DENIM
As the smoke cleared, Denim pinched between her eyes. Why, why hadn't she searched him before they left? And what on earth put him so off kilter that he was acting like he was five? She looked at her children. Jem with a girlfriend. Alli and Anton holding hands. Then Scout with a boy who liked her so much he was learning sign just to talk to her… even after she'd beaten him up. Wait. He was okay with Jem, and okay with Alli, but not Scout. Why? She pointed to her twins, then signed. "Do not touch each other again. Understood?"
The two pouted with near identical expressions, giving a single nod in unison as they looked in opposite directions. Denim's heart near melted at the odd synchronicity that were her extraordinary children.
She glanced beyond the teens at her end, then Alli, Anton, Yuuta, Zoe, Sappho, Medusa, Karai, April then skipped over Aries, Arcos, Horace, Donnie, and even Leo to look at Phoenix. "Grandmere is in charge. I will be right back. Please excuse me while I stop Raphael from killing my husband." As she stepped into the kitchen she muttered. "Again."
Mikey had apparently locked himself in the office, with Raph yanking on the door. "Come out you little-"
"I've got him, Raph." Denim put a hand on her brother's shoulder.
Raph stilled, his snout wrinkling in a sneer. He punched the door and she heard Mikey's "meep" from inside. "When're you gonna grow the fuck up, Mikey?"
"Raph." Denim repeated. "I've got him. He's still getting over everything. Give him a break okay?"
"You search his ass before he comes back. Damn smoke bombs. Shit's probably in everybody's drinks and all the food." He grumbled.
"So. There's seven teenagers out there. Put them to work. Half of them can take the dirty drinks to the kitchen, the other half can get fresh ones. In fact, if there's any residue on the food-" Denim turned toward her gaping cook staff. "Kitchen's closed for the night. You guys can all go home, and you don't even have to clean your stations. Our family has it covered." She looked at Raph. "We can make our own dinner. Family bonding."
She heard Mikey through the door. "Don't close my kitchen!"
"Dumbass." Raph snickered. "That's what you get!"
"Raph." Denim glared at him.
"Aw, fine. I'll go tell everyone we gotta make our own dinner now. Thanks, Mikey!" Raph groused as he pushed through the kitchen door.
Denim pressed her head to the office door and sighed. "You okay in there? Maybe smoke bombs at the dinner table, with food and drinks everywhere was not your best parenting moment, huh?"
Mikey opened the door, just a crack, eyes darting back and forth in search of Raph. Seeing the coast clear, he opened the door all the way, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Denim frowned. "So, what's wrong?"
"Wrong? Nothing. Why would anything be wrong? It's all good." Mikey nattered on.
She raised her brows and tilted her head forward, waiting for it.
"Did you hear about that total mystery creeper, gunning for Scout?" He practically exploded.
"You mean the boy, struggling with a speech impediment, who learned sign language for Scout, even after she beat him black and blue?" She asked dryly.
"Yeah! That's the one." Mikey pointed at her excitedly before glancing suspiciously from side to side. "How do we know he's not evil?"
Shaking her head, she cupped his cheek, forcing him to look back at her. "You aren't freaking out about Alli and Anton."
He shrugged. "But Anton's a good kid. He'd never do anything to hurt Alli. And I've kinda had forever to get used to the idea. They're like the two musketeers."
"Three Musketeers." She corrected.
His eyes widened. "You mean Yuuta? Ick. No way. I'm pretty sure it's just Alli and Anton."
She shook her head, but let it go. "You're also not freaking out over Jem and Mimi."
His freckled cheeks wrinkled as he thought about it. "Well, she seems all nice and cheerful. And I'm an awesome judge of character...'cept when I'm not." He added, thinking back on his first attempt at friendship.
"But this new kid is a total unknown. He could be out there," Mikey panned his hand across the room, "thinking icky teenage boy thoughts about Scout, as we speak." Mikey dramatically finished, his beak almost touching the tip of Denim's nose. "We can't trust him."
