I've been rewatching one of my childhood favorite shows since it is one Amazon Prime and was reminded of how much I love the writing in this show so I just had to write something.

"C'mon, Dot, what is Enzo going to do at some stuffy business meeting? He's just a little kid!"

"It is a good opportunity for him to think about his future, Bob; Enzo can meet the kind of sprites and binomes that will help him get the kind of connections he needs to succeed in the future! I can't believe you're making me out to the bad guy just for wanting my little brother to have a good life!"

Bob let out a frustrated groan, "Enzo has a good life, Dot, and he wants to go circuit racing tomorrow, not sit around and listen to you hob-nob with a bunch of other business owners! I don't get why you won't let me take him!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Mainframe's most successful buisness-sprite snapped back, "and I gave to let you take him anywhere. You have no say in his life; you are not his brother and you are not his parent!"

From his place hidden behind the restaurant counter, Enzo flinch and clamped his hands down over his ears tight as he could. Cecile cast him an uncharacteristically sympathetic look before going back to his buisness and, User, Enzo wished that he never mentioned anything. Yeah, the young sprite had brought up not wanting to go to Dot's dumb business meeting in front of Bob hoping the guardian would back him up, but he never imagined the argument would blow up so badly!

Perhaps he should have though...

Hard as it was to believe, most of Dot and Bob's fights were about Enzo -about him wandering the city alone (not alone, Enzo always had Frisket with him and that dog was just about the best protection any spite could ask for), about how he should spend his, about how many sweets he could eat, about the kind of movies he could see, and, of course, about the Games. Dot was never exactly shy about her belief that Bob wasn't doing enough to keep Enzo out of the Games, even if she was usually gentler about it.

Still, Bob had slotted himself into their little family of only two - Enzo remembered when they were three, back before Dad blew up the other city with his stupid experiment, but he couldn't remember being a family of four; unlike for Dot, 'Mom' had only ever been the name given to a handful of old pictures- so easily, almost making it whole once more. To be told he had no place in it just seemed horribly cruel of his big sister.

The Guardian reeled back at Dot's words, he couldn't have been more hurt by Megabyte knocking his processors out. That little sprite meant a whole gigabyte- no, a whole terabyte to him; he loved the kid! There was a rush of anger and, before Bob could stop himself, he spat out a vicious, "Yeah, well neither are you!"

There was an audible gasp from the diner spectators and Dot looked as if she'd been hit, tears welling up in her beautiful violet eyes. Bob immediately regretted everything, "I-"

"Get out!" Dot shrieked, pointing at the diner door. "Get out! Get out right now!"

Bob raised his hands and attempted to pacify the enraged sprite. "Dot, I-"

"Shut up, Bob! I cannot believe you would say something like that! You-"

"Stop it! Both of you!" Enzo yelled, popping up from behind the counter and startling the pair of adults. "I hate it when you guys get like this! I hate it when you guys fight! So... just stop it!"

Dot and Bob both looked at him, surprised by his outburst. "Oh, Enzo," Dot said, going to hug him, "we weren't fighting about you. We were just-"

"Yes, you were! Stop treating me like I'm an idiot!" he snapped, pulling away from his big sister. Enzo hopped over that countertop and, ignoring the calls for him to wait, rushed out of the diner. Frisket's perked up from his afternoon nap when Enzo rushed by and the dog was up instantly, chasing after him down.

Enzo ran until he couldn't run anymore, randomly twisting through the streets and alleyways of Mainframe, determine to throw off any pressures. Eventually, he ran deep into the outskirts of a park, falling to his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath.

Frisket whined and nosed at Enzo's teary face, trying to comfort it with a thorough licking.

"I'm- I'm okay, boy," he panted, weakly patting the feral pooch on the head. He slumped against the base of a tree and sighed, thinking of the chewing out Dot was going to give him when Enzo got home.

"Maybe I just won't go back," he declared to Frisket, who cocked his head to the side in confusion. "Yeah! How about you and I go on the run? We'll both be ferals, living on the streets and off our wits! How does that sound?"

The dog only huffed and plopped himself down on the ground next to Enzo, resting his head on the little sprite's knee.

'Yeah, that sounds about right,' Enzo though, letting his head fall back against the trunk of the tree and pulling the bill of his baseball cap down, closing his eyes.

"How could Enzo have gotten so far so quickly?" Bob wondered exasperated as he scanned the streets from up high on his zip-board. "He has tiny little legs!"

"Well, you know better than anyone how much energy he has." Dot replied half-heartedly. "We need to find him; it'll be getting dark soon and it is not safe for Enzo to be out alone like this."

