During the ride home, Natasha had apologized to everyone for running off and explained to the rest of the gang why she had freaked. Although they all agreed Phishie's drawing wouldn't put them in any danger, they all promised to be more cautious in the future. After getting everyone to agree to a meeting tomorrow discussing just what that implied, Natasha felt much better.
Sonny hummed quietly to himself, looking out the window of the car. Being the workaholic he was, he couldn't get a new song idea out of his head. Not that he would want to, he was quite enjoying the sequence of beats and bass forming in his mind. However it was making him more anxious to get home so he could start working on it before he could forget it. Impatiently he bounced his leg up and down as the car drove though the winding roads of Mansfield. He had just finished a tour with his sister about a month ago so he had been taking it easy, but after thinking about it, he felt the need to get back to work. I mean sure it was impossible to get Sonny to stop completely, whenever he had a minute he would work a bit on something, but he realized he hadn't worked in the studio seriously in a while. Besides... It wasn't just him anymore...
Sonny glanced over at the new addition to his family. Owsla was fast asleep in the backseat, leaning on his side. He smiled warmly in the darkness of the car. He wasn't sure how but the small alien had really made a place in his heart already. Placing his arm around her, he kissed the top of her head softly.
A daughter huh? That wasn't anything he had ever thought about. Family life didn't really suit the DJ life style. He would be away all the time on tour and he knew that was no place to take a kid. He had refused to take Bucky for the longest time for the same reason. Who would take care of Owsla while he was gone? Sub consciously his eyes drifted to the semi-red head in front of him. And he immediately focused them back out side the window guiltily. It was true Natasha was the most responsible person he knew that wasn't on tour all the time, but that would be asking too much. I mean, Owsla really did love her a lot which was painfully obvious but still. Well Natasha was really protective of her considering what had just happened earlier so he was confident he could trust her but... Uuuuh... No.
Besides, what exactly was Natasha to him anyways? Well Sonny would like to think of her as a friend considering she was kinda like, dating his sister. Sonny frowned. He guessed his real question was what the fuck did Natasha consider him? Sometimes it seemed like it was all cool but then she'd bite back at him. I mean, what was that all about?
He really did not get women. Yet looking around the car he realized he was surrounded by them. Damn, where was Joel when he needed him? Oh yeah, Canada. He glanced at his sister. He wished he could trust Owsla's aunt with his daughter. Hahaha this made Bucky and aunt. He tried to hold back a snort. No, Bucky didn't really like Owsla for some reason, that much was obvious, plus once her music career hit off she would be on tour all the time too. Sonny frowned. Why didn't Bucky like her? He would have to do something about that...
Suddenly, the headlights turned off and everyone was slammed back in their seat as Natasha started backing up the car.
"Rose, what the hell?" Bucky looked at Natasha confused. "Phishie's house is right there."
"The garage door has been jacked open."
"What?"
Natasha kept her voice calm and clear as she explained, trying not to cause a panic in the car. "A car jack was used to force open the garage door, it's all bent in the middle. The porch lights are on too and I specifically remember turning them off."
"Which means someone must have broken in..." Sonny muttered the obvious conclusion that was weighing on everyone's mind.
"But it should be okay now, right? There isn't another car anywhere so they must have already left." Phishie pointed out, her tone more hopeful than anything.
"I wouldn't bet my life on it." Natasha's cold statement weighed in the air for a long moment. Quietly she continued to slowly back up the car out of the coldesac.
"Natasha, stop the car." the words were out of Sonny's mouth before he could stop them.
"What?"
"Stop the car."
"Are you insane?"
"Stop the car!"
Natasha stopped the car and turned to look at him. "Sonny, you can't go in there! Most likely whoever is in there is here to hurt you or Bucky. Or both!"
"My laptop is in there." he explained.
"But-"
"Natasha, if you left your writing journals in there would you be sitting here or going in there to get it?"
Natasha was silent. Music was Sonny's life just like writing was hers. And she knew the both of them would risk their physical life to keep the thing that kept them living.
"10 minutes in and out." with that she turned off the car.
Immediately Sonny made a dash for it. The truth was he had all of his stuff backed up, he broke too many computers to depend on just one. The real reason he was going was because he knew Natasha was right. Someone had probably found out about him coming to Mansfield. It was his fault all of them were in danger. He remembered Roadhog telling him he had to be more careful about his visits here and he hadn't listened. Now, his family was in danger.
"Sonny!" a voice called out behind him as he reached the door. "Wait up idiot, don't go in alone!"
"Bucky, get back in the car." Sonny turned towards his sibling, irritated. When the person you're trying to protect shows up to put them self in danger anyways, it kinda defeats the purpose.
"No way am I letting you go in without me." she argued back.
"My thoughts exactly."
The siblings turned to see a certain semi-red head standing on the porch with them.
Get back in the car Natasha, now." Bucky warned, an edge in her voice making it clear she was about to lose it. For everyone's sake, Sonny really hoped Nat would just head her warning.
But that would just be too simple right? Because Natasha was stubborn like that.
"I'm not going anywhere besides inside with you." standing her ground, the semi-red head looked at her seriously.
"Natasha, if you do not go back right now, I will drag you and tie you to the car seat!" the blonde's eye were as cold and hard as her vibranium metal arm.