Denim crossed her arms over her chest. "Really?"
His expression crestfallen, he deflated. "She's my Cubs..."
It was well within Denim's scope to empathize with him. If anything, part of what probably worried Mikey most, even if he didn't realize it, was the fact that this boy had put actual effort into getting to know their daughter. Years worth, if Mimi was correct. That spoke of someone who was probably serious in his intentions.
And Mikey probably felt like he was going to lose his youngest. Given everything they'd been through, and the fact that she'd spent more time with him than all three of their kids combined- well no wonder he was worried.
"Mikey, I'm going to take this moment to point out that you are worried about someone who is not here tonight. And judging by your daughter's jabs at her brother, he's also someone she's not interested in talking about. My point is, you could be worried over nothing." She pecked his cheek. "But someday, even your Cubs is going to love someone. And if that person's worthy of her, I know you'll be okay with it." She put a hand over the center of his plastron. "Even if it still hurts here. Loves funny that way."
A knock on the door frame had them both looking to find Scout standing there, smoke bomb residue in her hair and on her cheeks and shoulders. When she lifted her hand to sign, Denim noted her fingertips were about the only part of her hands not stained. She tapped her offending husband on the shoulder, signing as she spoke. "You're totally cleaning the dining room."
Scout waved so they'd look at her, then she signed. "I- I know this is an awkward time- but I want to start competing again." Her eyes darted back and forth between her parents. "I was trying to get Jem to shut up about that boy, because I don't have time for anyone in my life right now. I'm not- I'm not in that place. I just want something else to focus on right now. Something simple, that makes sense to me. So- what do you guys think?"
"Woohoo!" Mikey jumped in the air with an arm pump, then ran over and picked Scout up in a spinning crush hug.
When she patted his arm for air, he set her down and signed excitedly. "That's the best idea ever. I can't wait to get started. And the best part is no more thinking about boys."
As her dad put her back on her feet, Scout made a really confused face. "Were you thinking about boys? Because that's creepy, Dad."
Denim snickered. "See." She signed to Mikey. "Worried about nothing. You two can work out training details later. Right now, we have a dinner to save." She turned toward her daughter. "I'm really proud of the choices you're making right now."
Scout's eyes brightened. "Yeah?"
Denim nodded. "Absolutely."
FAMILY
"And just to clarify, we're now making our own dinner?" Donnie asked.
Raph chuckled. "Yup. You should've heard the little twerp."
Donnie raised and eye ridge. "And you're excited about having to do this because...?"
Raph's smug smile slipped. "Well..."
"I guess there's no point in putting it off." Leo rose from his seat to a chorus of table-wide 'no!' and Karai yanking him back down.
Phoenix fixed her gaze on him. "You will maintain a minimum ten-foot distance from the kitchen."
"But..." He protested.
"Ten feet." She reiterated.
DENIM
Denim pushed through the kitchen door with authority. A nagging detail she would quickly resolve, sprung to mind the second she saw Raph.
"Okay, listen up Hamatos. I'm sure Raph has told you by now, we're making our own dinner. Here's how it's going to go. Half of us are on dining room clean up." She pointed to Leo. "Which Leonardo will direct." She paused, making steady eye contact with their leader. "Under no circumstances is Leo to enter the kitchen."
Leo scoffed, opened his mouth and the entire family shook their heads. "No." They said in unison.
"Great. Next, I'll oversee things in the kitchen, because Mikey will be helping clean this dining room. And," she looked at Raph. "No one is going to hurt him. In fact, Raph you're in the kitchen with me. The rest of you, split into teams. But before you do, there's just one more thing."
She stepped aside letting Mikey and Scout through. Then she reached just inside the kitchen door for a clean bus bin. She held it out to Michelangelo first. "Everyone, and I mean everyone will disarm for the remainder of this dinner." She lifted a red eyebrow. "Starting with you."
