Sorry for the long wait, school is the bane of my existence. Second to last chapter! T.T
IMSLES: Thanks for reviewing! Sorry about the long wait!
ncislover1111: Thanks for reviewing, and I know, aren't they cute!
Scipo: Hey! Guys are not cute! Well Rup is, but that's different.
Anacoana: You're cute. Get over it.
Scipo: *sticks his tounge out at me*
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Gibbs watched Shadow closely as they both walked into the mall to get her clothes. He smirked when her eyes got big as she looked around. "Wow… I've never been in a place like this. It's wicked big!"
Gibbs smiled, and led her to the store he had gone to with Scipo and Rupert. "Yup, it sure is. Come on, what do you want to get?"
Shadow gaped at him, and he nodded. "Go, pick out whatever you want, then try it on in there." He pointed to the dressing rooms, and she nodded before going to look around.
He went over to Joe, who was looking at him with amusement. "You runnin' a plantation now? She's the third one you've gotten." His tone was joking, but Gibbs glared at him anyway.
"Hell no, she's a friend of Scipo's and she needs someone to care about her."
The store clerk nodded in understanding, and looked over at where Shadow was, looking at dresses. "She's a cute kid. Got a mother?"
Gibbs shook his head. "Only biologically. Different owner, thirteen years old, and hates her."
"Sheesh. Father?"
"Don't know. She said that a guy named Bone was the closest thing she has to a dad."
Joe shook his head in sympathy. "Poor kid. I've never been especially fond of slavery, but that's bad. She's all alone."
"She's got me." Gibbs said defensively. "Scipo and Rupert too."
Joe nodded, then smiled as Shadow came over to them and meekly held up a pink dress with blue dolphins and whales on it. "This one Boss?"
Gibbs nodded, paid for it, then left. As they walked through the mall, Shadow looked at all the Christmas decorations in silence, then asked, "Boss? What's with all the pretty stuff? And why's it all green and red?"
Gibbs stopped short, and looked down at her confused expression. Then he blinked, and realized that it made sense. She was a slave, only five years old, how would she know about Christmas?
"It's for a holiday called Christmas. Do you know about God?" When the little raven haired girl nodded, Gibbs continued. "He had a son named Jesus Christ, who was killed, and then came back to life. Christmas is to celebrate him coming back to life. Although now it's an excuse to get presents."
"Christ-mas!" Shadow said, smiling. "Jesus Christ, Christ-mas!"
Gibbs gave her a small smile. "Right." The smile got bigger when her eyes widened as they passed a toy store, and Shadow's eyes were drawn to a jumbo coloring book. "Come on." He urged, mentally filing away the name of the store. "Let's go home to see how Scipo and Rupert are."
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When they got home, Gibbs was relieved to see that not only was his house still standing, but Scipo and Rupert weren't outside in the snow. Those boys were going to get sick if they kept doing that.
They went inside, and Shadow dashed upstairs to change after looking to Gibbs for allowance. Looking around, Gibbs couldn't find the two boys, which was strange since he was used to them showing up as soon as he came home. "Boss!" He smiled, as both of the slave boys pounded down the stairs. "You're home!"
"I see the house is intact." Gibbs commented jokingly, but grew solemn when Scipo looked at his feet. "What…?"
"The house is intact…." Scipo began, tracing meaningless patterns on the floor with his bare foot. "But outside kinda isn't. I'm real sorry Boss! Honest! And it was my fault, not Rup's. So if you're gonna get mad, don't get mad at him, okay?"
"Where is it 'not intact'?" Gibbs asked suspiciously. "Show me."
Nodding, Scipo led Gibbs outside and around the house with Rupert right on his heels, throwing worried glances at Gibbs. Behind the house was an area about as big as the house without any grass or snow, only big scorch marks on the ground. Tree bits were scattered there too.
"What did you do?" Gibbs asked bluntly, and Scipo winched.
"Well… ya know my shirt?" Scipo asked, pointing to the black shirt that read, I AM A BOMB TECHNICIAN, IF YOU SEE ME RUNNING, TRY TO KEEP UP!
Gibbs nodded suspiciously, and Scipo gave him a sheepish grin. "It's kinda true. I got bored, and I haven't made a bomb in forever, and I figured it wouldn't cause that much damage if I blew it up back here, so I did. It was awesome!" He grinned, obviously remembering the explosion.
Gibbs just shook his head, realizing that having his house intact was much more of a blessing than he had originally thought. The boy set off bombs!
"Where did you learn how to build bombs?"
"A street kid named Samuel taught me, an' most o' the servants at my parents house were 'former' criminals, so they taught me a whole bunch o' awesome stuff!" Scipo suddenly pulled Rupert behind him and looked at Gibbs. "Are you mad Boss?"
Gibbs shook his head, to Rupert's obvious relief. "No, I would've been if you had done it inside though. But at least you didn't do that. Shadow's inside getting changed, so we should go inside. Come on."
