First Attempt

The dripping of water was what greeted Sierra Donnel's ears when she roused awake. Her eyes slowly parted and her blurry sight trained on a dark blue coloring. The stone floor. Why does the back of her neck hurt?

She groaned and reached up to rub it. The action provided zero relief when the jingle—and weight—of chains reached her ears. Suddenly her neck wasn't hurting as much. She gasped and moved her arms down into sight below her. The world's largest steel chains covered her wrists. Fresh and new. They barely allowed her arms to move forward. Up, yes. But to the steel table in front of her, no.

She looked around the room to check her environment. She was definitely no longer in the Vandom residence. Instead, she was now in a cold stone box with no door, sitting in a chair with her own legs locked to the legs of it. There was literally no door or window. Just a stone box with a lantern above the table, providing as much light as possible in this stone prison.

As if she were trapped in a rock.

Where the hell was she? What happened? And... Where the hell were her phones?!

"I guess you're wondering where you are." Donnel gasped and trained her sights back onto the table. Directly opposite of her. On the other side were Star and Hay-Lin relaxing in two more chairs. Glaring at her. Hay-Lin was in her full blown Guardian form while Star stuck to her teenage redhead look. The same look she wore during the meeting at the stadium. A folder was now in the middle of the table with nothing on it. Just blank with papers stacked neatly inside of it.

Donnel glanced around and wondered how exactly did they get in here with no door before she demanded, "Who are you? Where am I? Where's my partner?"

Will immediately answered, "We're the ones asking questions. You're in Metamoor Maximum Security Prison. In our favorite interrogation room. As for your partner..." Star and Hay-Lin shared a glance before she answered, "He wouldn't answer any questions. So... His lifetime was cut."

Donnel gasped and screamed, "WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM?!"

Her scream was ignored. "We're going to ask you a few questions," Hay-Lin stated. "And you are going to answer them. If you don't, we'll use more creative methods. Why are you working for David Matthews?"

Sierra sniffed away her tears with the thought that her partner for decades was killed and answered, "I-I don't—"

Will leaned forward in her chair and smoldered suspiciously at Sierra."We know. You work. For him." She threw her hand up and tossed Sierra's burner phones loudly onto the table. She trained her eyes on them before Will stated, "Burner phones are convenient so you can't be tracked considering there is no permanent number to trace. However they still have a hidden log of phone calls on them that I managed to get my hands on. Three phones all with the same single number who calls you. You received a call from someone in Heatherfield a few minutes before you came to my house. Who was it?"

Will Vandom. She was sitting directly in front of her. Holy shit. Sierra gulped and answered, "Uhhh... Um—"

"Was it Doctor Matthews?"

Sierra sighed and nodded her head. There was no point in hiding anymore. They had her on the first try.

Hay-Lin smirked and answered, "Do you know where his hideout is? His personal laboratory?"

Sierra glared and growled, "I'll never tell you."

Hay-Lin sighed and said, "We figured you'd say that." She reached down to the ground and grabbed something. A little black bag that she held up for her to see. Then tilted it over the table and poured out a few things.

One of them was a perfect Golden necklace with a few diamonds. Very expensive. As well as rings and other valuables. They had no idea what this stuff was. But Sierra definitely did.

It held a lot of sentimental value because she immediately yelled, "NO! OKAY, OKAY! Please, please don't do whatever it is you're going to do with that, those were my parents'."

Star picked up the necklace and held it out her way tauntingly. She asked, "Are you going to tell us? Because all of this stuff can still melt faster than butter."

"It's somewhere inside the tower, that's all I know," she quickly fibbed. "I swear. I don't know anything else about it."

Hay-Lin set the bag back down on the table and shared a glance with Star. A glance filled with the same thought they shared. Looks like it was in the one place they really didn't need to be in. The spire in the middle of the city. Star looked back to their little double agent and nodded. "Thank you, Sierra. Now you're going to be staying here for a little while with your partner. He's in his own cell upstairs."

Upstairs?! Sierra Donnel shot her head up and attempted to remind them, "WAIT! YOU SAID—"

"We'll leave the move to the Guards. Have a good day."

Then Star and Hay-Lin literally blinked out of existence. Along with what they brought with them as if they were never there. Sierra just stared at the spot they recently occupied with an expression of disbelief painted across her face. They used her own emotions against her to get her to talk.

