Jamie's Home, But Where's Daddy?

Keith's POV

Two days later, the tension was still evident around Sven and Kate. They acted as if on thin ice when near each other, I hope they get over it soon before Jamie comes in. Breakfast was particularly stressful because neither party was a morning person and they were both cranky and irritable in the morning.

After stemming another oncoming battle, I had enough, "Guys, is this really what you want Jamie to come home to? A stupid argument between 2 of her heroes? Kate, I know you're under a lot of stress right now, but think about what it must be like for Jamie. She's been moved around and hasn't seen her sister since she got back, been in a safe house for no reason, and now suddenly she's coming back home!"

Alley Cat shot up and was about to say something when Sven grabbed her arm, "Rider, he has a point. We can't let Jamie come home to this, we have to act like everything's okay, even if it's not."

I saw weeks of fear and pain flash through her normally bright blue eyes in a second. I had a glimpse of what it must've been like to be in her shoes through this whole mess. She sighed and nodded, "You're right…I can't let my baby sister come home to this. I'll…I'll be upstairs prepping my room for her."

She left after she said that and I followed her up the steps and into her room. I shut the door behind me and walked over to the dresser across from her bed, "Alley Cat-."

"Just stop, Keith." She turned around to face me, "Stop trying to make it seem like it will all be okay because it won't. I know that my dad's missing, Crawford filled me in last night. Something YOU should've done."

"Alley Cat," I started, "I was dying to tell you, I just didn't know how. I didn't want to add on any emotional stress."

She crossed her arms, "Well, consider me stressed." She sat down on the desk chair and put her head in her hands, "Arceus, Dad's gone. Daddy…"

I squatted down to her level and gently grabbed one of her hands, "Alley Cat, we're going to get your dad back."

She chuckled dryly, "That, my friend, is a pie-crust promise."

I was about to respond when I heard the front door open and the sound of a little girl's voice filled my ears. I didn't even have a chance to stop Alley Cat before she ran out of the room and sprinted down the steps. I watched from upstairs and Alley at embraced her sister and swung her around the room. She gently set her down on the ground and followed her upstairs to go set her stuff down in Alley Cat's room.

I stayed behind downstairs with Sven, I figured Alley cat would want some alone time with Jamie.

Kate' POV

I was happy beyond words as I carried Jamie up the stairs, it had almost been a month since I last saw her! I set her down into my room and unpacked her stuff as she sat on my bed.

She swung her legs around like she does when she's nervous or needs to talk, so I asked, "You okay, Jamie?"

She nodded hesitantly, "Yeah...I just miss Daddy."

My heart melted, "I miss him too, hon. But he'll be back before you know it."

She shook her head, "No he won't; I heard people say that he's gone. That's why I had to come back, isn't it?"

I set down her Teddiursa doll on the bed beside her, "Yes, that's why you needed to come home. But in times like this, we need to keep our chins up, he'll be back someday, you'll see."

She scooted over to me and climbed on my lap. Her eyes started watering up as she hugged me and said into my shoulder, "But I want him home now!"

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head, "I know, baby, me too. Me too."

Jamie fell asleep soon after and I tucked her into my bed. I walked back down to the living room after turning off the lights and closing the door. Wendy walked over when she first saw me, "How's Jamie? Is she alright?"

I smiled wearily, "Yeah…she's fine. She just misses…Dad."

She nodded understandingly as Sven walked up to me, "Kate, I'm sorry about your dad and about the stupid arguments. I, I mean, we should've told you right from the start."

I smiled again, "Its fine...not like it matters now anyways. I'll be on the roof if you need me"

I walked back up to the attic and through the little hatch there and just sat on the roof gazing at the white, fluffy clouds. I smiled to myself, even when my day is dreary, the Earth is still spinning, the Sun still shines, and the breezes still blow. I was broken out of my reverie by Keith opening up the hatch. He carefully climbed onto the roof and sat next to me, "How are you feeling, Alley Cat?"

I sighed, "I'll…be alright. Right now, not so much, but I'm getting better. It's just that this whole brouhaha has got me worn thin, especially since they took Dad"

I noticed Keith bite his lip and say, "Look, I know this isn't the right time, but do you maybe know why they would kidnap your Dad?"

I was about to say no when my memory of my conversation with Elita ran through my mind, "Dad was a Mechanic after he graduated for a couple of months, then he found out my…biological mother was pregnant and decided that he would take care of me."

He looked puzzled, "But your Dad couldn't be more than 16 when he…Oh, I get it."

I pressed my lips in a thin line, "Yeah, but that's beside the point. Anyways, he still knows how to make blueprints and build things from practically nothing. What if they're trying to do what Altru did, but on a grander scale? I mean, Fiore is larger and more populated than Almia is, so if they took over here, then it wouldn't be too hard to take over Almia."

He nodded and we sat in silence for a while until I decided to head back down, "I better let the others know about it too, maybe it'll help the investigation."

Once again, he nodded and I walked back into the attic and stayed there for a while. I sighed deeply as I calmed myself down and remembered all the fun times I had with Dad. With those happy thoughts in mind, I slapped on a fake smile and headed downstairs to meet the others. As I walked, I made a solemn vow to myself, after this, never again will I have any involvement with the Ranger Union. No more heroism, no more bad guys, no more people telling me my limits; for the first time in forever, I'll be completely free!

A.N. Okay, okay, I know I said that I would update soon, but I got swamped by homework. Like seriously, who's going to need to know how to find the area of a goddamned trapezoid?! Anyways, up next we'll find out who exactly Team Malum is. Just a side note, prepare your hearts for one hell of a plot twist.