has adopted heem. It'll be okay. Maybe you'll get to see heem again soon, someone close by may have adopted Antonio." Agnes snuggled into the hug, and Edith grunted in acknowledgment. Margo sighed against his shoulder. "Okay. Thanks, Gru." _ Antonio rolled over, putting a hand to his throbbing head. "Ah… what the… que paso? (what happened?)" He tried to get his foot back into consciousness. "Pins and needles…!" he muttered under his breath. "Good afternoon, Antonio." "Ehh." "I apologize for our methods in getting you here," the fat man at the counter replied in a British accent. "Me too," The tall, thin redhead replied with a slight grimace. "You seem like a nice kid." Anger flashed through Antonio. He'd been walking in the park by himself when a well-dressed, pretty lady with red hair and green eyes came up to him and told him to come along. Of course he refused, and when he did, she shot him with a tranquilizer. "Look!" He shouted at the man, pushing himself to his feet. "I don't know who you cerebros de salsa think you are, but –" "We are the Anti-Villain League," the fat man interrupted. "An ultra secret organization dedicated to fighting crime on a global scale. Rob a bank, we're not interested. Kill someone, not our deal. But you have captured our attention, Mr. Perez. The son of the current most famous villain, who seems to be cunning, yet has not used that to his own gain. You, Antonio, defended the daughters of the man who put your father behind bars." Antonio blinked. "How did you…" "We notice things, Antonio. That's why we brought you here. I am the league's director, Silas Ramsbottom." "Pah!" Antonio laughed. "Nice one, pollo gordo." The man sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hilarious. Agent Wilde?" Hopping off the counter, Agent Wilde turned back to glance at Ramsbottom. "I'm not gonna lie, this whole thing's giving me flashbacks of when I brought Gru in… Anyway. Ahem!" Dramatically clearing her throat, she pressed a button, revealing a huge screen. It listed all of Antonio's life information, with a full profile of himself. "Antonio, the AVL is very impressed by the traits and qualities we have seen in you, and seeing your current situation, we have decided to offer you a deal." Antonio stared, wide-eyed. "What's the deal?" "If you agree to become one of our field agents, we will provide you with a good place to live, and, well, basically anything you need! This doesn't usually happen – like, never. So, you're our first! Tadaaa! Yay!" "Agent Wilde!" "Sorry." Agent Wilde coughed slightly, putting her official face back on. Antonio grinned a little bit. He liked the eccentric agent. "Well, Antonio, that is our offer. What do you say?" Antonio stared around him at the huge, high-tech headquarters. Conflict warred inside him. Would he accept to be a part of the agency that brought down his father?