"Those sneaky, little bitches," she groaned. They were good. She could admit it.

~TLO~

Even though the silver dragon was no longer in Heatherfield, the McDonald's that replaced the location still served as a good meeting point. Melissa, Taranee, Irma and Cornelia were leaning against its wall watching the events of the world pass. Cars on the busy shadowed streets, planes in the cloudless blue sky, birds settling into the many trees lining the sidewalk in front of them.

A sigh on Melissa's left made her direct her attention from the view to there. Star and Hay-Lin were back and taking up the same positions as they were. And they didn't look too happy. Star was wearing a red short-sleeved turtleneck with a pair of blue jeans and white Nikes. Accentuated with the necklace given to her for her sixteenth birthday. She motioned with her head upwards. "The tower. His lab's in there."

Hay-Lin walked over to Taranee and grabbed her hand. "This goes deep. He has a lab somewhere in the communications building. He probably bought it."

Cornelia shook her head and answered, "But what I don't get is how. There's no way he went to school."

Star shook her head side to side and replied, "Don't know, but my mom might. What'd you do with their car?"

Irma and Melissa looked at each other and shared a smirk. A knowing smirk. Irma looked back down to Star and answered, "Well little Will—" Star raised her palm up and created a fireball as a warning. "It's parked nice and comfortably at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. It'll never be found. No one expects a car to be miles from the coast of Heatherfield."

Jeez, that's something to gloat about. Yeah we just park the car in the ocean, no big. But it worked, so Star and Hay-Lin rolled with it. The latter sighed and coalesced with a simple nod. "Alright," Hay-Lin said. "We need to learn about the tower. Inside and out. One of us has to go in there and do a little recon. I motion Star."

Star gasped and swiveled on the ball of her feet with her fingers pointed up to Hay-Lin. "Whoa. Wait. Stop. Back up. Why?"

"Because your mom works there."

"Melissa's parents work there too, you know," Will deadpanned. "I think I've already done my deeds this time around, don't you think?"

"Of course. But we still need intel. And we all know you're better at obtaining it."

Either Will just didn't want to do it, or she was nervous about something. She had that look on her face. The look she makes when trying to make a hard decision. So Melissa grabbed Star's hand and volunteered, "I'll go. None of us have ever been in there and Will is the smallest person here now. If she goes in there, they're going to be asking if she's lost or something."

Star sighed and muttered, "You guys need to stop egging me about my size. I get that I'm stuck like this. No sex, Melissa."

No sex?! Melissa gasped loud and swiveled her body to face Will. "What?! Aw, come on, babe!"

Well this was awkward. Cornelia and Irma glanced up to each other then looked around. This may be normal for the lesbians of the group, but hearing it talked out loud was uncomfortable for those who didn't live that lifestyle.

Will crossed her arms and shook her head. "You're teasing me about my height. So no sex for the remainder of this mission."

Taranee tapped Star and Melissa's shoulders from behind. Then motioned with her head towards the guys nearby watching them close at the corner a few feet away from McDonald's. "Hey, tone it down," she whispered.

Star grinned and yelled, "What?! We're just a gang of lesbians loitering! What's the big deal?"

Cornelia closed her eyes and covered her mouth. "You're so immature," she grumbled.

Will shook her head and stated, "Melissa likes it." Then pulled her hand back and slapped her wife on the butt.

"Ugh! Will!"

"You know you do. So here's the plan. Melissa goes into the tower to get as much information as a worker with her mom and dad while we do some outside research. I'll be on a rooftop nearby in case there's any trouble. You know I'll never leave you in that danger hole alone."

Melissa sighed and looked to the rest of the girls. "Agreed?" She asked.

They shared looks of approval before replying at the same time, "Agreed."

"Good." Melissa pulled her hand back and spanked Will, who yelped in surprise. "That was payback, small stuff." Then took off running down the street. She knew what was coming next. Star did too. It was her.

"Oh no you don't!" Star yelled. Then booked it as fast as her small stature could carry her down the sidewalk behind Melissa. "You know I'll catch you! Get back here, Melissa!"

Irma and Cornelia just sighed and rolled their eyes. Taranee meanwhile smirked at Hay-Lin and whispered, "They have the right idea." Right before pulling her own hand back and sending it flying onto Hay-Lin's rear.