They followed him in, and Scipo stopped for a second, frowning. "Does Shadow even know about Christmas? She's just a kid after all."
Gibbs nodded and opened the cupboards, looking for something to make dinner with. "I told her about it at the mall."
"Cool." Scipo commented, jumping up onto the table and flopping down, almost like a cat. "I'm booored. Rup, I'm boored."
Rupert gave a small smile, and sat down in one of the chairs. "A-and?"
"…"I'm boored."
"Make another b-bomb then."
"Good idea!" Gibbs watched interestedly as Scipo sat up, and pulled out a rolled up piece of black cloth. Opening it and laying it across his lap, Scipo revealed a wide variety of wires and packets of colored powder and vials of…funny looking liquid.
Pulling out a small empty bleach container, Scipo started messing with the wires, combining this one with that one, and so forth. Gibbs watched for a bit, noticing how it seemed to be automatic for him, since he was chattering away to Rupert while he made the bomb, not even looking at it. He had certainly learned a lot of things, being raised by criminals. At least now the next time his team dealt with a bomb, they would know who to take it to.
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After dinner-during which Shadow had been very careful not to get anything on her dress- Scipo raced outside to set off his bomb, dragging Rupert along with him and Shadow right at his heels.
Gibbs followed them out back, and watched as Scipo set the innocent looking bleach container in the middle of the yard, and ran back to Gibbs Shadow and Rupert. A minute later, BOOM! the bomb went off, forcing Gibbs to close his eyes.
When he opened them, there was a crater in his backyard, and more scorch marks. He looked to his side to see Scipo grinning widely, with Rupert hiding behind him, and Shadow holding his hand.
Shaking his head, Gibbs tapped Scipo on the shoulder, getting them inside quickly before the neighbors started wondering about the noise. Scipo turned to Gibbs once they were inside, still grinning broadly. "Wasn't that wicked cool Boss?"
Gibbs nodded, smiling slightly. Scipo chuckled as Rupert tried to get his ears working properly again. "Sorry Rup. But ya gotta admit, that was awesome!"
Rupert nodded shakily, smiling at him. Shadow just giggled, smoothing her dress.
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A few hours later, all three of them were in bed, with Gibbs downstairs. He had some bags with him, underneath the Christmas tree. This was Shadow's first Christmas, and the first one Scipo and Rupert were going to have in a long time, and Gibbs wanted to make it a good one for them. They deserved it.
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Rupert's POV
I had fallen asleep pulled close to Scipo, my face nestled in his chest. But I woke up suddenly, because something felt wrong. Blinking sleepily, I looked around. Shadow was in bed still, asleep on her back with a faint smile on her face. But Scipo wasn't in bed with us, and that was wrong.
Slipping quietly out of bed, I made sure Shadow hadn't woken up before moving to the window. Craning my head and looking straight up, I saw one leg dangling down off the roof. I smiled slightly at the sight, and shook my head. It figured that he was up there; Scipo always did like high places.
Silently opening the window, I scooted out until I was sitting on the windowsill. I trembled when I saw how high up we were, but tried to ignore it. Scipo was on the roof, and wherever he went, that's where I would go. And there was no way I'd get to sleep without him there.
Scrambling up onto the roof less than gracefully, I sat on my knees next to Scipo ,and smiled worriedly at him. Was he mad at me for following him? He never had been before, but there was a first time for everything.
His wide grin immediately shoved my fears out the window, and I exhaled, relieved. He was still sitting with one leg bent and one hanging over the side of the roof. "Hey Rup!" My best friend cried, before pulling me over to him so my legs were stretched out, my head was tucked under his chin, and I now had my back up against his chest. I noticed that my body molded into his perfectly.
"C-can't sleep?" I asked worriedly, looking up at him. "What's wrong? Memories?"
He half-shrugged, and then answered. "Sorta. 'Cause o' tomorrow bein' Christmas, I'm rememberin' my old Christmas' with Gloria an' everyone, but that leads to other memories too. An' they're good for now, but I can just tell that if I go to sleep too soon, the bad ones'll come. An' there're plenty o' those."
I nodded in understanding, and nestled back into him more. I had woken him up many times from horrible memories that plagued him when he slept, and he had done the same for me. Even my "magic" as Scipo called it couldn't take those away. I wish it could though; Scipo was the most important person in the world to me.
I looked up at said person, but he was a million miles away it seemed. I smiled slightly, and he blinked, startled, before looking down at me. "Rup? Did you say somethin'?" I shook my head, and he shrugged. "Oh well."
"What w-were your Christmas' like when y-you were a kid?"
His face lit up immediately. "Aw Rup, they were so cool, you shoulda been there. I wish you had been. They were so awesome. Gloria would get this big fuckin' huge tree that would be pretty much twelve feet tall an' we'd all decorate it!
