ZOE

Zoe was in the middle of a yoga class when the feeling crept in. She recognized it immediately. One of her kids. As she led her students into a downward dog flowing into a chaturanga she checked in with herself. Reached in and exhaled out. In and out. The three threads were there, two within an acceptable distance. But a third. The shortest thread which should be closest because it was the youngest, was too far. Her eyes snapped open, flew to the clock on the wall as she reached for her phone, pecking out a text.

Where are you?

Intuition told her Andrea wasn't going to answer, the hairs raising on her neck promising her daughter was heading for trouble. She pecked out a text to Raph.

Andrea's headed out of bounds.

Zoe hit send then closed her eyes as her students watched in confusion. She followed the thread, scanned the street signs. Her eyes flew open as she pecked out another text.

Some place called Marcos. You gonna get her or do you want me?

DREA

Drea woke up in a haze… A loud room, in what looked like a cage on some sort of platform. Everything blurred and spun as she collected herself. Getting to her hands and knees, she appraised her physical status. Nothing hurt. She was still clothed. Her eyes swept the floor of the square space, her sticks laying right beside her.

Then a voice echoed over a loudspeaker, feedback making her head ache. "In the corner on the right we have Juko, the bear mutant, verses Stix on our left. Place your final bets!"

Then she looked to the far-right corner. "Oh, shit. I guess you're Juko."

The bear mutant bounced on his feet, opened his mouth and let out a vicious roar. Well fuck. Drea staggered to her feet, collecting her weapons on her way up. "Guess that makes me Stix." She inhaled deep, exhaled and inhaled again. Closing her eyes, she centered herself, stepped into her stance. She had this. One thing she did know was how to fight a big ass mutant bear. Thank you, Uncle Arcos.

His feet were loud as he galloped toward her. Drea reached out with her energy, lingering effects of the drugs putting her off a bit. But she could do this. She had to. The floor vibrated beneath her feet, his energy closing in. At the last second, she leapt out of his way forcing him to drop his butt as he slid into the chain link surrounding them.

With the bear scrambling to collect himself, Drea made her first attack. Back kick to his side. Spin, strike one, two, three with her weapon, weave, one, two-

The bear roared, wheeling on her with his jaws open and closing, snapping at her bicep. She struck at his face, flinching inside, not knowing how human this bear was. He didn't seem anywhere near Arcos's ability. Did he even want to be there? She sure didn't. He swiped at her. His massive clawed paw slashed at her wrist, splitting the skin and knocking her right weapon from her hand. Drea screamed as strips of red erupted over the backs of her hand, her fingers parting against her will.

He was already attacking her left when she brought up her stick, lashing it hard against the inside of his forearm. Circling around, she struck the right side of his head and the bear staggered. He roared in pain as she swiped again then again, pushing him back with one arm. How did this end? What did she have to do to end it? The most she could offer was to knock him out. She wasn't killing anybody because she'd been dumb enough to be caught and thrown into a damned cage fight. What the actual fuck?

The bear roared again, leapt onto his hind legs and struck his chest. Drea swallowed hard as she tried to hold her ground. He was every bit as big as Arcos. Which meant, the pressure points were probably the same. Going low, Drea used her left stick to feign an attack to the bears face, swiping him across the snout then releasing the weapon to strike her left hand hard into his upper chest. Immediately she brought her knee into his thigh, then ducking before he could get his claws into her, she rolled. Leaping into a flying kick to his back, she sent him sprawling forward. Atop his back, she wrapped her legs around his neck and squeezed, holding as he flailed, striking her legs. Slowly, they became feeble until he slumped to the ground.

"WINNER!" A bell rang.

Drea released the mutant. Crawling to her hands and knees, she reached for her weapons.

"Next round, Stix verses Lance!"

She watched as a group of men dragged the bear from the cage. Then a sword-wielding panther hybrid stepped into the ring. Breathing hard, Drea backed farther into her corner. Shit. Shit. Shit. How long was this going to go on? What the fuck were the rules? Were there any, or was this guy going to-

The bell rang and the panther leapt into the air, his clawed foot flying at Drea's face. How had he gotten to her side of the ring so fast? Was he related to her mom? Blocking too late, Drea took a blow that sent her flying into the side of the cage, a roar erupting from the crowd.

She bounced off the chain link, onto the floor where he was waiting with a kick to her gut. As she lay on her back, desperate for breath, the room spinning, she saw her sticks at her fingertips. His sword was coming, aimed for her throat. Rolling to the right she snatched up her weapon.

Swinging with all of her momentum into her left, she struck the side of his face as his sword planted into the floor by her feet. Dropping her stick, she hooked an arm around his neck and scaled his body until she was perched atop his shoulders. With a massive shift of her weight she flipped him. His sword bounced across the floor as she held her grip on the lithe hybrid, extending razor sharp claws that reached for her forearms.

JEM

"I'm sorry it's pizza again. I'll try to take us someplace else soon. But uh, I've not been working many shifts and foods free here, so-" Something was wrong. Jem didn't know what. But he knew it was something. Mimi was quiet. And bubbly Mimi, his little springy cheerleader was never quiet.

"Do you want green peppers on it?" He asked, pointing to the topping bin.

She swirled the sauce around the dough for the twentieth time. But she didn't answer.

