Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the properties belonging to Mortal Kombat. I wish I was this much of a genius. I only own my crazy little plot.

Author's Note: Speaking of plots… this one thickens. Enjoy as per usual.

"So… did you get it?" Cassie asks later Saturday night as she sits on her bed, looking up at him.

Yuri sighs unhappily. Going into his pockets, he fetches his phone and tosses it to her, which she cradles in her hand once she catches it. Lucky begins nipping at his leg, begging for his attention. "I did. It was no easy task I must say."

She bites at her cheeks. "I know. I'm sorry. But I really appreciate you doing this for me," she thanks him gratefully with a smile. When he doesn't return it, she looks away awkwardly. "Look, it's important to me, okay?"

"I did not say it was unimportant," he argues snappishly, folding his arms. She looks down at his phone ashamed. He closes his eyes, unfolds his arms, and takes a deep breath. "Sorry." He finally decides to pick up their puppy and he cradles her in his arms tenderly.

"It's okay," Cassie tells him softly. She turns the phone over in her hands. "Shit," she mumbles. She looks up at him and he cocks an eyebrow at her. "I'm not sure I want to know this information." He glowers at her. "Hey, hey, take it easy! I didn't say I don't want it. I'm just not ready for it." She looks back and forth between him and his phone. "C'mere," she beckons him, holding her arms out and wiggling her fingers.

Rolling his eyes, he bends slightly to release Lucky, who jumps on Cassie's bed and sits on her pillow. He walks over to her and kneels before her, allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck. His hands trace up her arms before sliding over her shoulder and down her back. With a gentle tug, he brings her down to his level. "You owe me, Cassandra."

"Ooh," Cassie teases as she tilts her head, "we having a lovers spat now?"

Yuri shakes his head at her. "Something of the sort," he responds. He closes their distance with a kiss. "Seriously," he starts as he pulls away, "that place is locked tighter than Fort Knox."

She stifles her giggles by burying her face in his neck. "Stop it," she whines. She glances back up at him. "I asked you to do something super risky and stupid. But… it's for a good cause, I swear."

He blinks at her. "Oh?"

She stands back up and grabs his phone from her bed. "Yeah. I just have way too any questions and the person I want answers from isn't giving me what I want." He opens his mouth to say something when she adds, "I know you're thinking I'm being a spoiled brat, but hear me out, okay?"

"All right," he decides after a while, "I'm listening."

Cassie pats the space next to her on the bed, which Yuri takes as Lucky sits herself between the two of them, setting her head on his leg. Cassie turns to him and leans in to show him his phone. "Okay, usually when someone in any of the military branches serves and asks for retirement, they have their records checked, right? From there, they can be given one of five types of discharges," she begins to explain to him.

"One of five?" he echoes

She nods. "Now the two main discharges, honorable and dishonorable, are pretty self-explanatory. An honorable discharge is the best discharge to get upon your separation in the military. On the other side of the spectrum, a dishonorable discharge is the worst of the discharges you can receive. You're usually forced out if that's the case. The second best discharge to get is a general discharge under honorable conditions. It isn't too bad, but it doesn't give you a lot of benefits at the end of the day. That's what my mom says she has in her records... The other two, are a bit more serious and requires more investigation surrounding the circumstances.

"An OTH or 'Other than Honorable' discharge is a result of deviances from the military code of conduct, like if you begin abusing your authority and stuff," she continues. She looks at him and he gestures that he's still listening to her. "But with this one, you at least have a chance of having your records reviewed to see if you can qualify for any of the veteran benefits. And lastly, the bad conduct discharge is literally a step above the worst kind of discharge to get. Both the bad conduct and the dishonorable discharges require a court-martial to determine the circumstances behind the decision and whether you get benefits or not."

"Which one does your mother have?" he asks her.

Cassie looks at his phone and scrolls down to the bottom of the page where it says her type of discharge. "What the fuck?!" she practically shouts before realizing the time. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she lowers her voice. Yuri raises an eyebrow at her while Lucky howls. She takes a few cleansing breaths before answering, "It's not the one she deserves, and I'm sure that's not what fucking idiot Flagg told her either."