When I was a kid, I fooled around pretty much all day with a ten year old dude named Brent an' some o' the other kids. They were all servants or servant's kids, but my parents didn't give a damn about me ever unless we were hostin' a party or somethin', so no one even thought of me as the boss' kid. An' you know I hate my parents, so that was good.
But we would get into all kinds o' trouble, but Gloria would never scold us or nothin' around Christmas time. We would race around the mansion an' the grounds throwin' water balloons, gettin' everything messed up, an' basically makin' all the mischief we could think up.
Along with Samuel, they were the ones who taught me all the stuff I know, stealin', how to pickpocket people, good scams, stuff like that. Them an' the other servants, Gloria included, were all supposed 'former' criminals, so they would teach me all they know. I even know how to make fifty somethin' different kinds o' poison."
"D-did you ever kill someone?" It was a perfectly reasonable question considering his upbringing, but I regretted it as soon as I said it. Of course he hadn't, he was Scipo. He would blow things up and hurt people if he hated them, but he would never kill someone.
He shook his head and chucked, brushing some raven hair out of his emerald eyes. "Nah. There were plenty o' times where I coulda though. Old enemies of one o' the others would show up sometimes, an' Brent or Gloria or one o' the others would off 'em. A guy named Roger suggested I kill one o' the enemies once, but Gloria basically said 'No way in Hell' with her fist." He laughed, and I closed my eyes happily. I liked it when he laughed.
"But Christmas' were good, so long as my parents didn't suddenly sober up or decide to quit their drugs, 'cause they were fucked up with all that, but it would 'a been worse if they were without. I got scars from when they didn't have access to their drugs or alcohol. Not pretty, I'll tell ya that."
I nodded, remembering when I had seen the scars all over Scipo for the first time. Master had beaten him, so I had needed to remove his clothes. Scars littered his body, with no place left unscathed. No one should have to go through that, except for the people who had done that to him. His own parents!
"Hey, Rup." I was jostled lightly, and taken out of my thoughts. I looked up at Scipo, and he grinned as he ruffled my hair. "Don't think 'bout bad stuff okay? I could tell ya were, an' ya shouldn't, least not tonight. Tomorrow's Christmas after all! It's gonna be awesome!"
I smiled back, anticipating tomorrow eagerly. "Yeah, it, it should be f-fun."
His grin widened, and he tussled my light red hair again. "I know, right? Come on, we should get inside, it's gotta be real late. Was Shadow up too?"
I shook my head, and he nodded. "Good. She's five, an' since she doesn't have to be up this late, she shouldn't be. Come on Rup, let's go back to bed." I nodded, and he stood up, before helping me up to stand beside him.
I looked past him over the edge of the house, and a squeak escaped my lips. We were high up, really, really high up! I pressed myself against Scipo, and tightened my grip on his hand. Did Scipo even notice how high up we were?
Trembling, I stumbled over myself even though we were standing still, and started to fall. Quickly, an arm wrapped itself around my waist. "It's okay Rup." Scipo said soothingly, and I began to calm down. "We're high up, but it's okay; I got ya." After a few moments, when my breathing rate was back to normal, he asked, "Ready to go down? I'll help ya of course, I won't let ya fall."
Still nervous, I bit my lip, but nodded. I trusted Scipo after all; if he said he wouldn't let me fall, then he wouldn't let me fall. "Okay, sit here for a sec."
Obediently, I instantly plopped down, and waited as he stepped away from me, then lowered himself out of my viewpoint and, hopefully, onto the windowsill below. "Rup," I heard him whisper, and straightened up. "Come to the edge of the roof. I'm right here below ya, so don't worry."
On my hands and knees, I crawled to the edge of the roof and looked over worriedly, strands of my hair falling over my eyes. Scipo was sitting on the windowsill facing in, but looking up at me.
He grinned at seeing me, then instructed me again. "Sit down away from me, then scotch back." A flash of fear went through me, but was soothed when he continued. "My arms are right here Rup; you fall for even a sec."
Shaking, I obeyed him, and was relieved when as soon as I scooted back, his arms were there. Carefully, he lowered me down so I was sitting on his lap. I could tell he was grinning as he said, "See Rup? I was here, so nothin' happened to ya."
Too right. I couldn't help thinking. It's only because of you that I didn't get hurt. I wouldn't've had the ability to go up on the roof in the first place if it wasn't for you being up there.
I slipped off his lap, and padded over to the bad the two of us shared with Shadow, him right behind me. He went under the covers first, then me, so we could sleep how we always did; with my back snug against his stomach, and his arm wrapped around me, holding me close. Sometimes we slept so I was facing him, but we usually slept the former way. It just felt right.
"Night Rup." Scipo whispered once we were situated, and I smiled sleepily. "Good night Scipo."
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Yay, cute little ending! God, Rupert would be a mess without Scipo. Second to last chapter! T.T Extreme sadness! If anyone has ANY ideas for a sequel, tell me! I'll ask again when the last chapter is up.