Leo gasped in dismay. "We can't. What if we're attacked? We need to be ready."
"When'sss the lassst time we were attacked?" Medusa hissed.
Leo faltered. "Uh, well, it's been a while, but that's no justification for complacency."
"Based on the available data, the statistical chances of being ambushed right now are..." Sappho began.
"Don't. Just don't." Leo interrupted.
"She's got a point though." Donnie chimed in. "The odds are..."
"What part of 'don't' was unclear?" Leo grumbled.
"Weapons. Table. Now." Denim commanded, pointing at the empty table.
Ten minutes later, the pile tottered so high, it was at risk of collapsing under its own unwieldy weight.
"Damn. I forget sometimes." Horace said, gazing at the heap in wonder. "Do you think we should add a second table?"
Denim shook her head. "We might. Anyone else?" She looked at Scout, signing, weapons. Her daughter rolled her eyes, but got in line.
Mimi, covered from head to toe in purple residue, pressed herself tight to Jem's side. "Is there anyone in your family, not carrying a weapon?"
He got in line behind Scout, who conspicuously placed a warrior bead bracelet adorned in tiny charms, alongside two different types of rings, and a single pair of chucks, next to their dad's assortment. His brow furrowed as he reached in his own back pocket, tugging forth two Shuriken, the single smoke pellet he'd been half tempted to counter his dad with, then a butterfly knife from his opposite pocket.
Mimi gasped. "Jem! We're having dinner. What could everyone possibly need all of this for?" Then she reached out, fingers hovering over the menagerie of weapons. "Ooo, whats that?"
"That's actually a those. Those would be Drea's kamas. Don't touch them, please." He tried to guide her away but she looped back, almost leaning over the straining table. "That's a pretty bracelet! How's that a weapon? Wait. Doesn't Scout wear that to school? We're not allowed to have-"
Jem looked around, desperate to find a new something to focus her attention on. "Oh, Mims, let's go in the kitchen. We can start on the dough for our pizza." He grabbed her hand, near yanking her off her feet as he barreled by his mother, just in time to hear his Uncle Leo say to her, "What about you?"
Good luck to the two of them, but Jem was eating at some point tonight. Hopefully without Mimi getting either beaten up or cutting off a finger.
Denim leveled a gaze at Leonardo as she lifted the skirt of her sundress high enough to pull her Beretta from its holster. She emptied the chamber, removed the magazine and placed the parts on opposite ends of the table. "Happy now?"
"Not really." He appeared to be chewing on his words, but no one was backing up his need to be armed.
Denim sighed. "Leo, you're in the same room with them. Hell, sit by them instead of Karai. Just relax for once."
Karai snickered. "It's been twenty years. That's never happening."
"It could." Leo frowned.
"Well great, Dad. Try it out now." Shen deadpanned.
Leo sat in his chair and stared longingly at the weapons table. Denim shook her head. "Come on people, get this dining room clean. I want to be eating something mouth- watering in thirty minutes."
As Leo pined over the weapons table, Mikey stared at the kitchen door. "Nope." Denim stepped right around him, leaving him to his mess.
ZOE/APRIL
Zoe sat quietly, watching Nellie and Nik, then Shen joining them. She filtered out the small talk happening nearby her as Drea approached her cousins. She didn't want to pry, but at the same time she didn't think Raph could handle another false alarm, or worse a real one. But just as her daughter's voice speaking the name Voss became clear, April's face appeared in front of her.
"Using your keen sense of hearing is almost as bad as taking a reading without asking, Zoe." Her sister frowned. "We have to trust them. I'm sure Drea's being smart after what happened. Come on, help me put those kids to work by handing out spray bottles and towels. It'll make you feel better."
Zoe wasn't sure how that would work, not with her instincts telling her the kids were up to something. But she had no cause to ask questions... yet.