He blinks at her before slowly catching on. "So," he starts slowly, "What are you saying?"

The puppy turns to look at her owner expectantly, panting idly. She takes a deep breath. "I'm saying my mother doesn't deserve an OTH discharge. This looks horrible on her records, especially considering they didn't even give her a court martial as far as I know." He nods understandingly. "So my question is this: what has happened for the grand General of the United States to give my mother, Sonya freaking Blade of all people, an OTH discharge?"

"Do you think she has been forced to resign?" Yuri inquires. She nods. "That is… quite the serious accusation, Cassandra."

"I know," she moans, slapping a frustrated hand on her forehead. Lucky whines again and Cassie strokes the top of her head warmly. "I need to find a way to prove or show she doesn't deserve anything less than an Honorable Discharge. Or better yet, that she shouldn't have even been discharged in the first place. That's why I needed her files. I just couldn't get them from her old office because I'm known on the base as her daughter." She pouts. "And now I feel like an asshole because I made you do it. Fuck, I'm so sorry."

"I could have declined," he counters. "But I did not, so…"

"It's my Caged charm; you couldn't say no if you really wanted to, dude," she jokes with a laugh. He stares at her with a serious expression on his face. She bites her lip. "Sorry," she tells him once more while looking down.

It's his turn to laugh. "You are forgiven." She perks up significantly, wrapping her arms around his neck from the side and giving him a kiss on the cheek. She moves her lips across his jawline until she reaches his lips. He turns his body slightly so he's more comfortable in their embrace. When she opens her mouth slightly, he responds by slipping his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. After a few moments, he reluctantly pulls away. "I'm exhausted," he informs her with a yawn.

"Stay over," Cassie tells Yuri.

"I'm sure I have overextended my welcome," he admits, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You haven't, I promise. My parents would've kicked you out already if they thought you did. So you're staying," she demands. Shuffling Lucky to the floor, she scoots over on her bed to make room for him. She tries not to watch as he takes off his many layers until he's down to just his boxers. He grabs a pillow and is in the process of lying on the floor when she snaps, "Hey, hey, hey." He turns to her with a frown. "Come here, you. There's space on the bed. Plus, you're not putting my pillows on the floor."

He groans but does what she says, crawling over her until he's spooning her. As a result of this, Lucky climbs back up the bed and nips at his toes. "Ouch! Why are you torturing me, muffin face?" he interrogates the puppy. She barks at him a few times in response. "Aww, have I stolen your space?" he pesters the Maltese. She growls and barks again. With a sigh, he sits up to beckon their dog closer to them. He goes to spoon Cassie again when Lucky uses her paw and nose to move his head. Changing his mind, he turns his back to Cassie but stays close. "Spoiled dog, just like your mother," he grouses as he pulls the covers over both of their bodies.

She laughs at the exchange between the two of them. "Night Yuri," she tells him.

"Goodnight, Cassandra," he replies.

She turns her head to him. "You know, you can call me Cassie. I'll even accept Cass."

"I'm aware," he quips cheekily.

She snorts. "Okay then, I'll just start calling you Yuri-Nato all over again."

"Do not," he warns her playfully.

She giggles. "So, let's try that a second time, shall we? Goodnight, Yuri."

She feels him chuckling at her antics. "Goodnight, Cassie," he responds drowsily.

Even though they fell asleep facing away from each other, Cassie and Yuri have managed to get themselves into a comforting embrace. Cassie's lying on her stomach on top of Yuri, one leg between his and her head buried in his neck, while Yuri has one protective arm wrapped around her waist and his other arm bent around the back of his neck. Cassie's breath on him wakes Yuri up from his slumber and he grips her waist tighter. She shifts and his silver eyes pop open in shock. She moves again and mumbles, "Morning," unaware of his mental agony.

Caught between feigning sleep and answering her, he takes a deep breath before responding. "Good morning Cass."

She immediately notices his strange behavior and taunts him. "Is that a flashlight, or are you just that happy to see me?" Laughing, she scoots up closer to his face. "Aww, I'm joking. How'd you sleep?"

