Henry plopped down on his couch. He let out a long sigh, which turned into a whistle. He turned his head, finding the diamond sitting nice and snug beside the door to his room. He'd need a better, less conspicuous way to transport that thing. A shrink-and-grow could work, as long as he handled it properly. They were very finicky after all.

He gave himself a few moments to rest before taking out his phone. He dialed a couple of numbers.

Briiiing… briiiiing… briiiing…

"Huh?" a heavy mumble came in answer.

"Howie? That you?"

"Yeah, yeah." Howie yawned. "What're ya doin' up so late?"

"Have you watched the news recently?" Henry prompted, his light smile turning into a Cheshire Cat grin.

"Um… kinda, maybe," Howie mumbled. "Why?"

Henry stifled a giggle. "Well, I was watching the news a couple of days ago. At least on the local news, the mayor presented something really nice at the museum."

"Oh, no. Henry, what did ya do?"

Henry looked over at the diamond, its face unfortunately dull from dust and dirt. "Something amazing, Howie. You won't believe it if I tell you. Can you pick me up tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? So, Ah get ta sleep?" Howie asked.

"Yep!" Henry probably wasn't, though.

"Good. Talk ta ya in the mornin' li'l buddy."

Click.

Henry chuckled and put away his phone. Alright, relax time over! Time to wash off his new prize and pack his bags! He was going home with maybe a record but an even better haul!

Though, should he? As Henry dropped by the sink to pick up a damp rag, he thought to himself the potential consequences of his actions. He might be able to bring it home, but what if Dad Reginald wanted him to put it in the vault? This was a solo mission of Henry's; he wasn't using Clan resources or teaming up with any other Clan member. He'd done it all himself, even living on his own and not even touching the floor of the airship in months! So, in all rights, this diamond was his and it was going in his room. He could boast about it, but that wasn't going to change the fact that the Tunisian Diamond was his.

Eh, he could get Howie's opinion in the morning. Henry had a few bags packed along with what would hopefully be the device that would allow him to make the Tunisian Diamond fit in his pocket. With that, he'd be able to move back into his room and break out the diamond in just a few hours. He'd get to greet his dads and the rest of the Clan after months out on his own. Now, it had been less than a year, and he knew to most people that wasn't long at all. But without going to breakfast with Howie and meeting up with his Dads, without taking orders and interacting with the Clan all day, and without going to bed and popping out his laptop to play with Charles and Ellie in his small, comfy room, six months felt like a century.

Henry had just finished eating a breakfast burrito when his phone rang. "Hey?"

"Howdy! Ah'm just about half an hour away. What about you?"

"Almost there." Henry got up, tossed his trash in the bin, and then hopped onto his scooter, his backpack over his shoulders and laptop case tied to his vehicle. Henry's scooter popped off onto the road with a quiet vrrrrr. "Talk to you there?"

"Talk to ya there."

Click.

Henry put away his phone, careful to keep his balance as he let go of the handlebars with one hand. He soon turned off the road and down a thin trail into the woods. Soon enough, he found the pod to barely fit on the biking trail, but it fit all the same. The door opened to reveal Howie, dressed up and spiffy as always.

Henry laughed and hopped off his scooter. "Howie! It's been forever!"

"Six months, Li'l buddy," Howie reminded him, but accepted Henry's hug all the same. "Whoof! Ah almost forgot you were bigger than me."

Henry let go with a quiet chuckle. "Not by that much." He was a few inches taller, but Henry also ran on more foot missions carrying out big hauls and fighting off people. "But six months feels like forever when you're away from family, you know?"

"Oh, it sure does," Howie agreed, rather serious. Then the look was gone with a coy smile. "Now what about that amazin' thing ya were tryin' ta sell me on?"

"Oh! Well, I got it from the museum. It's uh, destroyed. The museum got flattened by a giant robot. But I still managed to nick this!"

Henry took the diamond out of his pocket and set it down. He popped off the little microchip-shaped device, allowing the "legs" of it to let go of the smooth surface of the shiny gem. The Tunisian Diamond was again it's true size and now glittered in the sun.