"I'm sorry, who has the gun here? That would be me."
"You have a what?" Sonny blinked. Was she serious? Surely she didn't actually have a gun?
But as Natasha lifted her right hand into the porch light they could clearly see the black piece of hardware. She definitely had a gun.
"That's illegal!" Bucky shouted.
"Like either of you are one to talk. Besides, it's not illegal because its a bb gun. I looked it up, I'm not stupid!"
"Why do you even HAVE a gun in your car!" Sonny exclaimed. His sister wasn't kidding when she said her girlfriend was full of surprises.
Natasha hesitated. "Well because... it makes me feel safer." it was obvious she wasn't telling the entire truth but now really wasn't the time to press it.
"Give me the gun and go back to car Rose."
Instead of replying, Natasha just pushed past and open the door, proceeding like a well trained cop.
By the look on his sister's face, Sonny could tell she wanted to yell at her but knew better than to risk it. If she did, it could alert someone inside and put them all in greater danger. So instead, they followed the semi-red head inside.
Efficiently, Nat began to clear each room, methodically searching for the potential intruder. Bucky meanwhile watched her back, ready to drop kick whoever came into view. It was actually pretty amusing. The blonde was actually slightly in the way but neither Sonny nor Natasha were going to mention it. Sonny knew Bucky felt like she should be the one protecting Natasha, not the other way around. Not that it wasn't obvious to see why. Bucky held an eighth degree black belt and was just an all around tough tom boy. Natasha on the other hand was a more girly, artistic type with a big heart. Still, Sonny was confident that she could hold her own... especially with that gun. Honestly, he felt a bit emasculated. As the responsible adult he should be protecting these kids. But Nat was right, the bb gun was the most effective weapon they had.
"Should have taken it from her earlier.." he thought.
Sonny felt a rubbing sensation on his leg. The sudden contact made him stiffen before the meow made him realize it was just Phishie's cat. Even in the dark he could see the outline of a black cat purring against his leg.
"That's strange," he thought. "I didn't realize Patches was a black cat."
Moving on Sonny tripped. Flailing as he fell, he almost tackled Bucky to the ground.
"Seriously?" his sibling whisper-yelled at him. Rolling her eyes, she continued after Natasha who was clearing the kitchen.
What had he tripped on? Looking back the goblin saw a large black duffel. It looked strangely familiar to him, but why? He was pretty sure it hadn't been there earlier today. It it had, he probably would have tripped on it already.
"Clear." Natasha declared. "All That's left is the hallway and the rooms down there."
"Great, now give me the gun and I'll do it myself."
"What? No way Bucky, it's my gun."
"Give me the gun Rose." the blonde insisted.
"I can do it myself!" Nat protested, heading down the hallway before either sibling could stop her.
Sonny stopped at the entrance of the hallway before following them. He had caught sight of a nice baseball cap on the wall where Mr. Laurie's collection of canes hung. So Mr. Laurie wore hats now too? That's cool. Oh wait... It was a DeadMau5 hat. At the same time Sonny's heart lurched and sank. Why was Joel so mad at him? He guessed the mau5 really did have every right to be. He had a daughter now. Best friends should know about that sort of stuff. It was weird to find the hat here though. Phishie wasn't a huge EDM fan like the rest of them and he knew it wasn't Bucky's... he snickered.
"Maybe it's Natasha's."
Not that she would ever admit it if it was. Without thinking, he slipped it on his head. It's not like it was making him feel better or anything. Following behind the girls again, he put his mind back in alert.
The first pair of rooms in the hallway were the guest room and bath. As the girls went to clear them Sonny stood guard against the rest of the hallway, still a little lost in thought.
He fingered the brim of the hat, thinking. He really should tell Joel but not only did he have difficulty finding out how to, he was scared to. What would Joel say when he found out he had a kid? And an alien kid at that. Maybe he should could go to Canada to talk to him... But then he remembered Owsla. How the hell was he supposed to travel with her? Not to mention she would need a passport.
It suddenly dawned on Sonny he needed to go to the bathroom. How much longer would they be checking for criminals? He really needed to go. Damn, he knew he shouldn't have drank so much but really who could help it when the rest of your party at CiCi's were taking way too long to find your alien child and a very scary girlfriend? He really hoped that would never happen again. Being forced to wait and do nothing while your kid was who knows where was a emotional rollercoaster he never wanted to ride again. Ever.
Maybe he should just go anyways. It's not like he was much help to the girls right now; he didn't have a weapon. But then he realized the bathroom light was on. Did they leave that on? Sonny couldn't remember.
"Hey guys?" he whispered loudly. "The bathroom light is on."
"What!" the panic in Natasha's voice caused him to jump a bit. "Those lights are automatic. Someone must be in there."
Charging past him, the pair positioned themselves on either side of the doorway, ready to break down the door.
"On my signal... 3..."
Somny narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right here.
"2..."
He really didn't want them bursting in there for some reason, but why?
"1!"
And suddenly it clicked. "Wait!" he yelled out desperately. Lunging towards them, he managed to knock Natasha's hands aside.
BANG!
She shot the counter instead and thank goodness she had. Sonny's intuition had been correct. There, in front of them all, stood a tattooed, half-naked man after a shower.
"Joel!"