A/N: Thanks for hanging in there, bugaboos! If you haven't noticed already, I'm much more about character development than I am about plot, hence why this story is kind of slow and flashbacky and at least five chapters longer than I ever intended it to be. I apologize if this bores you, but I promise it will pick up very, VERY soon. ;)

-fbw

P.S. Those of you who are loyal readers of mine will catch a reference to my other ABL fic in here!

Flik

A royal ant who can't even fly.

His eyes locked on Dot's and he felt his heart lurch. Fiery, feisty Dot. The closest thing Flik had to a little sister. Two whole centimeters of sass that had stared Hopper down and stood up for him when he was too weak to stand.

And he was helpless to help her.

Flik's heart raced. Red seeped into the corners of his vision, blurring out everything but the sight of Hopper dangling Dot before him. He had never felt rage like this. Heck, Flik had never really known what anger was before tonight. He thought he'd felt it the first time Hopper threatened Dot, but that sharp jab of fury was nothing like the tidal wave crashing over him now. This anger was a stream of fire pulsing through every vein in Flik's body, seeking a place to erupt.

"You wouldn't dare," he whispered to Hopper.

Would he?

So far Hopper had proved himself to be ruthless and cunning and cruel, to name only a few adjectives. But this? This was a new low, and Flik didn't know if he believed even Hopper would sink to it.

But this was one theory the inventor wasn't willing to test.

Francis

Flik's plan, relatively speaking (as in the fact that this one didn't involve a massive, fully functioning bird machine), was simple.

Step One: Convince Hopper to take Flik in Dot's place.

Step Two: Transport Dot to a safe place where Heimlich would be waiting to give her all the warm, squishy cuddles her little heart desired. (Because let's be real, there wasn't much else the chubby caterpillar could offer in this situation.)

Step Three: Remove Flik from Hopper's clutches using either cunning or sheer force, depending on how things played out. (Manny and Gypsy were hidden under Dim's wings, hoping for another chance to practice their hypnotic voodoo crap, but Francis was pretty sure one stomp from Dim's foot would be more effective than all the incantations they knew put together.)

Step Four: Chase Hopper into a web Rosie had conveniently spun a few days ago, when the Blueberries were playing their favorite game with Dim. (Francis had tried to convince his spider to give up her vegetarian ways for just one night, but she was stubborn when it came to her dietary convictions.)

Step Five: Wait for the signal from Gypsy, then lure the real Mama Bird from her nest and lead her to the web.

Step Six: Find some popcorn and watch from a safe distance while the grasshopper menace was exterminated once and for all.

So... who volunteered for Step Five, you ask?

"Where is this frikkin' nest?"

"Well, considering the last time I saw it I was running for my life from its owner, my memory is a bit hazy. Also, it was sunny then."

Francis rolled his eyes and veered hard to the right to dodge a raindrop the size of his body, eliciting a shriek from Slim below him. "I don't need the sass right now, pal," he huffed.

"Remind me again why we signed up for this job?" Slim inquired.

"Because I'm the fastest flyer after Dim and Flik needed the big guy's muscle to intimidate Hop. Plus you look like a twig, so if Mama Bird sees us I can throw you on her nest and fly away."

"Ha, ha."

Francis's grin melted into a grimace as he scanned the ground below for anything that resembled a pile of feathers and branches. Why did we volunteer for this job, anyway?

He knew why. It was because there was nothing he wouldn't do for that damn kid. He'd throw himself into the open beak of a bird if it meant keeping Dot safe, which is why it infuriated him that she'd still ended up in danger. As soon as Francis saw the princess scrambling down from the wreckage he should have flown over, scooped her up and deposited her inside the anthill, but Hopper got to her first and instead Francis ended up just standing like a dope while the bastard almost fed her to his psycho pet. For the second time.

