The next day, when I woke up, the room had become almost familiar. I shook off the feeling as I threw some clothes on. I was the first one up, again, so I headed straight into the kitchen to make breakfast. My plan backfired when I woke her up, not to the smell of a hot meal, but the earsplitting sound of her smoke detectors. She stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. "Did you blow something up?"

I shrugged sheepishly then turned my attention back to the green, smoking butter in the frypan in front of me. She shoved me aside, and pulled it off the burner, turning the heat down. She clicked a button over the stove, and turned to give me a smug smile as a powerful fan sucked the smoke from the room.

I rolled my eyes. How am I supposed to know how to work your kitchen?

The smirk dissolved, and she started looking uncomfortable, no doubt remembering crying last night. Not wanting to talk about it anymore than she did, I figured this was as good a time as any to show her what I'd done to the toast.

She raised an eyebrow, and tapped it on the counter. It practically disintegrated. "And they call me evil."

Two sharp raps pounded on the door. We both turned to stare at it in shock. She walked over to the peephole she'd installed after I'd shown up. Her face paled, and she leapt back from the door.

They found me. I instinctively stood at the ready, but then she gasped. "Heinz is back!"

Oh. Why is she… She turned to give me a desperate look, and I realized that having her brother find his nemesis in his kitchen burning breakfast with her probably wasn't high on her bucket list. I gave her a thumbs up, and bolted for the guest room.

She gave me a moment, or maybe just took one for herself, then opened the door. "Heinz! You're back! I was wondering if you'd decided to go to the family reunion."

The door slammed. "How'd you know about that?"

"I got a letter."

His voice snapped. "Roger. He must've finally caved and told them where you where. Funny that they didn't send this, too."

"What is it?"

"These are our invitations. Postmarked two days after the rescheduled reunion, and a day after the phone call I got cussing me out for missing it."

"Oh." The hurt in her voice contrasted the anger in his.

His voice softened. "Don't be sad, Crumbkin. I didn't want you to have to put up with them anyway." I cracked the door open just a little more, and peered out. He'd pulled her into a comforting hug. She looked so content, snuggled into his arms, I felt that strange tolerance building back up towards my nemesis. He was many things, but at least he was a good big brother. I wouldn't go so far as to say that he cared for her as much as I cared for my siblings, but…

He frowned, and sniffed. "What happened here?"

Her smile faded, and her face paled again. "I burned breakfast." She winced like she knew it was a poor excuse the second it came out of her mouth.

He scoffed. "You burned breakfast. You?!"

She bit her lip as he started looking around the kitchen suspiciously. Then the panic eased from her face, and she let her voice quiver. "I-I'm s-sorry. I j-just was s-so d-distracted, thinking ab-bout…" she buried her face in her hands, and turned away. "Soufle!"

I smirked as he rushed back to her, pulling her back in his arms and cooing, "No, no, no, no, no… it's fine if you burned breakfast! Of course anyone would burn breakfast if they were thinking about Soufle!"

Soufle? What the heck is soufle, and why haven't I heard this story?

He patted her back, then tipped her chin up. "Don't you ever apologize to me. Do you hear me?"

It could have been a threat, but it was a plea. She smiled, wiped away a crocodile tear, and nodded. "Thanks, Heinz."

He smiled back. "There, now that's better. So, what are the plans for the day?"

The pretense vanished. Genuine depression settled in. "I've been in a rut for the past few days. Total creative mind block."

I got ready to bolt for a window in case she decided to come clean about everything, but I was just as ready to step in in case things got out of hand. She'd alluded to the fact that she wanted to take over the Tri-State-Area to prove herself to her big brother so many times…

He was the picture of understanding. "What's the matter, Crumbkin?"

I made a mental note to use her nickname against her somehow.

"I don't know. It just, doesn't seem worth it anymore. I'm tired of failing all the time."

"Well, we'll just make sure to succeed today, won't we?"

Somehow, I got the feeling that this would not bode well for me.