A/N:

Hi guys, sorry for the long wait, I've had one killer essay to do, but it was my last one of the semester so I'm pretty much free for a little while, yay for more writing time XD So R.J is out on the loose, but how? He claims that he's going to leave them alone until he can get better prepared, but will that day ever come? Meh, who knows? I'm serious, even I'm not 100% sure on this one XD Ah well, onward with the aftermath! Time jump! XD

By the way I'm sorry that this is going to be a short chapter! I haven't had a lot of time on my hands lately! XD

*Talia's POV*

It had been just over a week since I had that phone call. And true to his word, no one had seen or heard any sign of R.J in that time, and it didn't look like there would be either. Not that I was letting my guard down at all, and by the looks of things, neither was the rest of the studio. Security had been upped, which included telling more of the guards about the 'secrets' that were hiding around here. Surprisingly enough they took it a lot better that was expected. Apparently they had a feeling that there was something going on after constantly being hassled by a certain trio of children who just didn't look quite normal enough to be human… Take a guess who they were…

Now don't get me wrong, I wasn't naïve, I knew that the chances of this peace and safety lasting long were slim. But for now I didn't see the harm in enjoying it. After all who knew who long it would last. Like they say, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it long after they've built it. Or jump off of it, whichever comes first. I know what I've got my money on. But like I said, don't look a gift horse in the mouth and just enjoy the calmness for now. And Dr. S figured that a good way to start that was by returning to our therapy sessions before or after work. But since I was meant to be on a vacation, we just met up in his office at the usual time in the morning. So far we'd spoken about things at home, but that was just a warm up, it always was.

"And, has R.J tried to make contact vith you since?"

I was wondering when that was going to come up, "No, nothing."

"How does ziz effect you?" he asked cautiously as if I was going to break at any moment. He should know me better by now, this was nothing compared to what's happened before.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm nervous, and the thought of him still being out there somewhere terrifies me; but I don't feel the need to constantly look over my shoulder like I thought I would be. I guess I feel… ready."

"Ready?"

It was difficult to explain, but I tried my best, "If he shows up again, I'm ready. After all that's happened over the years I know exactly what he's capable of and his limits. I don't feel like there's anything more he can do to scare me. Because I'm ready if he dares come near me or my family again."

"You sound very sure of yourself." He nodded in approval, "Zat is good, ja?"

"I hope it is." I smiled a little at that.

"But you're feeling…?" he left the question open for me to fill in.

"Better." I said honestly, "I think that things are turning around. Less secrets for one thing, and that's all I'm really asking for at the moment."

"Good, ja zat's very good." He nodded, "And vat of Poppy and Flynn?"

"They're great. Being around the Town has really helped them with their… toonism?" I shrugged at the lack of technical term, "And especially being around toons their own age. It's good for them to actually have friends that are going to, you know, stick around."

He smiled, "And how are you, vith zer Town I mean."

Good question, "It's an experience I'll say that much. But… I like it." More like loved it, it wasn't just running into difference characters that I recognised but it was also the fun of it all. It was just a place that radiated… security and fun. In my opinion, that was the best two things I could ask for, for me and my siblings, and as for the Warner's, it was a place where their zaniness was encouraged. Why wouldn't they love it too?

"Ja." He nodded and looked at his watch, "Vell I zink zats all vee have time for today. But it's good to see you getting back on your feet."

"Thanks Dr. S." I smiled, getting to my feet, "I'll see you at work."

"Ah you've still got another week off, remember?" he asked with a rare hint of slyness.

"How could I forget." I laughed, heading toward the doorway.

"Oh, and Talia!" he called.

I stopped for a moment, "Yeah?"

"Happy Birthday."

That one took my by surprise, "Oh…" A lot actually, I didn't like people knowing about it, it wasn't something that was a big deal to me. No reason in particular, it just wasn't. But still, Dr. S meant it with good intentions, so I smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

*Flynn's POV*

"Fetch!"

Runt seemed to sprint on the spot for a second before bounding along after the ball I'd thrown. Wait, I had thrown it right? I looked down at my hand and realised that it had been empty before I even tried to throw the ball that I swear had been there. What the-?

Yakko leant on my shoulder slyly and started tossing the ball in the air and catching it repeatedly, "How much you wanna bet that he's gonna be looking for this thing for the next twenty minutes?"

I snatched it from the air when he chucked it upwards again and rolled my eyes jokingly, "Harsh."

"Just making the game a little more interesting, is all."

"Doesn't that not work if the person you're playing the game with doesn't come back?" Poppy asked.

The girls exchanged a look before the cat shrugged, "She's gotta point. Eh what the heck, I'll get him later."

Dot nodded pointedly, "You mean Talia will have to get him later."

Wakko snickered with a shrug, "You think Talia will be okay with not all of us being here?"

"Don't see why she wouldn't." I shrugged.

"But… isn't today-?"

Dot was cut off by Poppy shushing her, "She doesn't like talking about that."

"Let me guess, there's some emotionally scarring back story that goes with that?" Rita asked sarcastically.

Sometimes it was hard to tell if she was joking or not, but this time I guessed she was by the little glint in her eye. I shook my head, "No, not really. She just doesn't like having the attention. And lets face it, it's not like it really makes a difference lately, is it?"

"There's a cheerful and chipper way to look at it." Yakko rolled his eyes, "As always."

"Am I wrong?"

"You're always wrong if you're denying the positives of a birthday." Dot stated simply.

