A/N: I'm tired of apologizing, so I'm just going to say this:

For anyone's who's stuck around, thank you so much for being patient with me and my updates!

Enjoy!

The Ultimatum

A few days after their meeting, Beta got a call from Honey, finally giving him an excuse to leave the apartment other than work, and he had never been so relieved to have a break from his dull routine. Being a gadget geek, he was reclusive to a certain degree, even more so whenever he got carried away with his midnight "activities" (mostly hacking through government files and things of that sort. Nothing major). But after the meeting, he didn't feel so secure doing those things now that Break had set restrictions.

He hadn't told anyone about Honey and Three. Their bodyguard business was an international gig, and it would soon get around that there was an adolescent girl working with a lion-esque priest who ran an orphanage. If word got out that the girl and the priest were working with a snazzy-dressed nerd with a fetish for jazz and gadgets, there was no telling what Break would do.

Maybe he should've stopped Yan when he had the chance, or maybe he should've dissuaded Cap from trying to contact Nice. Maybe he shouldn't have given him that stupid phone number in the first place.

Should-a, would-a, could-a. You know you would've done it anyway, despite the consequences.

And he knew he was right. Cap wasn't the only one who had been separated from loved ones. Beta had a little sister who depended on him… well, maybe not as much as she depended on Three, but Honey was family and if anyone could sympathize when it came to family it was Cap. Maybe Scarlet, too, but not really.

Speaking of Scarlet, it seemed she had taken Break's words to heart and had gotten a real job instead of continuing her work with the police. He had discovered her covert allegiance with the superintendent one bleak Sunday morning a year ago. Bored out of his mind, the young genius decided to hack into traffic cameras and mess with the unsuspecting citizens of Yokohama. The corner near the police station was where he found the hotheaded ginger sitting in the backseat of the superintendent's car. At first he thought she had gotten herself in trouble, but they wouldn't have been driving away from the police station if that were true. Following their trail, they stopped in front of a convenience store. Once they were all out of the car, Scarlet shook hands with the baby-faced detective and his wizened partner. Needless to say, the telepathic Minimum Holder helped put away many drug-dealing scumbags that day.

The moment she came home, he stupidly congratulated her for putting away those drug-peddling fiends, earning a black eye and a bloody nose as well as a threat if he told anyone about it. After cleaning himself up, he swore to keep her secret. After all, she wasn't the only one who had anything to hide, and far be it from him to be a hypocrite. A smooth-talking wiseacre maybe, but never a hypocrite.

But as impulsive as everyone thought he was being all of a sudden, Break's astringent yet rational rules weren't a coincidence. He had no family to speak of, no friends, not even a measly pet—he had no history whatsoever. The gang was all he had, all he could rely on, so his surreptitious jealousy was not unwarranted. That didn't mean it wasn't unfair, either. Most of them had lives before they were locked away in the labs, and although they'd grown close, Beta wasn't going to just forget about his beloved baby sister. But at the risk of their safety…?

If it ever came down to such an ultimatum, he wasn't sure who he'd pick.

"Hey, what's with that look, handsome?"

Beta lay with his hat on his face to block out the sun's harsh light, his lanky body taking up the entirety of the bench he was occupying. Sitting up, Beta stretched his arms and replaced his hat on his head before resting his hands behind his head and looking up at the stranger. "What's up?" he said nonchalantly.

The girl was tall, her vertical length supported only by her six-inch stilettos (how girls could walk in those things without breaking their ankles he had no idea). Her light brown hair fell over her shoulder like a chocolate deluge. Her dress clung to body like an extra layer of skin, reminding him of a molting boa constrictor with its sheen texture. She was pretty in a way but definitely not his type. He ran into her often, but once again he failed to remember her name.

"I was afraid you were going to get sunburned there. Or melt. It's got to be at least seventy degrees outside. How can you wear that sweater?"

Beta shrugged, not at all affected by the weather. His wardrobe mostly consisted of sweater vests, blazers, and a few dress shirts, long- and short-sleeved. "Didn't really notice."

"You waiting for somebody?"

"Yeah, my little sister."

"Oh, really! You're so sweet waiting for your sister like a good big brother should! Gentlemen like you are so hard to come by these days."

"It's a burden I'm willing to carry," he said humbly.

"I'm sure you could teach a few lessons, preferably to this one guy, always walking around wearing a jumpsuit and shades like he's the shit. He won't stop hitting on my girlfriends and he nearly grabbed my ass the other day."

"Although I do not approve of such deplorable behavior, I can't really say I blame him for hitting on you."

"Oh? And why not?"

"Well, when you go walking around like that, I'd see why it'd be hard to keep my hands off of you." He waggled his eyebrows at her, making her laugh. "But I'm a gentleman, so I would never disrespect a woman in such a way. My mother raised me better than that."