W~I~T~C~H

While Will and Melissa were playing make up, Cornelia and Irma decided to play spy. With a small notepad in hand, they walked around Heatherfield and into a single warehouse store that held a bunch of TVs on convenient news channels. Covering the international debate to continue having these GU Portals running. It had become so big, it got in front of Congress. And fast.

Irma crossed her arms and sighed. Based on the way the world was acting someone was going to test the Guardians. She could feel it happen. America alone was testy. Everyone else just followed their example. She pinged with distaste, Jeez. Just shut 'em down.

Star immediately came in and seethed through her teeth. Yeah, you and I both know that it's an unlikely possibility.

Cornelia joined in on the conversation and stated, Wasn't getting in front of the world your plan?

Yeah, but it was also the plan to get our little friend's attention. He definitely knows we're here.

So what is it you're trying to get out of this? Hay-Lin pinged. Our job is to shut them down.

And we will. But we also have to make sure they never try this again. Weren't you girls afraid that someone else would? Well if they say no, then we'll give them a good reason to never test Kandrakar again. We're going to make sure this was a one time thing.

Cornelia and Irma shared a look then focused back on the screens. It was a good plan. They had a window of a few hours to make a decision before they actually move in and start . . . shutting them down.

W~I~T~C~H

Will may be small and practically a teenager again. But Melissa knew her wife was actually over thirty years old. A liplock away from the public was something they both needed. The last time Will was in Melissa's bedroom was actually fifteen years ago. Nearly sixteen coming up.

Mom and Dad were downstairs and left them alone in Melissa's bedroom. They were old enough to hold responsibility. The sounds of playful giggles and lip smacks bounced off the walls with a source from the bed. Thankfully, dad was asleep on the couch. And this wasn't the first time mom was near lesbian sex.

She merely sighed and turned the volume up in her headphones. "Just like college."

The covers were old and a little dusty from many years of neglect like everything else here, but that didn't bother the two women underneath them. Will was basking in a pleasant afterglow from Melissa's way more than experienced hands on her chest while Melissa held her around her waist underneath facing the ceiling. The smell of sex wafted around the room. Sweat mixed with love, lust mixed with admiration and beauty.

Melissa took a deep breath of the long and rich red hair lying on her chest. The smell of flowers in a gracious meadow. "Mmm, you smell nice," she grumbled.

Will shifted her hands so they were underneath her arms to feeling Melissa's naked back and replied, "And you smell amazing."

"What happened to no sex?"

"I changed my mind when you smacked my butt again." Will shifted her head so she was staring up into Melissa's face with a smile. The smile that made the sun look like a dim light bulb.

Melissa reached up and gently pushed Will's hair to the side to show the burn. No matter how bad it was, she was still beautiful. No matter her age. Melissa grabbed both sides of Will's head and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. They touched heads then shared another tender smooch. "I love you, Wilhelmina," Melissa whispered.

"I love you too, Melissa," Will replied.

Now that they got that out of the way, there was one more thing she wanted to talk about. Melissa took a deep breath and asked, "Are you sure . . . About having a child together?" Will pulled back and sat into a position where she was straddling Melissa's waist. Melissa's hands gripped Will's hips but her eyes stayed on hers. Not on any of her nudity, her burns, her marks or tattoos of the symbols of the elements on her right arm. They were on her eyes.

Will took a deep breath and nodded her head. She answered in determination, "Yes. I want us to have a family together, Melissa. I want to have a daughter. I know we have a lot going on right now. But you could still be a Guardian while I take care of her."

Of course she would. Melissa smiled and suddenly said, "Yes."

Will blinked at her. Did she just say yes? ". . . Yes?" She repeated.

"Yes. You're right, I think we should start a family together." She reached up and stroked Will's hair to the side. "We're in our thirties, we're not getting any younger . . . Well I'm not." Will playfully slapped Melissa's exposed breast. "And we should actually take this further. So once this mission is over . . . We can look into it. Okay? I promise."

Will's hopeful expression turned from hopeful to clear excitement. She literally squealed and lunged at Melissa for another kiss. The same kiss that Melissa will never get tired of. She didn't have to say thank you or cry in happiness. Melissa already knew.

"Heads up, girls. The answer was no. Some people wanted to test the theory that 'Aliens are violent.'"