I didn't have anything against them at all. But I knew that Talia just didn't like having all the attention on her. I guess after so long of taking care of everyone else, the idea of someone doing something for her was a bit weird. In the two years we've been around toons, Talia didn't mind doing something for our birthdays, and she even asked to see of the Warners had a set birthday that she could arrange something for. Her first birthday here though, she managed to keep hidden from them until a whole month afterwards. Her second, a week. But I guess the Warner's got it third time lucky this year. I hope she knows that.

But I kind of also hoped that they wouldn't do anything big either. I mean if she didn't want a fuss then surely they should have figured it out by now. It's her choice at the end of the day. But then again the end of the day is what she's looking forward to so that's a bit of a bummer. Hang on, the Warner's were being told not to do something, and now they had a shared grin on their faces… Oh geez.

"What're you three up to this time?" Rita asked, ears tilting as she practically read my mind.

"Nothing…" they sang.

*Talia's POV*

"This is way too dangerous!" I objected, umbrella clutched in my hand as I peered over the edge of the bar.

What the hell was I thinking, letting those three drag me to the top of the Water Tower so out of the blue? I should know better. When the Warner's literally jump out of nowhere and tell you all kinds of rubbish about something being 'urgent' and 'needing help', you know to realise that something is up. And not in the way they mean either. And now look where it got me, standing on the top of the tower with a frigging umbrella gripped in my fists and being told to jump! What the actual hell?

"I can't do this!"

"You're forgetting what you are, kid." Dot smirked.

"Why the heck do you want me to do this?"

"It's fun!" Wakko nodded.

"I'm not a full toon though." I stated, "An umbrella is not going to keep me up."

"How much are you willing to bet?" Yakko asked.

"Not my life."

"Come on kiddo, you got to live your life of you're gonna place bets like that."

"I'm not betting it!"

"So what are you betting?" Wakko asked.

"Nothing."

"I'm not sure we can cover that." Dot rolled her eyes, "Come on cheap skate!"

"You know this can stop this word run-around by taking a leap of faith." Yakko shrugged.

He had a point, "You… promise me that it's safe?"

Instead of giving me a straight answer, the three of them gave me a genuine smile of what was apparently comfort, crossing their hearts with a finger. For some weird reason, that actually made me feel a little better. Not enough to jump though. I'd need more convincing than that. Or at least I thought I would. But, I don't know, I guess I must have trusted them a little more than I did before. After everything, I guess that I didn't have any right to deny them trust now. But jumping off a tower with an umbrella? Seriously? I mean I know that having some toon abilities will help me but I didn't fully understand what I could and couldn't do. How did I know this wasn't one of them? I didn't. But they had faith in me, and that kind of gave me a push.

And so, I jumped. For a split second, there was the stomach churning rush of falling, but it was gone before it even fully began. My eyes were clenched shut, arms and legs crossed around the pole of the umbrella in hopes of maintaining my grip. A light breeze ruffled my hair, but I still didn't open my eyes. I couldn't bring myself to believe that this was actually working. A muffled groan escaped me, wondering when the hell I was going to be brave enough to open them. However, my answer came in a shrill wolf-whistle from above.

"Hello down there!" Daring to peek my eyes open the smallest slither, I saw Yakko tied into a parachute, siblings not far behind drifting a few yards away from me with a cocky look on his face, "How's it hanging?"

"You tell me!" I cried, wishing to close my eyes again but I just couldn't.

"First rule of being a toon: Gravity doesn't work that well unless you look directly downwards."

"And the rule of you getting a parachute and me a stinking umbrella?" I asked, voice tight from most of my energy going into holding on.

He shrugged and indicated to the space around us, "Take a look around, kiddo, you might just forgive us."

I did as I was told, but not exactly thrilled about it. But… I have to say… it was frigging brilliant! I could see everything from up here, the studio the area that led off into the toon lot and Town; I kid you not I could even fall into the cliché that I could most likely see my house from here. The sun warmed my skin and I couldn't help but grin. I wasn't suspended in the air, we were both drifting downwards but at a much slower pace which I wasn't complaining about. This was… amazing.

"Wow… just-Wow!" I breathed as I bumped to the ground, the wind had forced us closer to the Town and we now stood just on the outskirts of it.

"I know it's not as thrilling as a life-threatening one, but how's it feel taking a fun risk this time?" Yakko asked, unclasping his safety straps, eyebrow arched.

Throwing him a sarcastic look before grinning, "I might be willing to take a few more."

"Funny you should say that…" Dot mused.

My face dropped, "Why?"

"Come with us and see." Wakko answered.

It wasn't as if they'd led me wrong so far. So I obeyed resultantly. And it didn't take long for me to realise that they were taking me to the café where Betty worked. I was starting to see a regular theme of showing up here. But why this time? I could see Flynn and Poppy standing by the entrance, Rita perched on Poppy's shoulders with an almost smug look on her face. What was going on here? Oh… Oh crap. They'd gotten it right this year. And now I half-wished that the umbrella thing didn't work. Kind of. I looked at the ground in dejection, but found that one of the toons had pinned a large badge onto my jacket with a large '21' written on it. Oh help…

"Guys, are you kidding me?"

"Surprise." They grinned.

I laughed, but out of anxiousness more than anything, "You're so dead…"

A/N:

Happy Birthday Talia! XD

Again I'm so sorry for the lack of updates lately. But on the upside there's only one more chapter to go, and I'll be honest as you've probably already seen from this chapter, things are winding down now and it'll just be tying up some loose ends. And I think it might just be a short one too, maybe. But anyways, I promise that it won't be as long a wait for that one as this was, lol XD And also keep a look out for another fic I'm planning that should be coming up soon. I hope you won't be disappointed XD