"Holy fuck," Howie breathed, his eyes wide as moons. "How'd ya manage that?"

Henry smirked. "By breaking into the museum, causing a little chaos, and bolting."

"Okay, this is a story Ah gotta hear!"

"And you will hear it," Henry promised. "Just, one question. If I bring this home and someone sees it, will it still be mine or do you think Dad Reginald will tell me to chuck it in the vault?"

Howie shook his head. "You crazy? Ya not only went on a solo mission, but you were successful, got away undetected Ah presume, and brought back a giant haul consisting of one thing? Ya didn't tell me ya brought any Clan tech, so the answer is: that thing is yours, li'l buddy, and yer gonna be the talk a' the ship for the next month at least. Now, let's getcha back to the ship before someone 'round here misses ya too awfully bad."

"I can get behind that," stated Henry as he shrunk his diamond and pocketed it. He unstrapped his laptop bag from the scooter he then folded and joined Howie in the pod. He sat down with a huff. "I can't wait to get back to the Clan. Has anything changed since I was gone?"

Howie nodded. "We got a couple a' new recruits. One wasn't even a former criminal, y'know. It's crazy. Chief hasn't made any new rules or nothin'. Now how 'bout that story?"

Henry laughed. "Alright, alright! So, there I was, behind the museum…" Henry's storytelling came with a few exaggerated gestures, but he kept them to a minimum as there wasn't a lot of room in the pod. "…and then a friggin' robot crashes through the roof and starts blowing up the place! I decided I should probably continue living, so I ran," Henry confessed. "Anyway, I made it really far down the road before I was too tired to keep moving. I stopped to catch my breath and then bam! The Tunisian Diamon rockets out of the museum and hits the ground a couple of feet away! Not only did I get the diamond, but I also didn't get to be crushed because if I was just a few feet to the right, I would be paste on the side of the road."

Howie shook his head. "Only you'd be able ta go through somethin' like that an' survive. Ah believe ya, li'l buddy, that's too wild to make up."

The pod slowed and came to a stop. The door opened.

Howie allowed Henry to leave first, donning his backpack and holding his scooter and laptop case. "Now, ya wanna drop that stuff at yer room b'fore meetin' the chief again?"

Henry nodded. "I don't know if Dad Reginald and Dad Right will let me go if I meet them now. Honestly, I don't even know if blowing up a museum was the correct thing to do. Not that I did that, of course."

Howie snorted. "Knowin' you, yer very presence probably attracted it."

"Hah! If I could summon giant building eating robots by causing a panic, I would've met that robot a long time ago."

Henry dropped off his stuff at his room, though he kept his diamond in his pocket. Dad Reginald and Dad Right would probably want to get a look at it. Henry still felt a little nervous despite the logic both he and Howie made. He really liked this haul, after all. It was his greatest catch yet!

Henry found his dads in the Bridge, piloting the airship. The first person to see them was Thomas, who was at one of the stations of buttons and panels and dials but looked up upon the door opening. "Henry! You're back!"

Dad Reginald's head snapped back and Dad Right followed, albeit a little more slowly to be less life-threatening. "Henry!" Dad Reginald pressed a few buttons and got up to meet him in the middle. "I knew you would be back today, but I didn't know this early! Where've you been? You stopped telling me a few weeks ago. How are you?"

"Dad, I'm fine," Henry reassured him, ducking out of his grasp. "Actually, more than fine! I had to leave Red Mesa, for a few reasons as you know. But I didn't need to go that far. I took that time to stake out my next mission and found something you will never believe!"

Dad Right looked at Dad Reginald, whose eyes went wide. "Henry, that wasn't you was it?"

Henry blinked, his excitement replaced by confusion. "What?"

"The museum blowing up," Dad Reginald clarified. "That wasn't you? You weren't caught in it? You didn't cause it?"

"Nooo! No, no, I didn't blow up the museum!" Henry chuckled. "And I didn't get blown up in the museum, obviously. Uh, how much did you hear about that? I didn't know the news would pick up on that so quickly!"

Dad Reginald shook his head. "No, we didn't hear about it on the news. A few of our people were going there to steal the Tunisian Diamond. They arrived there two hours ago to a pile of rubble."

