Fuel had a long-standing belief that it was easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, hence why he charged through the door to Angie and Caroline's house without even knocking.

"Hey, Angie!" he called out while kicking the door closed behind him.

Despite her surprise, Angie's face lit up as soon as he walked in. "Hi, Fuel!"

Fuel proudly held up the sack he was carrying. "Look what I got!"

"Oh no," she groaned. "Please tell me it's not—"

"More nuts!" he interrupted her.

"Back again, Fuel?" Caroline asked from the kitchen. "I swear you spend so much time here that your father must be getting jealous."

"Nah, he's got all the help he needs," said Fuel. "So what do you think? Is it a good day for cookies?"

Caroline sized up the delivery. "It looks like you got quite a lot today. You must have been busy to find all these. I guess I'd better preheat the oven."

"Mooom," Angie groaned. "Are we gonna be baking all day again?"

"It'll hardly be all day," Caroline said as she accepted the bag. "Would you like to help, Fuel? I know you love these when they're fresh out of the oven."

"Sure thing, Ms. Caroline!"

"Well, I guess it'll be nice to have help," Angie admitted, happy to have Fuel's company even if it meant more baking. Still, it would be nice if he'd come by simply to visit once in a while instead of always wanting something. "Just make sure you wash your hands. Who knows where they've been."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fuel objected. "All I've done today is gather some nuts."

"Yeah, yeah," Angie said dismissively. "I know what sort of stuff you get up to."

Fuel grinned. "Unlike most guys, I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty."

*Slam!*

"Aha!" Claus exclaimed as he burst into the room. "Not so fast!" Fuel regretted not locking the door behind him.

"Good to see you too, Claus," Caroline said with a slight hint of irritation.

"I got here first," said Fuel. "Get in line."

"But I brought more nuts than you!" Claus countered, showing off both of the bags he was lugging.

"Your brother found most of those," Fuel muttered.

"Well since you're here, you can help too," Caroline offered.

"Mom, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Angie pointed out.

"Why not?" Claus asked indignantly.

"Well . . ." Angie took a moment to figure out a tactful way to phrase it. She then abandoned that idea altogether. "Fuel can at least crack an egg, but you'd be lucky not to burn a glass of water."

Claus looked pretty steamed at the suggestion that he couldn't cook. "If Fuel can do it then how hard could it be?"

"Don't take it personally," Fuel said with a very self-satisfied smirk. "You never learned, is all. Why would you when you've got your mommy to do everything for you?" Fuel was lucky Claus's hands were full. He was unlucky that Claus was a psychic with no self-control. "Ahh!" he yelped as a jolt of electricity shot up his leg. "Not cool!"

"Alright, boys. Settle down," Caroline warned them. "Fuel, dear, grab the flour. Angie?"

"Yeah, mom?" asked Angie.

"Keep an eye on Claus."

Angie groaned, already resenting her duty as babysitter. She had Claus set his bags on the counter and wash his hands before touching anything. By the time he was done she had reappeared with aprons for both him and Fuel, and had put on one herself.

Angie had become something of an expert at making nut cookies and bread thanks to her mom. The recipes were simple enough that she could bake a batch in her sleep, but the boys' "help" was anything but helpful. Fuel, at least, had some experience in the kitchen thanks to all the time he spent here, but he was still clumsy. Claus was hopeless, though. She stuck both of them with the hardest job to screw up: shelling nuts.

"Better pick up the pace, Claus," Fuel taunted his friend as he tossed another loose nut into the bowl.

Claus, meanwhile, was struggling to get the hang of things. He didn't say it out loud, but he'd been keeping count and he was woefully behind Fuel in terms of nuts cracked. "You're –urgh! – cheating! You gave me all the –gah! – tough ones."

"It's not my fault you don't know what you're doing," Fuel replied.

"Be careful, Claus," Angie warned him. "You don't want to get your finger caught in that nutcracker.

"Yeah, don't be such a dingus," said Fuel.

"I don't need – ow!" Predictably, Claus had managed to get some skin snagged, and was now bleeding.

"Over here, dear," Caroline called over to him as she turned the sink on. Claus quickly obeyed, going over to run cold water over his wound.

"Are you okay?" Fuel asked, following behind.

