Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

Chapter 14 (Family)

A tall mansion within the Queen Victoria Islands, the Banks Island, was filled with laughter. Oliver owned this mansion, and many mansions around the world that his Captains, who were his eight closest friends, were free to roam. Currently they were all in the big kitchen, joking and playing a game called Apples to Apples. "Anyway, he says to me, 'you won't get away with it', and we've heard that before right? I mean every one of us has heard that before. I'm not so stubborn to think I won't see bumps in the road, sure, but come on…if you're going to say something to the guy that's got you captive, find something that isn't so typical of a captive!" The others laughed with him as he pulled a green card from the green pile, and set it down. "Okay, a word that goes with Classy."

Apples to Apples is played with seven red cards in hand, all were of people, places, and things. The green cards were used by the judge, when the judge pulled the green card, which was usually a description word, the players had to put down cards they thought best matched. The judge would decide what they thought matched best, and the winner would get the green card. Five green cards won the round.

The table they were at was a long oval table, large enough to fit the nine of them there were. Oliver was at the head, his closest friends out of the group were seated beside him. Dylan Patrick to his right, and Ernesto Vasco was seated to his left. Dylan was a tanned skinned man in his late twenties. He had blonde hair beneath a white cowboy hat, and light stubble on his chin. His brown eyes scanned the cards in his hands, trying to figure what was the best choice. Ernesto was a Puerto Rican man in his mid twenties, he had short black hair and bright hazel eyes. His index finger brushed his thin moustache as he gazed upon his cards.

"Damn it, I don't have anything," Ernesto complained. "I'm just going to have to put out this one…" He grabbed one of his red cards and dropped it face down beside the green card. Dylan started snickering at his own choice, then tossed it next to the green card.

Beside Dylan, laughing and leaning against his arm, was the beautiful Rin Kamiko. "I think he'll like my choice better than yours, Dillie," Rin joked. Dylan looked at her with a smirking laugh.

"Don't call me that, Rin." He poked her side, causing her to yelp and laugh out.

"No, I'm ticklish!" Rin was closest to Dylan and Fan Daiyu. The Japanese beauty loved to sing, she had a very beautiful voice, and always tried to bring a cheerful attitude in the group. She had her hair down, when she usually had it up in a ponytail. The two tried to hide it, but Oliver could always tell there was something of chemistry between Rin and Dylan.

Fan reached around Rin and smacked Dylan upside the head. "Watch your hands," she scolded. Oliver chuckled as he watched Dylan rub his head. Rin shot Fan a disapproving look. "What? You know what happens when people tickle you too much." Even though they weren't blood, Fan was like Rin's older sister, always protective of her. Of course, she was protective of the whole group.

"Oh they're just having fun," Hilda remarked. Hilda was seated across from Fan. She was usually the most serious of the group, but always lighthearted when it came to being around them. She and Una Mave were both like the mothers, both in their thirties, and both always watched over everyone else. Of course Hilda was closest to Fan and Rin. She wasn't the strongest of the group, having switched her right arm for a metal fist and arm. It was the only thing she fought with, but she was a scientist, so her smarts often helped her out in battles. "Anyway, put down a card already."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Fan set a card down and Hilda laughed, pushing one of hers forward as well. To Hilda's right, in between her and Ernesto, was Una. Both women were blonde, Una had short hair always up in a bun, while Hilda had long hair that was always had a long swinging ponytail behind her. To Hilda's left was Matata Tapiwa. He was in his late thirties, often the group's most serious, but craziest, fighter. He was the strongest, the leader of the Zulu Warriors in Africa. An army of terrifying soldiers with terrible weapons at their disposal, though Matata always fought with a pair of daggers that he called his 'fangs'.

Matata pulled a single card from his hand with a grunt and pushed it forward to the pile of cards before Oliver. He never talked much, but when he did, he did so with a sense of maturity. He and Chogan were closest amongst the group. "You probably won't select mine."