Henry snorted and put a hand to his mouth. "Oh my God that must be the weirdest timing. Dad, that diamond wasn't lost in the robot destruction." He pulled the miniature diamond out of his pocket and held it up.

His dads looked it over in his hand. Dad Reginald muttered, "That's a little small to be… oh, you used a shrink-and-grow on it. That's the Tunisian Diamond. You stole the Tunisian Diamond!" Dad Reginald gasped. "And you didn't know about the raid?"

Henry shook his head. "Nope! I haven't been here in months, Dad. If I did, I wouldn't have gone after it, probably. I would've just asked to be on the mission."

"Well, then! We need to know what happened," Dad Reginald stated, glancing back at Dad Right, who held a slightly amused smile. Though the action was so small it was difficult to see.

Henry giggled and put away the artifact. "Well, it started with me watching the local news." This time, Henry got to use grand gestures, not being confined in a pod this time. He didn't change the story from the one he told Howie, of course, so Howie could verify that was indeed the story Henry told him. Henry could still see the giant missile-throwing, laser-hand, chainsaw wielding metal monster as if it was still in front of him–or behind him, technically. Henry had not been in front of the robot for very long. He still valued his life quite a bit.

At the end of Henry's wild, but extremely true, story, Dad Reginald shook his head and looked at Dad Right. "That… was way different than what we expected. Henry, you got that artifact, but you could have died! Several times, if you remember the details so vividly!"

"But I didn't. I'm careful!" Henry reassured him. "I knew what I was doing, I brought the right tools for the job, and I fled when I knew I was beat. And then I still got the diamond!"

Dad Right stated, "That was a tough mission."

Dad Reginald sighed and nodded. "Yes, yes it was. Henry, that was a great haul, and we are very proud of you. But please, don't risk so much on a solo mission. No one was there to have your back!"

Henry chuckled. "Ah, don't worry, Dad. I'm pretty sure I won't be going that wild. …are there any missions?"

Howie snorted. Dad Right gave him a short shake of his head, though Henry doubted it was a denial of an available missions. Dad Reginald set a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Tomorrow. We will talk about it tomorrow. For now, rest and get settled back in."

"Wait at least twenty-four hours before getting in trouble. Good plan!" Henry grinned, though it was more out of mischief than joy. He was still happy, of course, especially upon receiving an exasperated sigh from Dad Reginald. "I'll see you later then, Dad Reginald! Dad Right!" He turned on his heel and left the Bridge, Howie hiding a snicker at his side.

"You're the best younger cousin and friend a man could ask fer, ya know that?"

"Yes, I do know that. Same to you, Howie!" Henry elbowed the man, chuckling as he threw Howie off balance. Howie returned with a nudge of his shoulder, pushing Henry off balance.

Ah, man. As much as resting after a big heist was fun, it really got boring fairly quickly. He ended up strolling around the airship, greeting people he hadn't seen in months and catching up on the current news and gossip. This would have gained unending teasing from Ellie, verifying his love of gossiping "like an old fish wife." Charles would definitely have tried put a stop to Ellie's teasing, being like a family reunion, but only put himself in the crossfire between them. Rather, before Ellie. Henry knew both of them and what jokes and jabs he could get away with that would still be funny to them. Charles tended to have a lower threshold than Ellie. The thought of Charles and Ellie sent a pang of longing into him. Being in the airship, he could successfully scramble his location, masking his IP and allowing him to talk freely without fear of being tracked.

Maybe… maybe he'd spent enough time in waiting and a call wouldn't hurt. He should at least wait until the evening, first, when he usually called them.

Over lunch, he and Howie got to catch up further. Catching up as in Howie learned something new.

"Oh, hey, have ya met the new prisoner?" asked Howie.

Henry tipped his head. "New prisoner? Did I miss something?"

Howie nodded. "Yeah, on that mission fer the Tunisian Diamond. A security guard almost tripped up a few people while they were investigatin'. So, they captured him and now he's in the Brig."

"Ah, well. That doesn't sound good for him," Henry mused.

"Not at all. Ya gonna eat yer fries or what?"

