LEO

Leo followed Shen and Karai down to the living room. Shen, still unsteady from her sedation, leaned on her mother for support.

The far door opened, admitting Medusa, followed by Sappho. A nod of acknowledgement from Medusa told him that Marco had been managed. He and Tripp would be snitch buddies.

Arcos, also returned, lumbered over to him as he reached the bottom of the steps. "The other children are..." his brother started to say ok, but seemed to think better of it "...have been rescued by the police."

Leo gave him a tired smile. "Thanks, Arcos. It's nice to have some good news."

He turned to the large open space and called out. "Family meeting! Everyone come out to the living room, I want to keep this short so we can all go to bed."

CASEY

As everyone moved to arrange themselves about the living room, several having to maneuver out of the various apartments and no one going about it quickly, Leo approached the kitchen and grabbed a mug of tea.

"Dude, wait that's..."

Leo downed it in one big gulp.

"...hot." Casey finished.

Leo shook his head. "Don't care."

Watching the kids trail in, Casey noted that while they were all in one piece, they weren't exactly whole. He hated seeing that haunted look in children's eyes.

"You don't have ta decide now, but it might help ta get the kids some counseling." He suggested.

Leo glanced over at him, brow ridge arched in skepticism. "And who exactly could they talk to about this? No one outside the family can know what we do."

"What about someone who kinda already does?" Casey offered.

Leo's jaw tightened. "And who would this be?"

Casey grinned. "You guys saved her often enough for her ta get it. She knows what we've done for the city...and the world and has a more open-minded perspective on vigilantism."

Leo rubbed his temples. "It's late, just tell me."

"Your old tea party hostess. You can't have forgotten her, Mr. Turtle." Casey grinned.

Leo's eyes widened. "Chloe's a counselor now?"

And already helping Jem and his girlfriend, but that wasn't for Casey to tell. "Yeah, I guess all that crazy mutagen-alien shit she got caught up in as a kid influenced her career path some."

Leo sighed. "I'll talk to her first and then decide." He hesitated before heading over to the others, now ready and waiting. "And, Casey, thanks."

Casey smiled. "Anytime."

LEO

Leo looked across the room full of his family. The children appeared contrite. But that wasn't going to cut it.

"Tonight, you have willfully deceived us, putting yourselves and each other in grave danger and as a result were forced to make some hard choices that you don't get to come back from. While I am proud of the way you handled yourselves, saving each other, keeping everyone alive, I cannot condone the chain of decisions that put you in that fight by yourselves.

"So, starting the moment you're cleared as recovered, after school you'll begin training as a team for missions. That applies to Alli, Anton and Yuuta too, since Alli chose the same course as the other kids and I already know Anton and Yuuta will follow her no matter what."

He saw several of his siblings jolt but were fortunately too shocked to get out their protests before he could continue.

"We never wanted this for you. Not because we believe you're incapable. Your skill and resourcefulness was impressive and we've always known you had such great potential. After tonight I think you know the reason why we hoped to keep you from this. But if you are going to insist on it, the truth is that we, I, cannot stop you. But I can ready you and you will be prepared in the future. No one is required to participate in missions, but if you do intend to go on any, you will clear them with me first and abide by my decisions regarding them. Lies and secrets are dangerous to yourselves and the rest of us." He would know better than anyone after his own secret set of missions with Karai and Shini to shut down the Foot clan nearly killed Donnie. "Do you understand?"

The room full of surprised children nodded slowly.

"Nellie, since you're apparently taking a leadership role, you will spend extra hours training specifically for that." He expected her to protest but she accepted it with an expression of grim determination. "And once we've determined who is most suitable for leadership among Alli, Anton and Yuuta, the same will apply.

"Finally, we are going to start tracking all of your locations and before any of you throw a fit, know that we already do that amongst ourselves, with the exception of Grandmere, because she is Grandmere. This is for emergencies like tonight, not so that we can stalk you on a daily basis and I expect everyone to abide by it. Unless there are any questions or concerns that won't keep, everyone should head home, clean up and get some rest."

JEM

Jem's stomach was a mess, to the point his uncle had given him nausea meds and something to calm his nerves. Without them the concert would be ruined, he'd likely sound like he did three years ago when his voice was changing. He peered out the window as the driver pulled the car up, in front of Mimi's building.

It'd been a crazy two weeks. His private extra visits with the counselor really helped cope with... lingering guilt. He rubbed his left bicep, smirking as his extra team training made itself known. A nice side effect of hard work. Life was busy, but life was also good.

Who would've ever thought Hamato Jem, the twin once in the shadow of his prodigy sister, would have it all. More than he hoped for. After all he'd only wanted to sing for the joy of it. Now he was on his way to his first concert, safely backstage with a hologram performer in his stead. Living the dream. His stage fright was much improved, but nowhere near gone. At least not yet. Maybe, someday. Maybe...

Concerts, fame, the girl- The driver opened the passenger door, Mimi, her golden curls in an adorable up-do, wearing a pink sequined dress hot enough to put her on stage, near stole his breath away as she climbed in. He really did have it all.

"Hi!" She beamed, stars in her eyes shining brighter every day. "I'm so excited! Are you? Oh gosh, Jem, you're like a star! Oh!" She giggled, "You'll be like the real-life Jem and The Holograms!"