"Fine," Yuri mutters in a strained voice.

Cassie smothers her laughter in her hands. "Oh, my God," she begins as she stares at him wickedly, sitting up on his lap. "You totally have a hard on!"

"I do not," he argues helplessly.

"Uh huh," she goads him as she wiggles, "keep telling yourself that."

"You keep doing that and see what will happen," he threatens her playfully as he grips her waist. She jumps on him lightly and before she's able to grasp the situation, she's on her back and giggling as they kiss passionately. "What have I just told you?" he demands through her lips.

"You're not the boss of me," she remarks sassily, grabbing his hair roughly. He bites at her neck and she moans. "Aww, fuck dude," she whimpers.

"Cassie?" she hears Sonya calling from downstairs. They both hesitate with wide eyes trained on each other in surprise. They wait a beat before Sonya calls her again. "Cass? Are you awake?"

"Shit," she whispers. They begrudgingly untangle themselves before she decides to answer. "Yeah, I'm awake," she calls back.

"All right, your father and I made breakfast. We'll give you thirty to come down," Sonya informs her. Another beat passes before Sonya amends her statement with, "Make it an hour."

"Okay!" Cassie yells from her room. Looking back at Yuri, she gives him a sheepish grin. "Uh… where were we?"

"Right here," he responds as he captures her lips in his once more.

Meanwhile, Sonya covers the plate of food with another before turning towards the stairs. "Cassie?" she calls, "Cass? Are you awake?"

A few moments later: "Yeah, I'm awake," Cassie answers from her room.

"All right, your father and I made breakfast," she continues as Johnny places his lips right behind her ear. "We'll give you thirty to come down."

"We'll need more than that, babe," he whispers conspiratorially as he nips at her ear.

"Make it an hour," she revises with an eye roll. She barely hears Cassie's response when Johnny lifts her onto a clear section of the counter and starts attacking her neck with his lips. "John," she whispers.

"Babe," he counters as he gently raises her arms. She slaps them down by her sides and nudges him away. "Aww babe, c'mon, you can't just tease me like you just did just now and expect me not to react to it."

"You are aware our daughter is upstairs alone in her room with her boyfriend, right?" she informs him when he goes for her neck again. He pulls away and watches her incredulously. "I mean… unless you're complacent with being a grandpa, even though you nearly lost your shit at Cassie's dog—"

"Cass! Come and get your breakfast!" he shouts upstairs.

The two of them hear a bang and Cassie swearing, "Son of a bitch!" loudly.

Sonya stifles her giggles in his neck. "You're evil," she teases him before licking his neck, making him hiss. "Oops, I'm sorry."

"No, you're not," he tells her, smooching her loudly until he hears stomping. "Uh oh," he muses. Sonya quickly climbs off the counter and sits herself down at the island as Johnny rushes to place the plate of food on the table. "Morning kids," Johnny chirps at the two of them.

Cassie rakes her fingers through her hair as Yuri looks down. "Morning," they mumble, Cassie in irritation and Yuri in embarrassment.

"Slept well?" he goads.

Cassie glares at her father. "Dude, c'mon," she whines as she uncovers the plate and slides it in front of Yuri. She takes the fork and stabs through a piece of French toast before placing it on Yuri's plate, shaking it off the utensil. She then grabs the bottle of syrup and squirts a sizeable amount on her toast, eggs, and bacon. She goes to do the same for Yuri when he slides his plate away from her. "Pfft, your loss," she tells him as she puts the bottle down. He waves a dismissive hand at her as he cuts into his food.

Sonya smiles at the young couple. "I hope you both slept okay," she notes gently.

Yuri mutters, "It was fine," while Cassie snaps, "I slept great," sarcastically.

"Cass, be nice," Johnny gently admonishes her. She grumbles something about interrupting quality time before biting into her food. "So, I was thinking…" he begins.

"Oh, brother," Sonya teasingly gripes. His blue eyes settle on hers with a scowl. "Sorry, continue darling."

"We should hang today," he finishes.