"Seriously, Beta, why are you still single?"

"Can't really say. Not too many women are looking for gentlemen nowadays."

"It's a shame." She looked at her phone. "Well, I gotta go. I guess I'll see you around. Maybe someday I'll set you up with one of my friends."

He waved at her as she left, sighing. Dating and the like were the last things on his mind. Despite what many people assumed, including his meddlesome friend Hiro, Beta was not the dating type. Sure, he was a flirt, but he never acted on it. If anything, he was just humoring those girls, but he treated them with the proper respect he believed all men should.

All of a sudden, the young genius felt someone slap him in the back of the head. "What the hell?!"

"Was that your girlfriend?" asked the assailant.

"You know I don't date, Mu."

"And you know I hate it when you're late, but here you are loitering around hitting on prostitutes instead of meeting me and Three at the airport like you were supposed to! And stop calling me Mu! Now let's go. Three's waiting for us."

"Yeah, okay…" Beta skated off without uttering another word.

Honey was thrown off by her brother's suddenly listless behavior. Whenever they met up, Beta would not hesitate to squeeze the life out of her with one of his infamous bear hugs, sometimes even embarrass her with a kiss on her cheek, and then they'd continue their childish banter for a good five minutes before going straight to business, but he didn't do any of those things. Not only was he late, but he hadn't even made the effort to show up at their rendezvous point. Something was really off about him today. She only hoped it didn't get in the way of his rationale.

"So, who're we meeting?" he asked once she caught up.

"Nobody."

"Huh?"

"Long story short, my luggage got switched with someone else's, and he's somewhere in the vicinity."

"Um… okay?"

"This is serious, Beta!"

"Well it's not like you kept Mighty in your suitca…" The evidently annoyed visage turned red. "Oh my—"

"Save the 'I told you so' for later. We need to find this guy before he finds us."

"Why's that?"

"Because he has friends."

The first thing they did was go back to Honey's apartment. It was a cushy place, big enough for at least two more people, but seeing as Three resided elsewhere, she had a lot more room than she needed.

"The place hasn't changed," Beta commentated. "Blasé as usual."

"Shut up."

Three was there awaiting them, reading some suggestive manga that even sent chills up Beta's spine. "Nice to see you again, big guy."

Marking his page abruptly, the lion-esque man nodded and approached the young man. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances, Beta."

"I've had better days," he admitted. "But if I have to be honest, this is the highlight of my day. Now, let's see what we're dealing with, shall we?"

Beta took a look at the suitcase, wondering how on Earth Honey had gotten this austere piece of luggage switched with her demurer travel set. As if reading his thoughts, the young brunette glared up at her brother, daring him to voice such judgements knowing his countless past blunders. After a quick inspection, Beta took his attention to the numeric lock pad, fiddling with a few numbers before unlocking the case.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Honey exclaimed before he could open the suitcase. "You can't just—"

"You don't think they haven't looked through your stuff yet?" he suddenly snapped. "What do you think they'll do once they see Mighty? It's worth millions—much more than whatever's in here. And I'd know; I built the damn thing."

Honey immediately withdrew her retort, stunned by her brother's sudden outburst. He never lost his temper before. Then again this was the first time she had ever lost Mighty. She could understand why he'd be upset; he might not have been kidding when he said he had better days.

She opened her mouth again, but it was Three who responded. "If those men are as serious about this case as I believe they are, then leaving it alone may be best."

Heedless of the priest's warning, Beta opened the case, slightly miffed by the contents. Honey leaned over his shoulder to glance at what was inside. "Are those… totems?"

Just as she said, there were four blocky Hawaiian totem poles sitting inside the briefcase. Taking one out, Beta inspected it, knowing these were not just paltry souvenirs. Feeling around the intricate carvings, Beta found a tiny, imperceptible crack, sliding the top open and finding a vial containing some sort of transparent fluid. Four totems. Four vials. One nasty feeling in his gut. And that terrible feeling led him to believe he knew exactly where those drugs were coming from, but he was afraid to assume the worst.

Honey watched intensely as Beta analyzed the mysterious drug meticulously. After an unnecessarily long moment of scrutiny, she lost her patience. "Well…?"

Beta looked up at his sister, blinking owlishly and feigning innocence. "Well… what?"

"What the hell is it?!"

"To be honest… I have no idea. But the only people who put vials of mysterious drugs inside trinkets stuffed into suitcases are bad guys in movies, so we can only assume that these goons are up to no good."

"… How the hell did you get a degree in computer engineering?"

"Top of my class, summa cum laude—but think about it. If they really wanted it back, don't you think asking nicely would be more effective than trying to kill whoever misplaced their luggage?"

"Bad guys don't ask nicely."

"Exactly. Now they're risking exposing themselves. If you ask me, this could've all been avoided if one of you just kept your precious cargo in a smaller, equally secure carryon bag."

