I'm in a happy mood so I think I'll write a second chappie! Bartok is coming in this one! Oh and don't worry! I intend to finish this story completely! Just not anytime soon. It'll be done over the course of a year.

XXX

The next morning, Claire was the first to wake up. She rubbed her eyes and slowly stretched her arms; careful not to bump the board over there heads. She was cold, and damp, and hungry. To make things worse, there was an icy drizzle going on outside.

"UGH!" the poor girl groaned desperately. 'What I wouldn't give to be at the palace… with leftovers of Alex's Papa's pie!' her stomach screamed at her. Soon, her inward complaints stopped when she saw Jon and Alex.

Alex's head was rested on Jon's shoulder and Jon's head was on top of hers. Their hands were also joined.

Claire giggled. "OHHHH!" she exclaimed. "Look at you guys!" Blue and Brown eyes flew open as the pair realized the position they were in and they sprang apart.

"Morning," Alex whispered briefly.

"Morning," Jon replied stretching his body away from Alex.

Claire giggled again then batted her eyelashes. "Awww you guys are so cute!"

"Oh, shut up!" Alex and Jon exclaimed simultaneously. There voices seemed to echo through the yard. The children froze. What if someone heard them?

Suddenly they heard something that sounded like a small flag flapping in the breeze. The freezing rain pelted more heavily against their makeshift shelter.

"This is all your fault!" Jon exclaimed pointing at Claire. "Now someone's coming for us!"

"What?" Claire yelled back. "I'm not the one who—"

Alex's face turned white. "Shh… they're coming closer…"

Claire and Alex latched onto each other and squeezed their eyes shut. Jon, trying to play the fearless one, lifted his head and clenched his fists into the ground; though his heart was racing.

"Wow…" a tiny voice said. "You guys look scared!"

"AHHHH!!!" came Claire's high pitched scream.

Jon covered her mouth. "QUIET! It's a…a… white… talking… midget bat…" the young boy was in shock.

Alex and Claire opened their eyes. "HUH?" they cried. There, floating in front of them was the smallest bat they had ever seen. And more than that, it was talking!

"Woah, woah! Hold on a second Mister!" the bat exclaimed flapping in front of Jon face and poking at his nose. "I am NOT a midget bat! The name's Bartok!"

"Jon…" Alex whispered. "Why is it talking?"

Bartok turned his gaze on Alex and his eyes grew wide. "You…"

"What?" Alex put on her come-any-closer-and-I'll-kill-you face.

"You're… Anastasia's daughter!"

Alex grabbed Bartok in her hand and squeezed his wings tightly against his body. "What's it to you?"

"Let… m-me go… and we can… talk… about it!" Bartok choked. When Alex let him go, the poor bat flopped to the ground with a soft thud. "Okay," he said brushing himself off. "See little princess, I knew your mother in the past—"

Alex's face twisted up with disgust. "My mom was friends with an albino bat?"

"You sure a feisty little kid!" Bartok placed his hands on his hips.

"Your Bartok??" Jon inquired.

"Yes sir!"

"You're the one help helped, Rasputin?" another pain ran through Jon's side. "OUCH!"

"You helped the man that kill my family?" Alex's brows furrowed.

"I never helped! I… just stuck… around…" Bartok answered shuffling his feet. "But now I'm here to help you!"

Jon's heart rate sped up. 'What is Rasputin up to?' Jon thought.

"Help me?" Alex picked up the bat and squeezed him again. "What makes you think that I would trust you?"

"Alex," Claire whispered putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Let him go… maybe there is something he can do!"

"You want help from a bat?"

"A talking bat!" Claire exclaimed.

"Named… B-Bartok!" sputtered the tiny creature.

Alex waited a while, then hesitantly placed Bartok onto her palm. "Okay…" Alex shrugged. "How can you help?"

"I know where the pieces to that reliquary are hidden!" Bartok answered proudly.

"You do?" Jon inquired. His heart rate sped up again.

"Of course!" Bartok puffed his chest out. "But I can only tell you where in clues…"

"How come?" Claire asked innocently cocking her head to the side.

Bartok scratched his head in thought. "How… come?" he mumbled. "Uh… 'cause… I'm not the best with… directions…?" The triplet looked suspiciously at the small white creature in Alex's hand.

"…Makes sense…" Jon broke the silence. Alex glared at him. "What?"

"You think we can trust him?" Alex inquired forcefully.

Jon merely shrugged. "I think so."

"Me too!" Claire cried. "And besides, he's sooooo cute!"

Bartok smoothed back his over-sized ears. "I've been told that once or twice…" Claire giggled.

"So that's it then?" Alex sighed. "We follow the bat?"

"We follow the bat!" Claire and Jon replied in unison.

Alex twisted one of her red curls around her finger. "Fine…"

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps mixed into the sound of the freezing rain. The three children, and Bartok, huddled close.

"Hey!" called a deep voice. A man with a grizzly black beard and two dark black eyes looked under the small shelter. "What are you kids doing here!?!"

"I think that's our cue to run…" Jon mumbled. With that, they all barged as quickly as they could from under the board and into the rain. They ran and ran until they reached a small patch of woods and the sound of mumbling from the stranger was inaudible.