Chogan sat beside him, directly across from Oliver. He had silver hair in a long braid. He often wore tribal garments from his Indian tribe, as he was an Indian had the Black Dragons and essentially led it for a long time before Oliver. He did have quite a bit of control. "I never win this game," he muttered. A wrinkle formed between his eyes as he studied his cards, he was the last one to put anything down. Once again. "I'm telling you, none of these are 'classy' in my opinion!" The others laughed and Ernesto pushed for him to set something down. "Hey have some patience, I'm slow and old."

"You're not that old," Una remarked. "You're like, what, forty-five? Sixty?"

His face fell flat and his lips thinned. "Forty-eight…I am forty-eight years old." He pulled a card from his grasp and pushed it forward, then took a new green card from the deck. When he saw the card, he groaned with despair. "I could have used this one!"

Oliver chuckled and mixed all the cards together. He honestly didn't know what he'd do without these people, they were all one big, crazy, mixed up family. One time they decided to put him on a dating website, he had to take it down since he didn't have an interest in dating, but even still they would joke about how he needed a woman in his life. Most of them didn't have someone making them happy. Hell, the great majority of them had bad struggles in their lives. So together, this family were there for each other, and they supported each other. Through blood, tears, laughter, they would never truly separate.

They were the only ones he cared about in this crazy mixed up world. Although, he wasn't as heartless as many might think. The biggest reason he wanted to get Jackson was so Miley would at least have her brother. He still despised her for what she did to Lilly, he still blamed her and all the other celebrities in the world for what happened to her.

"Okay, what cards do we have here…" He started to turn over the cards, ready to see what was the classiest. As he turned them over, he called them out. "Frank Sinatra, that seems classy. 'My Butt'…" He raised an eyebrow as Rin laughed, Dylan bowed his head and sighed. Dylan turned to her and whispered. Hilda put her hand over her mouth and tried to stifle her snickering.

"I had nothing. I really had nothing."

Oliver rolled his eyes and smiled as he continued turning them over. "Marriage, Rainforest, Apples, The Beatles, Butterflies, Dirt. Well…dirt might be a bit classy." He shook his head and turned it back over, rejecting it. Matata bowed his head and laughed. "Apples are out as well."

"Told you," Chogan remarked.

"Now now, you're not supposed to let me know who had what." Chogan laughed as Matata pat his back. He studied the remaining cards and removed Marriage, Rainforest, and Butterflies from the pile. "No, no, and heck no." He brought his hand to his chin and begun tapping very slowly. Frank Sinatra and The Beatles were left, and they were both excellent choices. However, he preferred Frank Sinatra any day. "Frank Sinatra wins." Rin jumped up and screamed for joy, laughing as she grabbed the card.

"I win! I win!" Everyone looked at the pile of green cards in front of her, she just took the final card to win the game. They congratulated her and stood up, they were opting to do their own thing now. Oliver raised an eyebrow as Rin took Dylan's wrists and started leading him out of the room, he didn't appear to give any fight. Oliver shook his head and chuckled as Fan shook her head, putting her hands to her hips.

"I guess this means the game's over," Fan said. She and Chogan began cleaning up the game. Oliver looked over to Matata, who was headed out towards the backyard, probably to train. When he wasn't hanging with the guys, he was stretching and training. Oliver had lost many a good sprouted tree due to the man.

Ernesto grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and uncapped it, "I'm going to go sit out on the patio for a while. If anyone needs me…it was a good game." Una moved over to the pots and pans in the kitchen cupboards, she was going to make supper for everyone today. They usually alternated, but she was the best chef.

He felt Hilda's arm around his shoulder and looked over with a smile, she was just a year younger than he was. Her bright eyes were always enchanting to him. She reminded him a lot of Lilly, but he never would act on the attraction that was there. No, Lilly still meant everything to him. "Hey big guy, how are you feeling?" He shrugged and started walking with her into the living room.