Claus winced. He knew it served him right for trying to show off; it was hardly the first time he'd had to learn that lesson and it almost certainly wouldn't be the last. "Yeah. It's fine."

"I think we've got some bandages around here," Angie said as she went to look.

"Hey, it's no problem," said Fuel. "You can heal yourself, right Mr. Psychic?"

Claus hissed in pain. "Um . . . n-not really," he admitted. "Lucas is way better at that sort of stuff." As much as Claus loved to pat himself on the back over how good a psychic he was, he never got the hang of support PSI. Those techniques came so naturally to Lucas, but even a little scratch like this was too much for Claus to heal.

"Well where is he?" asked Fuel. "I thought he said he'd be right behind us."

"I'm sure he'll get here soon," said Claus. "It's not like he could get lost or anything." No sooner had he finished speaking than there was a knock at the door. "See? That's probably him now."

"Come in!" Caroline called out as she resumed stirring cookie batter in a bowl.

The door swung open with a shrill creak. It wasn't Lucas though, but Mike, who greeted Caroline with a smile and a tip of his hat, carefully shutting the door behind him and wiping his feet. "Hello, everyone! I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all," Caroline said warmly. "What brings you by?"

"A little bird told me that somebody was baking cookies," he said.

"I'm sure they won't be as good as yours," said Angie, looking up from the drawer she was rummaging through.

Mike laughed at that. "You're a sweet girl, Angie, but a terrible liar. My cookies are all slightly unclean and not very tasty; they can't compare to your mother's."

"Well you can have some as soon as they're ready, just like everyone else," said Caroline.

"You're too good to me, Caroline. If all the other women around here paid me half as much mind as you I'd always have a full belly and a lovely view." He cackled in the way only a dirty old man could.

"That's still sexual harassment, Mike," Caroline chided him without missing a beat. "We've been over this."

"Bah! It's getting to where a man can't even pay a compliment these days."

"Think about the example you're setting for the boys." Caroline motioned toward Fuel and Claus.

"Don't you put that on me," Mike objected. "Those little hoodlums were already bad long before I got to 'em. They remind me of my own grandkids: can't even be bothered to spend time with me, the little ingrates."

"Here you are, Claus," Angie said as she approached him with a bandage.

"Thanks," he said, holding up his finger to her and feeling like a total klutz for having such a stupid accident.

"There," said Angie as she finished wrapping his injury. "It's not bad, but I don't think you'll be much more use in the kitchen."

Claus chuckled. "I was already pretty useless to begin with."

"Oh now I get it," said Fuel. "Give yourself a little booboo and leave all the work to me, huh? I'm on to you."

"You're too clever for me, Fuel," Claus replied. He took off his apron and went to sit down, suddenly feeling drained.

"Quit your whining," Mike told Fuel. "I was cracking nuts with my bare hands at half your age. And I liked it, too!"

Things went on like that for a while. Before long the first cookies were in the oven and everyone had a chance to chat without distraction. Claus remained aloof, though. As the minutes ticked by, he started feeling more and more anxious. Lucas still hadn't shown up. It wasn't like him to disappear without telling anyone.

"Hey, I'm gonna go look for Lucas," Claus announced as he stood to go.

"Don't you want to stay until the cookies are done?" asked Caroline.

"No, it's okay. I'll come back later," said Claus.

"I can find him if you're still hurt," Fuel offered.

"No, I'm fine. Really," Claus reassured his friend. "Besides, when I find Lucas he can heal me right up."

Fuel held up his hands. "If you insist."

"Well, let us know when you do find him," said Angie. "I bet he'll be hungry."

"That boy doesn't eat enough," Mike grumbled. "He's so thin he'll even come around sometimes begging for cookies. Slightly unclean and not very tasty cookies. That's no kind of meal for a growing boy."

Claus slipped out through the door and looked around. He asked Ollie if Lucas had come through town, but to no avail. The concern that had been building up rapidly matured into real dread. He told himself that Lucas couldn't have gone too far, but the more he racked his brain the less sense it made. Why would Lucas just wander off? What did he need to do in the first place? Claus could kick himself for not finding out even that much. With how worried Lucas had been about him, he wondered if he should be more concerned for Lucas.