"I agree but, you know, Enzo is stronger than you think. You don't need to try and control every nanosecond of his life."

Dot shot the Guardian a withering glare, "I'm just trying to- Oh, never mind!" She sighed and shook her head, her shoulders slumping, "I don't want to fight right now."

"Me neither," Bob agreed with a sigh of his own; he never wanted to fight with Dot. "Especially since that is how we got into this situation in the first place."

"It's just... Enzo is the only family; I can't lose him," Dot pleaded, sounding desperate for him to understand.

And Bob did.

"I know you just want to protect him," he soothed, "and you know that I'd sooner delete myself than let Enzo get hurt. But, Dot, Enzo is just a little sprite and he needs some time to be one, especially considering everything he's been through. It's not fair that you've had to become a parent to your little brother but you've got to remember that sometimes he needs his big sister, not a mother."

"I know; you're right," the elder Matrix sibling grumbled.

Bob turned his head to hide his surprise. It wasn't often Dot admitted to being wrong; he and Enzo often joked that it went against her programming. Still, he knew a peace offering when he heard one. "And you're right about me not having the authority to make plans with Enzo without your say-so. I shouldn't have promised to take him circuit racing without asking you first."

A small smile broke through the sadness on Dot's face and she gave him a warm look. "I really do appreciate all the time you spend with Enzo; he's really has been much happier since you've been around."

"No problem, it's my pleasure."

And it was. Exhausting as it could sometimes be, Bob loved spending time with Enzo. He'd never had a younger brother or nephew and definitely didn't have a son; so, strange as it was at first to step into the role of an older male role model, he was happy to do it.

"Look, let's make a deal right now," Dot offered. "Chances are we're going to eventually fight again, so let's make a promise to do it in front of Enzo."

"Deal!" Bob agreed automatically. "He shouldn't have to see that, it always makes him think that it is his fault."

"I just hope we can convince him that it isn't true."

"GRRRRRrrrrrrr!"

It wasn't particularly surprising that Frisket started immediately growling at Bob when the found him and a sleeping Enzo curled up under a tree, the dog had never made his dislike and distrust of Bob a secret. But it was surprising when he started growling at Dot; the two had always had a relationship that could best be described as 'professional respect.' Frisket was never aggressive or disobedient toward the lady sprite, less she might banish him from Enzo's side, but he was never particularly affectionate toward her either.

The dog's growling had them both stepping back, deciding that the best course of action would be to wake up the only one Frisket would actually listen to.

"Enzo? Enzo?" Dot called softly, causing the young sprite to stir.

"Donwannagotoschoo," he grumbled.

Bob snickered, "You don't have to, buddy. I'm taking you circuit racing, remember? But you got to get up right now so we won't be late."

The words had there intended effect... arguably too well.

Enzo was a blur as he, ever still half-asleep, popped up and tackled his hero.

"You mean it, Bob, really? Alphanumeric! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go! Let's-" the young sprite cut himself off, blinking as he looked around and seemed to finally realize what was going on.

"How basic," he grumbled, rolling off of Bob and slumping down on the ground. Enzo peeked up at Dot through his bangs, "I guess I'm sorry for running off like that. So how long am I grounded for?"

"Oh, Enzo," his older sister cooed, pulling him into a surprising embrace. "You're not in trouble, sweetie, and you have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I need to apologize -I got so caught up in wanting to make sure you had the opportunity to do anything you wanted in the future that I forgot that you should be able to enjoy your present."

"And I need to apologize for making promises that I wasn't sure I could keep," Bob added. "That wasn't fair to either of us."

"And we both need to apologize for blowing up right in front of you, Enzo," Dot continued. "You shouldn't have had to see that."

"So, how about we make you a deal?" the Guardian offered. "We promise to not fight in front of you-"

"Again," Enzo grumbled, still not sure he was ready to forgive them.

"Right, we promise to not fight in from of you again while you accept our apologies and promise not run off again then we can spend the rest of the night watching movies files and eating snacks?"

"Bob..." Dot started; then, when two pairs of pleading eyes turned to her, she smiled and finished with, "that sounds like a great idea."

"Well..." Enzo mulled it over, secretly getting a kick out of the anxiety playing across both Dot and Bob's faces. "Yeah, I guess I can agree to those terms."

"Alright!" the Guardian cheered, pulling both Enzo and Dot into a tight hug.

Later that night, wedged tight and warm in-between Dot and Bob on the couch as their third film played in the background, Enzo tucked his head into Bob's chest and felt, just for a moment, that everything would end up being alright.