Jem's eye ridges knit together. "The who?"

Mimi laughed, her cheeks flushing as she scooted up beside him. "Nothing. It was a kid show I remember from when I was little. Scout would probably know who they were."

"Doubtful. We watched the same shows, and our dad mostly picked them. You know, Crognard, Space Heroes, and Super Robo Mega Force Five." Jem leaned deeper into the back of the seat, pulling Mimi with him. He liked the way it felt, having her close. She shifted about, snuggling up to him sending the scent of fresh summer peaches into his head. His mouth downright watered. Heaven.

"Well, maybe I'll dig up some old episodes and we can watch it together, next movie night." Mimi reached for his hand, began playing with his fingers. After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "Jem, what do you think will happen to us? You know, with the fame and the touring?"

Jem shrugged. "We'll work it out. It's mostly a scheduling thing, yeah?"

Her curls brushed his cheek as she lifted her head to look up at him. "Do you know how handsome you are all dressed up?" She giggled again. "Kind of funny since no one's actually going to see you."

Jem blushed at her compliment. "There's pictures we'll take backstage and promo stuff." He squirmed a bit. "I wish performing was as easy as photo shoots. But I don't have to sing for those. They're easy."

Mimi hummed, still rubbing his hands. "So, I noticed you're starting to get new callouses on these." She lifted his fingers, kissed his palm. "And you're at the dojo more than you used to be." She twisted around to look at him straight on. "You've been different recently, Jem. Not just the whole newfound fame thing, but something much quieter, that I feel like you're keeping from me."

Jem turned his gaze out the window. He liked Mimi. A lot. They'd been through some stuff together. But she was right. Their lives were changing. She was a freshman to his sophomore. His blooming career paired with his new night life were keeping him busier than ever. And he was different, a little darker than before, but with more honor and purpose. Someday, maybe with Mimi, when the time was right he'd share his secrets. After all every couple in his family shared theirs. But there was a time for it, a commitment, a bond that was meant for life to be made before such things were spoken. She'd trusted him with her darkest moment, yes. But this was... different.

"Jem," her voice pierced his musings.

He smiled at her, wondered what would make her happy while keeping his secrets.

"We're here." She pointed to the building, a crowd of people lined up outside. She reached up, stroked his cheek then kissed him sweetly. "It's okay. Whatever it is can keep for another day."

Pressing his brow to hers, he peered into her perfect blue eyes. "Thanks, Mims, for everything."

NIK

"Stop fidgeting, I'm almost done."

Nik tried not to move as his mom fussed over some last-minute adjustments to his outfit. He knew what it felt like and what it was made of, but not what it 'looked' like. At least not to everyone else's eyes. Shen and Jem had picked it out, or designed it, or some combination thereof and he trusted their judgement. Everything would be fine.

"I think he looks great." His father, a soft, golden glow of contentment, added, taking a moment from his own last-minute adjustments on the projector system to scan Nik with a ray of attention.

Things had been going great between them. He'd always thought that, because of the difference in their intelligence and interests, they'd never have enough in common to do much together. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Once they'd opened up and started talking about their plans for performances, his dad had kicked into high gear making those dreams reality. He wasn't pressing any of them to love science the way he did, though Shen and Jem always shared a charge of fascination. Rather, his father immersed himself in their interests, enabling them with science. Working with his dad on it had been a lot of fun. Plus, with his dad's help, the show would probably be much closer to Shen's inspiration for it than it ever could've been with them winging it on their own.

He really wished he'd brought his dad in earlier. How much better could their videos have been? He supposed he'd find out, as upgrading their tech for that was among his father's many side projects.

"He and the piano are going to be the only real things on the stage. He's got to look good." His mother tutted. Though her natural energy was still too intense to look directly at for very long, shimmery ripples of her pride in him cascaded off of her, filling the air all around.

His Aunt Denim, suffused with a bright, crackling blend of excitement and anxiety, bustled up to them. "Their first concert. This is really happening. And the best part...no drugs."

Nik looked out at the audience through the wall. "Well, technically some people are..."

Aunt Denim pulsed a defensive burst of energy, incinerating the influence of his words. "Yup, no drugs." She reiterated as she hurried off to find Jem who should've arrived with Mimi and her VIP backstage access by now.

His mother chuckled, shedding rays of humor. "You and your dad. You know accuracy isn't always that important."

"Huh?" He and his father responded simultaneously before joining her laughter.

His dad lit with an expanding spark of refreshingly cool relief. "Thank goodness you never got into that stuff, even when you were looking for Scout."

Nik cocked his head to the side thoughtfully. "But I did, just the once, to get the dealer to take me to her."

Both his parents flared with alarm and he threw his hands up in an effort to calm them. "I was fine. It didn't do anything. Strange, but good right?"

His dad swirled with ideas and conjecture in a colorful mass, competing for dominance. "Hmm, you must've inherited your mom's immunity to mutagen."

"Mom's what?" He asked, trying to look at her.

She just shook her head, throwing glittery waves of energy off with each movement. "Don't worry about it. It's almost time. Are you ready?" Her energy took on a new tone, shivering in nervous anticipation.

"I know it's going to be great. Thank you both." He smiled, pulling them into a hug.