A/N: Hello again, I hope you are all doing well. I want to give you something special to say thank you for reading (even if I broke your hearts) in the spirit of Thanksgiving. So here's a hopefully cute extra for this chapter.
Thalen never had a Thanksgiving dinner or at least not that he remembered. He sat at the dinning table watching the flurry of activity in the kitchen.
"Catalina please exercise more caution," Vlad said looking up from the casserole he was making to stare down the woman who was struggling with the large bird.
"I'm being careful," Catalina said tugging at the wings trying to lift it. "Its so slimy," she said crinkling her nose. "Oh look at what I can do," she said releasing her hold on the bird. It landed with a loud thud into the sink.
"Catalina," Vlad warned bracing himself as the bird started to glow blue. The woman laughed manically as the bird lifted out of the sink and floated toward the billionaire.
"See, I have this under control," the woman said proudly dropping the bird into the pan. She gave Vlad a cheeky grin before picking up the pan and placing it in the oven.
Thalen laughed at Vlad's unamused look as he handed Catalina a mixing bowl. "Thalen, it would be awhile until dinner is ready. If you like to you can train," Vlad said turning to the teen as Catalina also turned to him.
The teen grinned putting his hands up, "Okay, I got the hint. You want some alone time." The former thief chuckled as Catalina turned red and even Vlad looked uncomfortable.
The door opened breaking the awkward tension in the air. "Thalen, we have been looking all over for you," Alex's voice said looking at the trio. "Did I interrupt something?"
...
The table was filled with amiable conversation. Abigail was speaking animatedly to Gwen who was responding awkwardly back. Leon and Thalen were glaring at each other. Alex and Robin were sharing a couple of words quietly. Vlad normally spent this holiday alone, so the sounds of others eating and talking was strange. It was a good strange though. He smiled to himself though he put his poker face back when he saw the know-it-all smirk on Catalina's face.
"There's a Packers game tonight if any one wants to watch it with us," Catalina said as everyone pushed away their plates. Vlad refrained from saying that the woman had just invited herself and the others to his private viewing room.
"Sounds okay with me," Alex stated and Vlad soon found himself surrounded by the halfas in his small viewing theater. Catalina was pressed against his side as all of the halfas tried to fit on the sectional. The billionaire soon forgot about the uncomfortable situation when the game started.
The game was enjoyable. It was more so than normal when he was surrounded by cheers when the Packers scored..(or a boo from Thalen). The former thief took it upon himself to root for the opposing team, making sure to cheer loudly when they scored. Catalina didn't seem to understand the game and cheered whenever a player was tackled.
Vlad smiled once again concealed in the shadows of the room. This would go down as one of his favorite Thanksgivings.
A/N: a totally AU extra but somewhat cute.
Alex hefted the two bags in his hands. He squinted against the harsh sun. After spending so much time in the underground lair, his eyes had become very sensitive against light. "Alex, you don't have to carry my things if it is too heavy for you," Sylvia said.
Gwen chuckled as she walked past with her own bag. "Yeah, I mean I can take it off of your hands," Gwen said in her brash manner.
"I am fine," Alex responded coldly to the little dig. Gwen shrugged and picked up her pace to catch up with Robin who was walking beside Vlad.
The billionaire and halfa barely acknowledged the girl as she raced past them and climb the stairs to the halfa's new base of operations.
The white building was large hidden in a large garden. Alex wondered how much money the billionaire had to purchase such real estate.
The halfas entered the building. All of the teens looked over the expensive architecture. "You may choose any of the bedrooms. I only ask that you leave the Master suite to me," Vlad said as he walked past all of the teens. In his hands was the Ghost Gauntlets which he held tightly.
Alex shrugged, but climbed the gaudy spiral staircase. Sylvia followed behind quietly. Alex picked the room closest to the stairs dropping both cases to the floor. He lowered himself into the bed with a sigh. He put his face in his hands.
"Sylvia?" Alex called looking through his fingers to the girl.
"Yes," she said softly.
"I am tired of running," Alex responded.
"I am too, but what else can we do?" she asked.
Alex paused for a moment, "We are going to take the fight to Dan." He knew it was crazy, but with all four of them plus the Ghost Gauntlets, they could have the upper hand. He could see fear pass through her eyes quickly. "With the finished Ghost Gauntlets, we can split Dan into Phantom and Plasimus. It would be easy to rid ourselves of them."
"Vlad had a couple ghost containment thermos we can also take," Sylvia said trying to appear confident. "We need to talk to Gwen and Robin also."
DP~DP~DP
Thalen clenched his fists; the air was filled with the scent of smoke. He narrowed his eyes at the burning remains of the training dummy. He had enough of this. He had enough of hiding and perfecting his skills. While he liked getting stronger, he knew every second he did so cost someone's life. Abigail was the last straw. He couldn't wait anymore; he couldn't just sit around while Dan continued to terrorized both the Ghost Zone and the human world.
With new purpose, he stormed out of the training hall. The former thief passed ghost who kept casting him pitying looks. He blinked back tears as he turned a corner. He only needed to find Wulf and convince him to let him return to the human world.
"Where do you think you are going?" Leon's voice asked before the halfa saw him following him.
"I'm not going to sit around while more people die," Thalen responded, " and you can't stop me." He continued to storm through the halls looking for the wolf-like ghost. Thalen could hear the other halfa's footsteps behind him.
"What's your problem?" Thalen shouted turning on the other halfa. Leon didn't say anything for a moment.
"You can't beat Dan by yourself," Leon stated coldly. Thalen exhaled loudly.
"I don't care," the former thief said getting in Leon's face.
Leon stepped back, "I am not going to stop you. I am joining you." Thalen stood blinking for a moment not comprehending what the other halfa was saying. "We need to get a move on if we are planning to leave before anyone notices that we are gone." Thalen watched as the other halfa hurried past him. The former thief smirked and followed at the heels of Leon.