Will and Melissa separated and quickly jumped out of bed. They knew the drill. There was trouble and they had to move. Will changed into Starfire while Melissa grabbed her clothes from the floor. Then once she straightened up burst into a fit of giggles at Will's state. Looks like Starfire was a teenager too. She still had the same black theme with bat wings, long black hair, and skintight suit with red eyes, but she was maybe five foot nine instead of her past look at six foot five.

Starfire crossed her arms and smoldered at Melissa with distaste. She loved Melissa, but right now... Star rolled her eyes while Melissa threw on a shirt and pinged, "Where are we meeting?"

"Back behind the mall. Who wants to do the honors?"

Starfire slashed open a rift and suggested, "We'll rock paper scissor it." Then jumped through and landed in the forestry with Melissa right behind her. A few seconds later, Hay-Lin, Irma, Taranee, and Cornelia jumped out of another one directly in front of them. They positioned themselves in front of different trees and looked at each other before Hay-Lin urgently debriefed them.

She crossed her arms and relayed, "'We will not be deterred nor bullied by the aliens from beyond on what we can do or what we can build.' Their words exactly."

Starfire rolled her eyes and smoothed her long hair into a much better shape and form. Then trained her eyes on the mall. Something was off here. There had to be a much bigger picture. But right now, they needed to tear these portals down.

"Alright, rock paper scissors." She held out her left hand with the palm up and hovered a fist with her right over it. The rest of them followed along and casted competitive glances. Over the years, chasing criminals usually ended up with them all at the same place at the exact same time. So to get the point, they had to battle in Rock Paper Scissors. The criminal they were chasing just didn't get up and sometimes voiced their thoughts that usually ended with them receiving a black eye. Such wonderful memories.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoe!" The first one out was Cornelia. Then Irma. Then Starfire. She was less than enthusiastic about it. After that it was Hay-Lin and Melissa. That left only Taranee.

She looked at her fist and smirked across to Starfire. She knew her well. She wanted to destroy the portals. "Sorry, Star," she sarcastically apologized. "This is my round."

Star grunted through her nose with crossed arms and requested, "Well do me a solid and break through the glass ceiling, okay?"

Hay-Lin shook her head and denied that order with a raised hand. "No, no smashing Earth's property. Just the portal. We'll infiltrate the building and see what we're working with. Let's move." Hay-Lin opened a portal and dashed in to get to the roof of the mall. Now they were in business. From here, they could see everything. But they could also be spotted from the police walking around below. They took a knee at the ledge and noted the high police presence. FBI and even a CIA task force leaning against their SUVs with tactile suits on. It was hot out here. Too hot for bulletproof vests. Oh well. They chose the hard way.

Starfire cleared her throat and suggested, "For your safety, Taranee, I think you should let me have this one."

Of course she'd suggest that. "No, Star."

"Because they have guns. And I'm literally the only here who can stop a bullet. You guys can have the ones out in the open while I take care of this on because you can get them from a far distance."

Hay-Lin brushed her blue hair out of the way and assessed the situation closer. Star was right. These guys had some serious weaponry. And the only one who was actually good at stopping bullets was Starfire. She could walk right past these guys and destroy the portal. Then be out of there.

She nodded and admitted, "She's right, T. We'll let Starfire have this one for your own safety. We'll take the rest of them. Starfire gets those indoors, we take the ones outside. Alright?"

Taranee sighed but nodded her head. These guys weren't playing around. But their strength relied on bullets. Starfire was the only one here who could stop those bullets in midair. Hay-Lin nodded to her then turned to Starfire. "Handle this," she ordered.

Oh yes! Starfire slowly grinned a grin that made the Guardians have flashbacks of when they first had to fight her. It was never a good sign. She slapped her hands together and whispered, "Time for a show." Then created the same orb of unstable Quintessence in between her hands that shuts down power.

W~I~T~C~H

Tom Lair knew the Government was making a mistake. But they were ordered to fulfill tasks. As the captain of the Heatherfield Police Department, he's seen a lot of things. Shootings, high speed chases, drugs, all types of things. And this is the first time he's seen so much task force in one place. The mall he was stationed in was closed until further notice. Wasn't the mall made for shopping?

All Captains were on the scene and looking things over through camera feeds. Including himself. Captain Lair was situated in a security office inside the mall watching the camera feeds with other officers. Nothing so far. The portal was up and running and—

"Power's been cut!" Someone shouted through the radio. Right before the surveillance room went dark.