Honey sighed exasperatedly, partially because she knew despite his nonsensical logic he was still right, and partially because all she wanted was for this confusing and troublesome day to be over so she could take a bath with the new citrusy bubble bath she bought during her trip. "So how are we going to give it back to them and get Mighty back without getting ourselves killed?"

"By gambling."

"… What?"

Beta closed the case and brought it over to the window with him. After briefly glancing outside, he turned back to the bodyguard team. "There's a one in fifty-five chance that those guys are outside your apartment right now, looking for you."

"How do you know that?"

"There are fifty-five residences in this building, including yours. They could just guess which floor and which side of the complex you live on, but they wouldn't know for sure unless they either a) happened to have a Minimum or b) were really good guessers. Not to mention in all the time we've been talking they probably already found a way into the building, so a) or b) we're screwed either way. My wager is a hundred bucks—converted, of course."

Honey and Three looked at each other, neither considering such a possibility. "Okay, so let's assume one of them is a Minimum Holder," she said, humoring him, "Even if you're right—"

"Which I am."

"—you can't just—"

"Look, each second we waste arguing is another second those guys have on us, and without Mighty to help us out we can't afford to drag this out much longer. You guys are supposed to be bodyguards, right?" Honey looked her brother in the eye and for the first time saw a reticent fierceness that she had only seen once in her life. "I trust you guys with my life. Trust me on this… okay?"

"… You sure about this?"

"Have I ever been wrong before?"

"Tokyo."

"That was one time."

With that exemption, Honey couldn't argue with him, even if she wanted to. "Alright. But if this backfires…"

"Hey, what's the worst that can happen?"

"I hate you."

"And you owe me one-hundred consecutive American dollars, dear little sister."

"Shut up, you two!"

At the moment, Honey and Beta were being held hostage by the same suits that had followed the bodyguard team from the airport. The van in which they were being transported was huge, and thank goodness, Beta thought, considering there were six of them. But unfortunately, the siblings were separated, sitting on either side one of the suits, and facing two more of them in the second row of seats, which Beta also thought was terribly convenient.

But these trivial amenities meant nothing to his irate little sister. Honey knew she shouldn't have gone along with his plan, but despite his scatterbrain, Beta's plans worked 100% of the time, 99% considering the incident in Tokyo, and the success rate was getting lower by the second. The plan was to evade their oncoming pursuers, and Beta thought the best way to execute this plan was to separate. Three went on his own with the case to call Art for some reinforcements, and Beta and Honey went through the back, which was the opposite way of the parking lot where Beta had spotted the suits. The goons must've had the same idea when they came looking for them because they found them as soon as they were outside. What was worse was that she had a feeling Beta meant for that to be intentional.

"So now what?" she seethed.

"Patience, Mu. It's not over yet."

"Didn't we tell you two to shut up?" the suit in front of Beta spat.

"Sorry, we weren't listening," Honey sniffed. "It's impossible to hold a conversation with someone whose intelligence is so far beneath our own."

The man across from her got up from his seat and pulled one of her pigtails. Before he could take his knife out, Beta kicked his hand, sending the instrument to the floor. "Sorry about that," Beta said calmly, "but I'd appreciate it if you tux-toting troglodytes didn't threaten my sister. I don't take kindly to men who disrespect women." Honey nearly winced when she saw the menacing look she'd seen earlier on her brother's face.

The same man who almost pulled a knife on Honey took him by the collar, but this did not deter the young man. "Do you even get what trouble you're in, smart-ass?"

"No, but I suppose the same could be said for you." He averted his gaze to Honey, who was looking at them nervously. "Hey, Honey. Remember what I told you in Tokyo, you know, before everything went to hell?"

"Not really. I was too busy using you as a human shield."

"Well, I said you can count on me to always have my cellphone. And then you said…"

Honey's eyes were reserved for a moment before they widened in understanding, and she ducked onto the floor of the van. All of a sudden, the vehicle shook as it was hit by another car. Before he fell to the floor, Beta was able to catch a small glimpse of the car that slammed against the van. The beastly priest was standing out of the sunroof of a car that, from what he could see, apparently belonged to an elderly woman. Why that adorable little grandma agreed to do this was a mystery to even the boy genius.

"I remember," Honey said to him over the pandemonium. "Even if I didn't have Mighty, I know I'll always have a future I can believe in."

Beta nodded. "Right." Taking the fallen knife, the brunette broke out of his bonds before freeing his sister. "After all, you have an ultimate weapon and an ultimate armor by your side. And I would never make you choose which one you would need the most because you'll always have both. So, what's the donation of a measly cellphone, right?"

"Beta, what are you saying?"

Before he could answer, the top of the vehicle was torn off by the malevolent beast that was Three. He threw the roof away and grabbed Honey, who in turn looked to Beta, and all he did was sit there, giving her a conciliatory smile. "I'm sorry, Honey. But your future's better off with him."