Cassie looks up from her food. "Sorry, this guy already has my schedule for the day," she tells her parents as Yuri blushes.

"They are more than welcome to—"

"Dude!" she argues.

Sonya and Johnny frown. "Fine," Sonya concedes, folding her arms.

Johnny rolls his eyes. "And they say she gets it from me," he mutters.

Cassie sighs, putting her fork down. "I'm sorry, guys. Can we hang later today? I didn't get much sleep and I just need to talk to Yuri about some things."

Johnny's frown gets deeper as Sonya has an epiphany. "Oh, well, why didn't you just say that? We understand, right John?" He's uncharacteristically silent. She pokes Johnny lightly and repeats, "Right John?" He harrumphs childishly. "John Robert Carlton, I swear to God—"

"I haven't seen my Punkin in forever, Sonya," Johnny protests.

Sonya pinches the bridge of her nose. "She said she'll hang out with us later. What were you even planning to do? Have a marathon with your movies?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing is wrong with that, John, damn you."

Too engrossed in their lovers spat, they don't notice the pair of young adults sneaking away from their food and up the stairs until Yuri accidentally steps on the creaking trick stair before disappearing into Cassie's room. They look at each other in amusement. "Look what you did, babe."

She wraps her arms around his shoulders. "And you're complaining because…?" she mocks him, pressing a kiss to his nose.

He scratches his head. "Yeah, I don't really remember," he submits, pulling her closer and kissing her soundly on the lips. "Sneaky love-struck kids," he mumbles.

"We were ten times worse," she reminds him as she allows him to lift her onto the island counter again. "Ahem… exhibit A."

"Shh," he silences her with a kiss.

Monday, Sonya goes back to school, only having Andrew to hang out with during her lunch break. "Are the girls all right?" she asks him in a concerned voice as they stand on the line for Mexican food at their school.

Andrew nods. "Yeah, luckily Indie wasn't too affected, so she'll be released tomorrow. It's Roxy I'm more worried about since she took a bigger hit of the roofies," he tells her.

Sonya shakes her head somberly. "Fuck, I hate hearing about shit like this," she mumbles, sighing. "I'm just really glad Cassie was able to stop him before something else happened."

"Yeah," he agrees, "Indie woke up crying and asking for her. She wants to thank your step… I mean your actual daughter in person."

"I'll be sure to let her know," she responds as they get to the front of the line. He gestures for her to order first and she does. "Can I get your chicken and rice bowl with lettuce, black and red beans, corn, sour cream, red onions, scallion, pico de gallo, and the three cheese blend?" Sonya inquires. The worker smiles at her politely. "Oh, I want the white cilantro rice," she adds as an afterthought.

"Any sauce?" the woman asks her politely.

"Mmm, yeah, let me get the chipotle southwest, the spicy mayo, and the sriracha," she replies. Andrew stifles his snickers behind his hands. She turns to him sharply. "What?"

"That's such a Tex-Mex order, Sonya," he laughs.

She sticks her tongue out at him. "There's this amazing place called Tex Mex Joe's down in Crestview in Austin. My brother and I used to go there a lot. Actually, that's where I got my first job," she explains.

Andrew orders his food and they both step to the side before responding with, "You should take us there."

"I would… if I knew it was still open," Sonya informs him.

He shrugs. "You can Google it, Sonya."

She palms her forehead with her hand. "Of course, why didn't I think of that?" she laughs as she takes out her phone. "Guess I'm not as hip as I thought I was," she pokes fun at herself. "I only really used the military search engines if I needed to do research on something, and it's not like I could do it on my favorite place as a teen."

"Right, because protocol and all that." He nods, understanding.

"Mmm hmm, exactly," she agrees as they receive their food. Andrew choses a table by the window for them to sit down at. She takes a bite of her food while checking her mail on her phone. She frowns at the message she opens from the school regarding her financial aid. "Aww fuck no!" she blurts, causing Andrew to look up from his quesadilla. "No, this is a mistake," she grouses.

"What is?"

She scowls at her phone. "It says my financial aid didn't go through," she tells him. She leans back in her chair, too angry to finish her food. "Un-fucking-believable."