He looked around from his sleepy state and shot up from his seat with a hand on his gun. He grabbed his radio and relayed, "Surveillance to perimeter, the power's out."

The word was out and the Guardians could see it. Melissa snapped her fingers and turned them all invisible so they could enjoy the show without being seen. The other portals could wait. Star was working.

The police down there were arming themselves. Grabbing rifles and other weapons and rushing towards the building while others stuck behind their cars watching everything. They would never see her coming. Well maybe they would.

Starfire loves dramatic entrances.

A red rift was slashed open in the middle of the parking lot away from the perimeter behind a bunch of suvs blocking the mall's entrances. The police quickly aimed, but didn't fire. Their breathing was deep and hectic. Anxiety threatening to pull the trigger way more than their minds.

But instead of Starfire, a young girl skipped out. Well Will skipped out. No Starfire. The same girl from before. The same girl from the stadium holding a staff. And she did not look happy. Heat waves traveled the concrete ground while she took each step towards the mall with an evil look in her eye. The front line didn't like that look.

A loudspeaker was raised to the mouth of one of the police officers. "Under the Law of the United States of America, you are to turn back—" Star lifted her hand to her neck and immediately changed into Starfire. Scowling at them. Then she jumped into the air and quickly soared to them. "Shit, everyone—" He never got a chance to finish his sentence.

Star reached one of the first SUVs and grabbed the bottom of it. Then yanked it up. The SUV flew up before Starfire whipped her hand to the left. This team of officers were forced out of their sight and rolled across the hot concrete ground. Then she did the same to the rest of the SUVs.

While chaos was raining down below Irma poked Melissa above and whispered, "Let's not make her mad, okay?"

"I thought we established that years ago."

Starfire walked past all the moaning and groaning police officers on the ground and onto the brick path leading up to the sliding doors. Flowers lined the path. But she wasn't around to take pictures. She was here to take down and eliminate.

She stopped at the sliding doors and groaned when they didn't slide open. Of course they'd try and lock her out. How genius.

Starfire pulled back her fist and sent the doors sailing into the mall with a force that sent the police waiting for her flying onto their backs with them. Then zoomed in before they could get up for the walkway where she would be able to see the portal. No need to stop for all of the police down there waiting for her to show her pretty little head.

Star jumped over the railing before the shots were fired and started slinging fireball after fireball. Captain Lair jumped for cover when a huge one soared straight past him and hit the portal. It left a good burn mark. and impact But it wasn't enough to take it down. Whoever this girl was had some serious skills. Did Irma know her?

Starfire jumped behind a booth and ducked down before the FBI's task team opened fire on her location. She just laid still while they sent bullet after bullet and waited for them to run out. Now that all the attention was on this location, she could grab them from behind. She discreetly slashed open a rift and ducked in and away from that location. So when they arrived like the Sergeant of the approaching team did, he'd hold up his fist, rush around the booth and . . . "She's gone!"

"Of course I am, slow pokes!" All eyes turned around to face Little Will hanging directly over the Portal with a huge fireball the size of a basketball in her right hand. The other was gripping a support beam directly over them in a "hanging-monkey" fashion.

She smiled at them and suggested, "You might want to duck. This is going to be loud." Then opened her hand and let the fireball plummet to the ground. Directly over the Portal.

Hay-Lin sighed and straightened up from her position over the glass ceiling. Then turned around and covered her ears like the rest of the Guardians. "I'm pretty sure I told her not to damage anything," she grumbled.

Taranee smirked before the explosion rattled the glass and their eardrums. Then stood up and gazed at the chaos the ledge of the building. She shook her head and said, "Yeah, you did. But Starfire is in her own lane. We're in ours. Besides, I think this got our message across." She motioned to all the flipped cars, fires, and clear destruction that littered the parking lot of Heatherfield's mall.

Well their message was now clear. They could make whatever they wanted to. As long as it didn't travel through their territory. And this was traveling through their territory. Hay-Lin's blonde hair waved with the wind. Her intense eyes trained on the police rushing out of the building shouting on their radios.

Hay raised her hand and ordered, "Melissa? Hit the middle of the city. Taranee? Beaches. Cornelia and Irma? Hit the industrial zones. These things are everywhere. If they try to stop you..." She straightened up and turned around to face the Guardians. "Then do what you have to do. I'll be with Star. Let's move."