Mark knew for a fact that he and his team were in trouble. Even if he put aside the fact that the police had been called and that there were suspensions applied and the threat of expulsion once the investigation was complete, the sheer fact that Anderson had not come to the school to get them …

… Well that was the prime indicator that their troubles were far from over.

The four of them were silent as they sat in the back of the Federation limousine, with none looking at another. They were all preparing themselves for whatever the repercussions had to offer them, and Mark carefully analyzed the sounds each made as they worked it through their minds.

Before the first teacher had arrived in the playground Mark had decided to take the fall for the incident. Jason, Tiny and Princess were merely innocent parties only trying to protect the other children on the premises. It was true that he was, also, but he felt it was his duty to stand up and take the hit for his team. He would not allow them to receive reprimand when all they were trying to do was what they'd been trained to do.

Pretty much the whole thing was Anderson's fault anyway. If he hadn't had Princess so finely tuned into the different chemical aromas of every explosive compound known to man then she wouldn't have detected it on his shirt. She wouldn't have flicked into a protective hen and rushed in to try and save everyone.

… She wouldn't have almost gotten hurt.

His eyes slid to her. She chewed on her thumbnail and sat in a terrified seat beside him. Her eyes were wider than he'd ever seen them and barely blinked. She looked scared.

Without conscious thought, he took her hand in his as gave it a tight squeeze. "Don't worry, Princess,"

Her big green eyes had a red rim when she looked back at him. "We're in so much trouble, Mark, and it wasn't even our fault."

"I know," he whispered in reply. "Don't worry. I'll take the blame for it."

She shook her head. "No."

He kept his voice low and calming. "Yes, Cassie. I'm not going to let you get in trouble for doing what you were trained to do."

She leaned against him and held onto his hand tight. "And let Mr. Anderson take you away from us again?" Her head shook. "I only just got you back."

He let out a breath of a laugh at her words. "I missed you too, Princess."

"I really like it when you call me that, Mark."

He smoothed his hand over her hair. "So do I." His eyes fell to Jason, who looked upon the pair with a single raised brow. "What?"

Jason gave Tiny a couple of teasing jabs with his elbow. "They make such a cute couple, don't they?"

At the comment, Princess sharply pulled away from Mark. She dipped her head in embarrassment. "We're not a couple," she whimpered softly. "Stop teasing me."

Jason smirked and made kissing sounds. "I know you want to, Cass. I know you think about him every night when you go to bed. You want him to kiss you."

Mark narrowed his eyes at Jason. He knew why he was resorting to teasing poor Princess – it was his way of hiding that he was as terrified of the consequences as the rest of them. "Jason, leave her alone," he growled.

Jason's eyes narrowed in challenge. "What are you going to do if I don't?"

"Introduce your nose to the window," he snapped back. "Just because you're freaked out doesn't mean you have to take it out on Princess."

Jason gruffly folded his arms across his chest. "Can if I want."

Mark curled a lip. "You are such a brat."

Jason flipped him the bird in rebuttal.

Fortunately for the integrity of the limousine's structure, and the general sanity of the driver, the harsh braking at the facility's front door saved any fight from breaking out. As the side door opened to let them out, Mark pointed toward Jason. "Let me do the talking in there, okay, Jason? I don't need you running off your mouth if we're going to make it out of here in one piece."

Jason shrugged as he let Princess climb out of the car in front of him. "Whatever."

Princess immediately shrank under the glare of Anderson when she climbed out of the car. Of all three, she was the one in the most trouble. It was she who had bolted from the building with the explosives in her hand and it was she who detonated each small bomb. The large burn mark on pretty blue and yellow cheerleading skirt was testament to the information of her being the closest to the blast. She gripped tightly at the hem of the skirt in an effort to hide it.

"Hello, Sir," she managed meekly.

Anderson kept his hand in his pocket, a hand that was quite obviously pumping in and out of a fist. "Hello to you too," he snapped as he turned and walked inside, absolutely expecting his team to follow him. "I am very disappointed in all of you."

Mark strode up quickly to fall in pace beside the project head. "Sir. This is not Princess' fault."

"I suppose it's all your fault, Mark," he growled in response as he led them into a large office.

"Actually it is," Mark said firmly with confidence. "I was the one with Moose and his friends when…"

Anderson spun abruptly and glared down on Mark to cease all further explanation. "Princess was the one with the explosives in her hand. She was also the one who let them all detonate."

"She also saved half the school, Sir."

Anderson angled his head in a manner to suggest he had not received all of the information at hand on the incident. "I have not had you kids in training all of these years for you to pull childish pranks in the schoolyard."

Jason intervened. "Hey, this wasn't a prank, Sir." He thumbed back at Princess, who was partially cowering against the wall. "Cassie recognized a danger and neutralized it – just like you've trained her to do. Rather than being all pissy, maybe you should tell her well done for saving everyone."

Anderson shot his stare at Jason. "What she should have done … What you all should have done, was notify a teacher that there was a suspicious substance on school property." He took a pen from his pocket and clicked it repeatedly in irritation. "These constant calls from the school regarding your mischief and bullshit is making my job in protecting all of you very difficult."