"Beta—!"

"Get her out of here, Three!" The burly priest considered disobeying him for a moment before nodding and jumping back on top of the elderly woman's car. Once they were gone, Beta reassessed the situation.

There was no stopping the van now, seeing as the driver was so astonished by Three's appearance he had fainted at the wheel. As for the other suits, three of the uninjured passengers made for Beta, who quickly jumped to the front. "You don't mind if I take this baby for a spin, do you?" Receiving no response, Beta pushed the guy into the back and took his spot. "Charlie, where's Mighty?"

Right in the back, with the rest of their luggage.

"Can you tell which one's Honey's bag?"

Negative.

"Guess I'm going to have to wing it. Wish me luck. Oh, and sorry about that cheap shot back there, Charlie."

Apology is unnecessary. Honey's safety is always priority if the situation calls for it.

He laughed. "It seems I taught you well, Charlie. Well, here goes nothing." With a sharp turn of the wheel, Beta jammed the breaks, sending the armored vehicle spiraling until it tipped, landing gracelessly in the middle of the road.

Needless to say, the boy genius got an earful from his inconsolable sister after that little stunt. The police arrived just before the rest of the conscious goons could get away, putting away all the culprits as well as the rest of their stolen goods. Some of the suitcases had totems just like the one Honey and Three accidentally attained, while others contained gun parts. Although both were suspiciously dangerous goods to be toting around (pun completely intended, Beta thinks facetiously), the goods themselves weren't really relevant to each other, which made the brunette wonder which was the ploy and which was the actual profit.

But that was something to contemplate on a later date, Beta was reminded, as his brain was too muddled to even comprehend Honey's acerbic tongue-lashing. Unfortunately, Three was still talking to the police, so there was no one to restrain Honey from emitting her furious wrath upon him.

"Baka! Baka! Baka!"

"OW! No hitting! I'm damaged!"

"Your brain's damaged, that's for sure! What the hell were you thinking?!"

Beta actually thought over the rhetorical question before giving the imbecilic answer, "I wasn't."

"I'll say! I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but if you do anything that reckless ever again, I'll make sure every bruise and broken bone in your body stays that way!"

"I'm sorry." Luckily for Beta, the only part of his body that was critically damaged was his arm, which was currently in a sling. There were a few scrapes on his face and a bruise on his cheek, but he could easily hide that away from the rest of the L.A.B. Rats with some makeup and the shadow of his hat. The arm would be trickier to hide, though.

"I meant it," Honey mumbled. The suddenly timid tone brought Beta out of his reverie and he was even surprised to see a light blush on his sister's face. "If something's wrong, I don't want you hurting yourself, especially for my sake. And I have a feeling that your weird behavior today has something to do with your little group of misfits—and I know you can't tell me about them, but… you know…"

Beta chuckled under his breath, wryly. But you don't know, Honey. You have no fucking idea. "I know I made a risky move, but I wasn't going to risk your life if I knew the outcome would be grim. If anything happened to me, I wanted to make sure that your future would be fine without me in it. Three makes sure of that every day, and I can't thank the man enough for what he's done for us. So in the event that I don't make it—"

"Oi!" Beta flinched at the derisive tone. Hell hath no wrath like Honey's scorn. "Nobody's allowed to gamble with my life, least of all you! I decide who gets to stay at my side and for how long, got it!? I just got you back; I don't want to lose you over something stupid again! And I know you may not think it, but I need more than just some armor and a weapon. You promised to stay by my side, and I'm not going to let you get away with breaking another promise."

Beta was speechless. Honey was far from poetic and she rarely spoke her feelings anymore, but at times like these, it really brought out the dear little sister he knew a long time ago.

Screw Break's ultimatum!

"OH MU-CHAN!"

"Get off me, baka! You ruined the moment! And don't call me Mu!"

"By the way, you still owe me a hundred bucks."

"Shut up!"

"Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"

The young brunette was just about done packing when he heard the sweet little chant that was his beloved sister's voice. The pitter patter of her little feet was music to ears, and he turned just in time to catch her in his arms. "Hey, Mu-chan. What's up?"

"Otou-san said you were leaving."

His smile faltered a bit. "Yeah, but only for a few days."

"But that's too long!" Honey looked around to make sure no one was within earshot before whispering into his ear, "You promised to say goodbye before me and Three left! Does Otou-san know?"

"No, no! He doesn't suspect a thing. But I will be back in time, don't worry. I'll be back so soon you won't even remember I was gone."

"Promise?" She held out her pinky.

He nodded, linking his finger with her smaller one. A pinky promise was the most serious pledge between the two siblings. Nothing was official unless they made that unbreakable bond. "I promise."

Unfortunately for her, this was one promise he was going to have to break.

R&R!