"May I?" he asks, holding out his hand. She gives him the phone and reads the email carefully. "Hmm, it says that you have to go to the veteran's office?"

Her eye twitches slightly in irritation. "The veteran's office?! They said I can get the fucking… I'm going to… fucking why?" she stumbles over her words, trying to swallow her bubble of anger down. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "All right, it's just a simple mistake. I can fix this," she remembers. She picks up her fork again just as her phone rings in Andrew's hand. She quickly takes it and snaps, "What?" After a moment of pause, she grits, "I'm not angry." Unclenching her jaw, she amends her statement with, "Okay, I'm livid, but I'll speak with you later about it. It involves my benefits. Okay, later John."

Andrew knits his eyebrows together in concern. "You'll be able to fix it, right?"

"I'd better be, or else they face my wrath," she bites forcefully. She angrily shovels a fork full of her rice bowl into her mouth.

Cassie and Jacqui stare at Flagg with unimpressed looks on their faces. In unison, the girls fold their hands on top of the table and lean forward, cocking their heads to the side. Flagg folds his arms defiantly, glaring at them. The three of them sit in relative silence, not wanting to break the silence that has settled upon them.

Finally, the superior officer breaks the silence. "And who has told you this information?"

Cassie rolls her eyes when she sees Jacqui giving her a look. "I have my sources," Cassie answers. "Not like you'd know who it is, seeing how you managed to misplace my mother's files."

Flagg growls at this statement. "I did not misplace your mother's files," he argues.

"Mmm hmm," Cassie hums sarcastically.

Flagg clears his throat. "I'm not entirely sure I appreciate your attitude, Cage," he informs her.

"That's perfectly fine with me," she responds. "I'm just gonna need you to do something about what I've told you today. It's been way too long and the more we wait, the more angry the emperor will be when he does see us."

"And we need an experienced escort. Mr. Cage or uh…" Jacqui begins before hesitating momentarily. She takes a deep breath. "Mr. Cage or Ms. Blade knows much more about Outworld than any of us combined. Having one of the two as an escort will ensure that the process goes smoothly. That's all we're saying. Think of them as our consults again like it was before."

Cassie cocks an eyebrow at Flagg, noticing his change in demeanor. "And why would you not consider me a viable escort?"

Jacqui looks at Cassie. Cassie takes it as a hint to speak next. "He doesn't know you. Hell, he doesn't even know anything about my mom and her… 'Retirement' right now. But I think if we can convince him that she hasn't really left her post, he'd be more willing to speak to us."

After a few long moments of silence, Flagg sighs heavily. "All right fine, I will sign off on your little expedition to Outworld to speak with its emperor once more. But it will take time, and I will need Blake to sign off on it."

"No sweat," Jacqui begins, "Blake won't give you a hard time, trust us."

Flagg huffs. "Yeah, this will be fun," he skeptically notes. "Is that all?"

"For now," Cassie replies ominously. Flagg frowns when she gives him her signature Cage smirk. "Great doing business with ya, Flagg man."

Jacqui fights off a grin when they see Flagg trying to keep his composure. "Thanks Flagg."

When they leave his office, the begin snickering childishly. "Can't believe that worked, Jacqui," Cassie compliments her best friend.

Jacqui shrugs modestly. "Guess I've been hanging around Jin too much." They walk off the base and Jacqui turns to her again. "We needed to find a way to get back to Outworld."

"Desperate measures call for dirty tactics," Cassie giggles. Giving her a hug, Cassie continues, "Thanks for that Jacqui."

"Not a problem, girlfriend. I know how antsy you were getting about the whole situation. So I had to do something crazy. Just one thing though."

"Yeah?"

"Did he actually steal the files?"

Cassie narrows her eyes thoughtfully. "He only scanned them to his phone and then he put them right back."

Jacqui stares. "Well, someone misplaced her files. I'd like to know why."

"Yeah," Cassie agrees, "me, too."

A/N: Thank you guys for understanding about last chapter. I hope this was worth the wait. Please review as usual. You won't regret it, I promise.