"I feel fine, why ask?" He sat on the couch and Hilda moved beside him. She rested her hand on his leg and smiled warmly. He looked down at her soft hand. Her nails were painted red, and mixed well with her snow white skin. Whenever she touched him, it was with her left hand, because he was never overly fond of her iron right arm. He was one of the ones that disagreed with her when she decided to trade her right limb for a prosthetic metal one. She'd listed out the pros and the cons, let everyone vote, and the majority said for her to go ahead and do it, considering it would help her strength in some ways.

"Because I know you…well, we all know you, and we support you. We may or may not agree with killing all the celebrities, but…we still support you. I know finding Jackson was hard on you, and Matata was there. He said you looked upset, do you want to talk about it?" It was funny how they all supported his end goal, even though half of them didn't think killing the celebrities would do anything.

Matata and Chogan were for it only because they were for anything that might lead to mass death. Dylan and Rin, Oliver was never sure why they were there, other than the mere necessity for family. They both had tragedies occur for them and lost their families in separate unrelated cases, so Oliver brought them into his family. They had no one. So Oliver looked after them, as much as he looked after the others. He loved all of them, no doubt about that.

He'd get advice from Chogan and Matata, he was the older brother to everyone else while they were the father and grandfather. Una acted the mother, but she was for the death of the celebrities. She'd once been a model, but when she got older, she was turned down by so many people that she just let her anger get the better of her. Growing up, she did have a lot of anger problems, her mother and father were always fighting, they abused her. They killed her little brother through their abuse, so one day she struck them both down. It was a bloody scene, and she spent a long time running, then finally found Oliver and the others.

Ernesto spent his childhood stealing small items with his older brother in an attempt to pay for medical expenses for their mother and several younger siblings. One day they stole from the wrong person, some small time actor banded with a store owner, they came in, and slaughtered the family. Ernesto's last memory was of his brother pushing him out the window just before being shot down. He was for the extermination of celebrities, but he wasn't crazy.

Fan didn't think the deaths would do any good, but she was there mostly for Rin. The two grew up in an orphanage. Fan was from China, but since China had this obscene rule about people not being allowed to have more than one child, her parents abandoned her in a Japanese orphanage. She met Rin there, Rin was the meek and timid child always mocked by the other children, so Fan protected her, becoming her orphan sister. The two stuck together through everything, and when Oliver took Rin in, Fan came along for the ride.

Now Hilda, there wasn't much reason for her to be here, but they needed a scientist. She'd spent most of her teenage years in science labs, and one day her family just upped and left, abandoning her. When Oliver and the others found her, she was ready to die. He took her in.

"What are you thinking about, Oliver?" She asked with full concern. "Why were you upset?"

"I don't know…I just, it was hard seeing Jackson again. I know he was moving on with his life, and yeah he didn't know his sister was still alive, but…"

"Miley saw her father die, she saw her bodyguard die, she lost everything. That's why you fought so hard to get Jackson, right?" He lifted his shoulders, his chest fell slowly and he moved his head back against the couch. He shut his eyes and breathed out from his nostrils.

"Everyone thinks there's still a part of me left from those days, but really there isn't. I died when Lilly died, when that unborn child died." His father had already left him with his mother so long ago, and when informed that Lilly was pregnant, the man just scoffed. He hadn't heard from his father ever since, and even when his mother died, the man never called. His mom had some pretty bad mental problems and was a drunkard, she would yell at him constantly and drink too much, eventually she drank herself to death. His father didn't have balls enough to call. "It's like all these Black Dragons call me Double O. That's who I am now…'Oliver Oken' is long dead. I had everything going for me when Lilly said she was pregnant, god I was so happy…I was fucking alive. Then…I lost it all…"

His heart cried and his muscles tensed. Not a day went by that he didn't think about her, not a day went by he didn't dream of what it would have been like to hold that baby. "If Miley had just…if only she decided to help her best friend…maybe she'd still be here."

"I know…" He felt her arms around him, comforting him. He stopped his sobbing and reached up, hugging her back. He did not enjoy crying, he felt too masculine for that, but these people taught him that it was okay. Even Matata would shed tears, though in private.