Mark found himself snarling. "Yeah. Well how about us? With you and that damn school not willing to look into what actually happens in the schoolyard, and actually do something about it to make our lives easier, then what do you expect."

Anderson spun on Mark. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me, Commander."

"I wouldn't have to raise my voice if you would actually open your ears and listen."

Anderson let out a low growl at being challenged by a pimply little teen. "Mark. You have been back, what, five hours? Five hours and I am already having to shovel you out of …"

Princess' voice shrilly called from the wall. "Stop it!"

Anderson and Mark shot their gazes to her. Mark's heart broke at the sight of her.

Her eyes and cheeks were messy with tears, enough that her hair was sticky and damp from her wiping at them with the back of her hand. Her burned skirt was skewed to the side and her cheerleading shirt torn down one side. Her whole posture screamed absolute misery, from her hands clutching at her hair, to her forward-bent stance and turned in leg. Her body bubbled with shortened breaths as she vainly attempted to control her tears. When she tried to speak, it had to form over sobs and deep gulps.

"Please just stop!"

Mark's posture dropped as he practically swallowed his heart. "Oh, Princess."

She shook her head and rushed to Anderson. "Please don't take him away again, Sir."

Anderson gasped and shirked back as the young woman threw herself at him and clutched his shirt to beg. "Princess, I…"

Her head shook as she let herself collapse completely into her turmoil. "It wasn't his fault. It wasn't our fault." Her breaths were deep and uncontrolled as she battled through. "Jason and Mark. They. They were only trying to help." She wiped her eyes on his shirt to attempt to look up at him with any level of clarity. "I did it. But I was only trying to do the right thing."

Anderson found himself looking to Mark for help. The future G-Force commander merely opened his arms and shrugged as though at a loss.

Princess sobbed on. "Everything … Everyone I love is here. You take them away from me and you take away my whole heart." Her body shook again as an exhale snagged on a sob. "You, Mark, Jason, Tiny, all of you are my family. I … I…" She looked up at him. "You're like my Daddy, Sir. Father's aren't supposed to break their little girl's hearts. I'm so sorry for what happened. So sorry." Her head dropped into his shirt and she let out another series of loud and desperate sobs. 'Don't break us apart. I'm so sorry. I'll do anything you want, just keep us together."

Anderson blinked hard and slow. What could he do? How could he possibly deny this little girl anything in the world she wanted? He found himself circling his arms around her to hold her as she wept.

"Princess, I'm so sorry," he cooed softly, somewhat unsure about how to truly handle such a situation. She was so tiny in his hold and so sad at the thought of something hurting her family.

Father. She had told him she thought of him as a father.

He gave her a tight squeeze. "I promise you I won't separate you again, Princess,' he vowed inside a shaking voice of his own. "I'm very sorry to have scared you like that."

She nodded and let out a few more solid sobs. "Please fix this," she pleaded.

He pulled back and looked into her face as he stroked her hair lovingly a couple of times. "I will, Princess." He blinked his eyes and looked around at the three stunned boys in the room with them. His eyes were misted, and he found himself having to clear his throat before he could speak.

"Team. I will handle this."

Without a second breath, he strode quickly out of the room to leave the foursome alone with their thoughts.

Mark immediately drew Princess into his arms to attempt to comfort her. "Oh, Cassie. I'm so sorry."

Her breath settled and she turned her head against his chest to look conspiratorially toward the door. "Do you think it worked?"

Jason let out a cough that was in perfect synchronicity as a laugh from Tiny. Mark pulled back abruptly and stared into her red eyes in complete disbelief. "Cassandra?"

She wiped at her eyes with the back of her wrist and jogged to the doorway to peer into the hallway. When she saw all was clear, she readjusted her clothing to a much more comfortable and less desperate looking state. Her eyes rose to Mark, who looked on her in shock.

"What?" She asked quietly.

He blinked and dropped one brow in confusion. "That was all fake?"

She rolled her eyes and closed the door behind them, well aware that the walls had ears. "Oh it was all true, what I said." She tipped her ear to one shoulder. "I just figured that you weren't getting anywhere with arguing, so I tried a different tactic."

"But, Cassie. That's so …"

"So awesome," Jason chuckled.

Mark shook his head. "But it's all a lie, and lying is wrong."

She groaned. "No it wasn't a lie. The tears, well…" She shuffled her feet a little. "Okay, well, they were exaggerated." Her eyes rose quickly. "But I meant every word I said. You guys are everything to me."

Jason screwed up his face. "Oh God. No I don't want to hear it."

Princess smiled and slid up to him. She nudged him with her shoulder. "I know you feel the same way, Jason."

His mouth opened and he raised a finger to argue. Before he got a word out, however, he gave her a smile and opened the door to leave. "Just don't make me admit it, okay?"

"I won't," she giggled.

She fell in step behind Jason and giggled when Mark put his arm over her shoulder to join the walk to their rooms. "I still don't like that kind of game, Princess. But thanks for getting us out of hot water."

She nestled into his side and grinned. "You're welcome."