April watched Zoe's expression, anything but convinced. And not without cause. Every instinct her rational mind keyed off of yelled that the children were colluding on something. She'd spent the better part of her own time at their age in a similar dance with her father and aunt. She could recognize all the signs.
Ironically, that was also the reason she could trust that they'd be ok. Knowing what she and the others had done, and been able to do as kids, and seeing how capable their own children were; she could give them the benefit of the doubt. Though it was damn tempting to tap her own power a bit to investigate.
She took Zoe's hand and pulled her to the supply cupboard reserved for employees.
FAMILY
Shen pulled out her phone to check on progress. Right after school, she'd posted their 'evidence,' running the clip longer before and after Drea's confrontation to provide context, on every social media outlet under the sun with a full anti-Luke warning campaign for the entire female population of...everywhere. She'd not been stingy in choosing places to throw it up. And, if she might be so bold, the artistic flair she'd added to the presentation really tied it all together.
"Well?" Drea asked impatiently.
"Whoa, this is blowing up big. Just look at all these comments." Shen turned her phone around so the others could see. Except for Nik who'd just have to listen to their reactions.
Drea dusted off her hands. "I think we can call our first mission a success." She let out a bitter laugh. "Homecoming King won't be getting laid by anyone with any dignity anytime soon. The women of Franklin... and the internet... are safe for now... Shen how far did you post this?!"
Jem sidled up. "Hey Mims, looks like your brothers a wrap."
Mimi peeked under his arm, her cheeks dusted with flour and smoke bomb residue. "Serves him right." She looked up at him. "Think the pizza's ready yet? I'm starved."
"Is the dining room clean? We've got pies coming out of the oven!" Denim bellowed from the kitchen.
Zoe and April began thrusting towels and spray bottles into the cousin's hands. "Better hustle."
Leo finally seemed to be getting over himself. "Kids on cleanup, Mikey the floors and windows. Donnie, Sappho, Horace and Medusa, how about resetting this table?" He looked around. "Where's Yuuta?"
"Kitchen." The teens answered in unison.
Leo inched dangerously close to the kitchen doors, Aries and Arcos stepped out, crossing their arms. "We're on door guard. What do you want?"
Leo tried to look around them. "Are Alli and Anton in there with Yuuta?"
"Office." Jem coughed.
The teenagers snickered.
"Or maybe the bathroom?" Mimi offered, elbowing him.
A series of adult eyes exchanged knowing glances then returned to what they're doing.
"I'll get them." Leo offered.
"No!" Came a united protest.
"What now?" Leo huffed.
"You know, for our leader," Aries rolled his eyes. "You don't have a clue."
"I think they're not hiding it anymore." Drea chimed.
"Hiding what?" Leo frowned. "No secrets. We have to be completely honest if we're going to- "
"Can it, Leo. Those two have had a thing for each other since they were like seven." Karai waved him off. "It's about time."
"Well, great. What exactly are you saying?" Leo looked around the room, clueless and irritated. "And once someone clarifies, I want to know everyone else's news too."
Arcos and Aries peeled away from the kitchen door letting Denim through balancing three pizzas on her arms. "Sit down, Leo. We can play family share while we eat."
Everyone scrambled to finish up their tasks and take their seats. Denim began placing the pizzas on the table. "Someone get Allison and Antonello out of the office." She lifted an eyebrow making eye contact with Mikey.
After a moment of panic, Mikey rallied and pushed into the kitchen with a salute to Denim. He had a plan, Leo-style, to make it through the next few minutes unscathed.
Grabbing a large saucepot and wooden spoon, he began banging them together loudly. Like a kid on parade he approached the office, calling out loudly in a sing-song voice, loosely following the beat of his makeshift drum.
"On my way, on my way, on my way to the office, where I totes won't find anything that will scar me for life. On my way, on my way, on my way to the office, getting Alli and Anton for diiiiiinnnneeer."
Just outside the door he capped off the song with a wicked drum solo and cautiously started to turn the door knob.