Henry pulled his plate closer to himself. "I will, stop eyeing my food!"

Henry walked along the catwalk set above the Brig and Engine Room. He looked down at the red-metal room. It was empty, with three cells lining each wall going from the door to the Engine Room to the door to the Vault. He couldn't see the windows from up where he was, nor could he hear anything. He knew he shouldn't be visiting the prisoners, especially when it wasn't his day to bring the prisoner a meal. Look what happened last time Henry befriended a prisoner, after all. Still, after his recent jump into prison life, albeit temporarily, he couldn't help it.

Curious at the lack of noise, Henry took a ladder down in the Engine Room and walked into the Brig. He didn't need to search for long to find their new prisoner; a scuffed-up nightguard in the cell closest to the Engine Room. He instantly felt a twinge of pity for the man. The growling of the engine day and night wasn't the greatest neighboring noise to have. It was muffled by the metal wall and the engine's upgrades to lower its noise level, thankfully. The man's back was to him, so he couldn't see anything but the dark uniform and slightly crooked baseball cap.

"Hey?" Henry called.

The security guard tensed. His head turned, and he looked up at Henry. As his puppy brown eyes met Henry's, he gasped. "Henry?"

"Dave!" Henry returned. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Dave echoed, jumping to his feet. His eyes flicked up to Henry's hat and then back to him. His eyebrows furrowed. "Are you… a Toppat?"

"Eh, yes," he answered. "Anyway, are you the guy that tried to stop our team from getting the diamond?"

Dave nodded. "I saw the mayor doing some shady stuff, so I went to investigate, thinking he was embezzling funds or something. I found proof he was working with the Toppat Clan to steal the diamond he'd been showing off in the museum where I worked. It was pretty difficult digging that stuff out when half the museum collapsed onto itself, but I managed it. I got… captured before I could bring it to light. Why are you here?"

"I live here. My dads work here and adopted me."

"Ooooooh," Dave said. "So, did you ever figure out what happened to your, uh, first parents?"

"Dead," Henry answered simply. "My mother went MIA and my father was KIA."

"Sorry to hear that, man."

"Meh. I didn't know them, so it doesn't really matter, anymore." Henry thought for a moment. "So, uh… sorry about this, by the way. I thought you were a nice guy."

"Oh, yeah, you, too. It's fine, I guess? I mean, you didn't lock me up here."

…

"So–" they both started.

Dave stopped and waved his hand.

Henry cleared his throat. "Right. So, uh… I know it's pretty empty in there and all that. It really isn't that much of a blast. So, what do you say if I spend some time here?"

"That would be nice of you. Yeah."

"What did you want to say?"

"Oh, right. Well, I was just wondering what you were planning to do with me? One of your, uh, pals or coworkers or something said I'd be here a long time for interfering with their plans. But he wasn't that specific."

Henry grimaced. "Riiiiight. Well, I'm really sorry, Dave. We'll just keep you in here until Dad decides otherwise, I guess."

"'Dad?' Is your father high-ranking or…?"

"One of them is Chief Reginald and the other is Right Hand Man, his deputy."

"Oh."

"Yeeeeah. Well, Dad Reginald was just the deputy when he adopted me, and Dad Right had been third-in-line and his best friend. So, I could talk to them. They'll take me more seriously now that I'm an adult, they have to. Not like last time."

Dave grimaced. "Last time?"

"We had a guard from the Wall locked up here. Do you know about that place? It's a complex in Canada. Anyway, he got caught breaking into the airship and trying to stealthily kill people. Namely myself, but I didn't know that. They locked him up here and… well, I was too young to understand."

"I don't see him here, though…"

"…he's gone. Forever."

"Oh."

"He stayed here for about six or seven months, something like that, before he kidnapped Katie and me. He managed to escape because of me. But! That won't happen to you. The whole kidnapping part, I mean. You're a good guy, Dave."

"Thanks, I guess."

A thought popped into Henry's head. "Oh, and… thanks. For not taunting me when I was in prison. It meant a lot."

"You're welcome. It's wrong to attack prisoners, y'know?"

"Yeah."