Everyone would have to leave to their own countries soon, to stay in one of his provided homes for them. He hated when they left, because then he felt so alone. Sometimes one of them would suggest he come stay with them for a while, and he would. "Are you going back to Antarctica tomorrow?" When he thought of her going back there, he would feel an ache in his gut, something that told him to tell her to stay away from Antarctica.

"I have to, I need to make sure the scientists there are doing their jobs." She smiled at him and reached up, running her fingers through his hair, tickling his head. "You seem so worried about me going back there, but don't be. I've been there a million times, Oliver, there's nothing there but the cold, penguins, and the scientists."

"Yeah, that is true. I don't know what I'm worried about, to be honest." She chuckled softly and looked over to the kitchen. "I'm going to go help Una with the food…are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, Hilda." They rose to their feet and hugged once more. "I'm going to go check on Dylan and Rin."

"Okay then."

He moved upstairs to where Dylan's room was, the door was shut. He reached for the doorknob and stopped when he heard voices, Rin was still with him. "You do have a beautiful voice, Rin," Dylan complimented, "I don't know why you're so insecure about it."

"I don't know, it's just…growing up in that orphanage, people always mocked me. Whatever I did, it was never good enough. Mom left my dad behind when he had an affair, Dad was murdered by that woman's husband, and I was only four years old when thrust into that orphanage. You know that…always shy, so I was easy."

"Well don't be so scared to be yourself. You're beautiful, you're lovely, intelligent, and in all honesty, the sweetest person I know." Oliver saw the door cracked just a bit, so he peered in with a smile. Rin was blushing and Dylan was holding onto her hand. He'd been thinking that they should take a break from all this, to go out on a date. They deserved it. Still, he didn't know what Rin or Dylan were doing here, they didn't have malice in their hearts. They were good, innocent. They were unlike Una, who had killed her abusive parents, or Ernesto who stole from people, albeit to help his mother's health. They were far from Chogan and Matata, who were war lovers. They never did anything wrong, they didn't get into fights like Fan did, either. Granted, Fan only did so due to her protective personality. "I think anyone that doesn't see it, anyone that says otherwise, is a fool. The biggest fool I know."

"Really?" She leaned in towards him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Do you really believe that?"

"Without a doubt." Oliver smiled and reached up, knocking on the door. Dylan's head shot up and he quickly called for him to come in. Oliver pushed the door open and met their eyes. "What's going on, Oliver?"

"Just checking on you two…You both have been pretty tense lately, I think it's all this work. Take a break." They looked baffled, unsure whether or not he was serious. He rubbed his neck and smiled brightly at the two. "Go on a date or something, take a break."

"A-A date? Really?"

"Yeah, why not? You two are close enough." Dylan and Rin exchanged joyful gazes and looked back to him. "Like I said, I want you two to relax. You don't have to be involved in all this right now. Hilda's going back to Antarctica soon, and the others are going off to do their own things, so there's no reason you two can't spend some quality time together."

"We'll…we'll think about that."

Hilda called for Oliver and he quickly moved downstairs for her, leaving the two to talk amongst themselves. He was disheartened to see Hilda with such a forlorn expression on her face. "I have to get going Oliver, I got an emergency call from some of the scientists."

"What's wrong?" He moved towards her and she lifted her shoulders.

"Apparently that kid, Chase, is acting weird. I have to go and charge his bionic chip for them, the lead scientists forgot how to do it." He groaned and Hilda chuckled, it was too hard for him to hide the concern. "I know you don't want me to go, but I'll be fine." She reached up and kissed his cheek. His eyes widened for a second and a blush quickly flooded his cheeks. "Bye, Oliver, I have to leave right now."

"O-Okay…just stay safe." He reached up to his cheek as she turned away and hurried off. As he turned around, he saw Fan, Ernesto, and Una watching him with knowing smirks. He cleared his throat and started to walk off. "It was nothing. Mind your own business…" They laughed and moved on their way, what a family this was.

What did you think, learning about the captains? There's a heck of a lot more background to come, and it seems Hilda is one of the ones getting through to Oliver, huh? Now she's off to Antarctica. Isn't someone else going there as well?