"So, no peppers?" His hand shifted to the right. "Black olives?"

She put the spoon back in the sauce bowl and reached for the cheese, scattering it about. Jem lifted his arm closest to her, sticking his beak in his pit and sniffing. His deodorant was working. He sniffed again. Yep. Totally working.

Maybe it was the record deal thing. Maybe that was too much for her. But she'd been so excited when he told her... "I was thinking we'd put asparagus and strawberries on this one. What do you think?"

Mimi's lower lip quivered, her eyes became glossy and a tear appeared on one of her lashes. Jem put up his hands, waving frantically. "It was a joke. It was a joke. No asparagus. And no strawberries with tomato sauce. I know it's wrong. It's so wrong."

Mimi looked up at him, letting out a feeble laugh that somehow tumbled into tears. "I'm sorry, Jem. I'm just- I'm not hungry." She backed away from the prep line and Jem put an arm around her. But rather than melt into him, Mimi stiffened.

"We can talk in my parent's office. It's quiet back there, that is- if you want." A growing sense of unease crept into the pit of Jem's stomach. Had he done something wrong?

She nodded, walking quietly to the office before stepping in and facing the wall. Her arms were crossed tight around her as her shoulders began to shake, then she lifted a hand to cover her mouth.

"Mimi?" Jem wasn't sure what this was. He'd seen both his mom and Scout throw fits and have mad mood swings at certain times of the month, but this wasn't that. Whatever this was, it wasn't good. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but as his fingers neared her shoulder, waves of energy radiated from her screaming 'do not want.' "Mimi," his voice came out soft. "Is this about the record deal? Because, I don't think that's going to affect us too much."

Still covering her mouth, she shook her head. "I- I thought I could. Do this. I promised Drea I would, but I can't. I just-" She choked and her chest shuddered.

"Mims, please, tell me what's wrong. You're scaring me. I just want to help. At least let me hold you." He reached for her again but she flinched. Jem felt stricken. Something was wrong. Very wrong. It was as if a shadow pulled down over them as Jem held out his hand, stepping around so he was facing her. "Mimi, look at me, please."

She sniffled, wipes her eyes and met his gaze.

"What happened? I know something did, because this isn't you. And what's it have to do with Drea?" Jem kept his hand out, palm up.

Mimi stared at it, her brow furrowing. "What are you doing?"

"Letting you know I'm here, whenever you decide to reach for me. On your terms. In your time. The same way I'll listen to whatever you need to say. Anything at all. You're safe with me, Mimi."

Mimi wiped at her eyes as more tears appeared. "I stole Luke's car last night. I just- I wanted to drive myself. Do what my parents let him do. You know?"

Jem nodded, but didn't say anything. A lifetime of having an emotional twin told him there was usually more. So, he waited.

"I went to the mall." Her voice dropped, became small and picked up a tremor that Jem recognized as fear. "When I was leaving this- this black van pulled up, blocking me in. I waited for it to move, but he wouldn't. I thought he wanted the spot or something. So, I got out to tell him he could have it- "

Mimi's face scrunched up, a sob wracking her chest as she reached for Jem. He pulled her close, held her tight as she choked out the rest of her nightmare.

By the time she was done, Jem was a mess. He wasn't sure what to do. She needed to report it. But shot that down before he could finish asking her to.

She wanted Drea to teach her to defend herself and Jem was all for that. A little stung that she didn't ask him, but it was a women's support group, so it kinda made sense.

And some part of him wanted to hunt this guy down and cut his dick off. Seriously, what the hell was wrong with some guys? In fact, if given a solid lead and the right opportunity, someone was in for a serious beat down.

"Jem?"

She sounded so tired. Holding her to him, he sank into the office chair, adjusting her so her head was to his shoulder as he stroked her hair. "Yeah, Mims?"

"I'm sorry." She mumbled into his neck, her tears hot against his skin. "I'd never been with anyone before. I just feel really dirty now. Like, how could you want me? You know? I always thought my first time would be different. Not- that."

He guided her upright, cupped her face in his hands. "No. I don't know. That wasn't you, Mimi. And that's not how it really is. Not that I've any experience to reference. But I know love when I see it, and I know violence when I see that. What happened to you is violence. Assault. It's r- "

"Don't." Mimi clamped her eyes shut. "Please don't say that word."

"It doesn't change how I think or feel about you." Jem frowned, kissed her brow and guided her back to his shoulder. "You might want to talk to a counselor, Mimi. Both of my sisters have and it really helps."

She sat upright with a horrified gasp. "This has happened to them?"

Jem shook his head. "No. No. Alli has anorexia and Scout- Scout has something she wants kept private. But it's not that. And it's different than what Alli's been through. There are counselors for everything. They say it helps a lot."

"I don't want anyone to know." Mimi clamped her eyes shut. "My parents can never know."

An idea came to Jem's mind. He shifted about, fishing his phone out of his pocket. "I know just who to call for total anonymity."

"Who?" Mimi began to tremble in his arms, her eyes springing open as she watched him flip through his speed dial. "Jem, I'm scared. Will you be with me?"

"Whatever you need, Mims." He promised.

The phone rang twice, before he answered. "You okay, Jem?"

"No. I need your help, Uncle Casey."