Alex placed her hands on her knees to catch her breath as Bartok plopped onto her shoulder. "I think we lost him!" he commented between breaths.

Jon giggled as he thought of Claire in hysterics. "It's okay Claire… bre—" he stopped himself as he realized that the was in fact no Claire shouting at the top of her lungs. "Alex, where's Claire?"

Alex's face turned white as a sheet. "I don't know!" The pair split up and looked everywhere, screaming her name until they were sure that Claire was no where nearby.

"I can't find her!" Jon exclaimed.

"Me either!" Bartok commented.

Alex took a deep breath. "She's probably back at the junkyard… I'll get her!"

Jon raised an eyebrow. "What? You can't go back by yourself!"

"You can come with me…" she stretched out her palm as Jon hesitantly placed his hand in it. "Let's go!" And the two took off running with Bartok flying close behind.

Jon was already out of breath when they were out of the woods, but Alex kept on going and was almost dragging him behind. He was impressed! A girl had never out run him before.

Alex's only concern was finding Claire and felt a shock of relief as she heard Claire's small voice crying: "HELP!!!"

"We're coming!" Alex called back. Finally, the junkyard was insight and so was Claire, who was trapped in an old, underground cellar. The grizzly man was walking away mumbling "That should teach her…" Jon and Alex rushed to help pull Claire out, only to hear the angry shout of the man.

"I guess you want to be thrown in there too, eh?" he bellowed.

"Get Claire out of there," Alex mumbled to Jon. "I'll take care of him…"

"B—" Jon was silenced when Alexandra placed a warm hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and do as I say!!" Jon could only nod and held a worried look on his face.

"Hey, you old scrooge!" Alex exclaimed placing her hands on her hips and facing the man. "Maybe if you shaved that beard you could actually have friends!"

"What!" the man bellowed. "Who are you to tell me this you little twerp?"

Alex scoffed. "Princess Alexandra Marie Horowitz! Heir to the thrown of Imperial Russia!" At that note, Alex kicked the grizzly man as hard as she could in his spot. When he toppled over, she stood over him and laughed. "We may seem pampered… but we royalty can still kick some peasant BUTT!"

Jon laughed as he gave one final heave to pull Claire out of the cellar. "Alright, Alex!!! Way to make him cripple."

"The bigger they are the better they fall!" she replied proudly. As she said that Claire fainted into Jon's arms.

"The smaller they are the funnier they fall…" Jon mumbled with a smirk.

Alex gave him a slight smile. "Let's get her someplace less rainy…" she suggested finally realized how soaked they were. "I'll hold her head you hold her feet."

Jon shrugged and took hold of Claire legs. He knew now that Alex probably knew best… Even if she was a year younger. And she beat up a grown man!

Bartok smiled and perched on Claire's stomach as she lay swinging between her companions. "Just like your mother…"

Alex frowned, and then sadness crept over her. "Mama? Like me… Fat chance…"

XXX

Dimitri stayed in his study all day and night of Alex's departure. He was on the phone yet again with a head officer in France.

"…My daughter… yes…. The princess…. Uh huh…. Red-hair, blue eyes… my eyebrows… yes… thank you… no…. no formalities please…. Just find my baby…." He hung up the phone. Anya was rest against his shoulder falling in and out of sleep with worry. Every now and again a tear would fall.

Dimitri gazed over at his drifting wife. "Anya, get some sleep now… I'll keep searching…"

Anya shook her head. "I can't… not without all my children home…" Another tear fell.

Dimitri reached over and kissed her forehead. "Fine then sleep here… just try and get some rest."

Anya looked at him and then hesitantly placed her head back on his shoulder. "I'm glad at least their safe…" she mumbled as she commented on her other children who were also sleeping in the study. Soon after she fell asleep.

Dimitri turned back to look at his other children. Nicholas lay awkwardly across the floor, while 'Mitri and Marie lay on a few stacks of newspapers. "Nicholas…" Dimitri called to wake up his son.

Nicholas's head snapped up at first sound of his father's voice. "What? Alex? Did we find her!!!!"

Dimitri closed his eyes and sighed. "No… but I want you guys to go to bed… it's late."

"But Papa… We wanna stay and look for Alex!" Nicholas whined loud enough to wake up the twins.

Dimitri sighed again. He was too distraught to deal with whining tonight. "Fine… But first take your brother and sister upstairs and wash up. You guy can sleep on the couch down here but bring some blankets and pillows, and an extra pillow for your mother."

'Mitri rubbed his eyes. "What about you, Papa?"

Dimitri pressed his forehead into Anya's hair. "I'll be fine…" as his children went upstairs Dimitri let a few more tears fall and whim Alpers escape from his throat.

Anya awoke at the sound and lifted her head slightly to kiss his lips. "Shhh… We'll find her…" she let a few sobs run through her as well. "We'll find her…"

The pair held onto each other even more tightly as they tried not to think of the dangers their Alex could be in…

XXX

Awww…. I loved that one. It shows you just how much Alex is like her mother and how much love Anya and Dimitri have for all their children. I almost cried when I wrote in that Dimitri started to cry. Well there it is for you! Oh and Christmas is coming up soon so sometime before winter is over Alex… Wait I'm saying too much! Anyways please REVIEW!!!!!

~Niysa