Francis only knew this was a repeat occurrence because Dot had told him about it once. It was the middle of the night a few days after the bird fiasco, when the troupe was finally starting to settle into colony life. He'd awoken from a lovely dream involving female ladybugs by the sound of sniffling outside the hospital wing. After waiting a minute, hoping in vain that it would stop so he could go back to his dream, Francis heaved a sigh, limped to the doorway, and flung open the leaf curtain. At his feet stood a puny, purple ant with her hands covering her eyes.

"Kid?"

Dot let out a hiccup and uncovered her eyes to look up at him. Francis had never been much of a pupa guy, especially with crying ones, but the sight of those blue eyes blinking back tears was enough to make any bug turn to mush.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Francis asked, awkwardly crouching on the knee that wasn't in a cast so he could be at eye level with the girl.

Dot sniffed and rubbed a fist across her eyes. "Sorry to wake you up, ma'am," she whimpered.

Francis suppressed a cringe and hoped she couldn't tell. Now was not the time to have a conversation about gender, but he made a mental note to bring it up with the Blueberries during their next poker night.

"I had a… a nightmare." The last word was a whisper, and Francis swore he saw some red in those freckled cheeks. His insides were officially tree sap.

"A nightmare? Aw come on, that's nothing to be ashamed of! Everybody gets those. Especially Heimlich."

He winked at this last part, eliciting a giggle from Dot. Good, Francis, Keep it up. If you can make her laugh, you can fix it. That was the point of being a clown, right?

"So… was it about that scary bird that almost ate us? Because let me tell ya, if it wasn't for you pulling those Blueberry Scout moves, she would've brought me home as dinner for her babies. And contrary to popular belief, ladybugs do not taste like strawberries." You're on a roll, my friend.

Instead of acknowledging this genius joke, the princess's face fell. "No, it wasn't… it wasn't about that," she mumbled. "It was about… something else that happened. With the grasshoppers. Before Flik went to find you guys."

Francis frowned. Something else that happened? Geez Louise, how much trauma had this kid gone through in the past three months?

"Well…" he said, standing up and readjusting his crutch, then reaching out his free hand for Dot to take. "Why don't you tell me about it on our way back to bed?"

So she did. Starting with the sound of the first alarm and ending with Hopper's promise to return after the last leaf fell, Dot filled Francis in on all the details of that morning with the grasshoppers. Every word she spoke made Francis's blood boil, especially when she got to the part about Thumper. What kind of sicko did something like that to someone like Dot? Sure, Francis didn't love kids, but he would never put one in harm's way to prove a point.

Of course, at the time he hadn't met Hopper.

By the time they made it to Dot's room, the princess's eyelids were starting to droop. Her grip on his hand, however, remained firm the entire time he was tucking her into bed.

"Hey… Princess?" Francis said softly, giving Dot's hand a gentle squeeze. "I gotta use this later."

A beat went by before Dot released his fingers. Her bottom lip quivered. "Will you wait until I fall asleep? Like Flik does?"

Flik. That soft-hearted son of a…

Francis eased himself onto a stone beside Dot's bed, ignoring the throb in his leg, and flashed the kid a smile. "Sure thing, princess."

At this point he was having trouble keeping his own eyes open. Still, Francis stayed beside Dot's bed long after she fell asleep. No nightmares were coming back for this kid on his watch.

"Um, Francis...Francis? Francis! Slow down!"

Francis pulled up short at Slim's demand. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was flying for a full five minutes, which meant his cargo would be equally lost. "Sorry, sorry!"

"No no, look down! Is that what I think it is?"

Francis squinted into the darkness. It was hard to see anything in this weather, but he could just make out movement several feet below them. He flew a few inches closer to get a better look. The moving things were bright yellow, and fluffy, and...kind of cute?

Francis gasped. "They hatched?"

"You're asking the wrong question," Slim murmured. "The real one is...where's their mama?"

Dot

A royal ant who can't even fly.

That's what Dot had called herself back when flapping her wings meant rising off the ground for a second or two and then landing in a heap, followed by the sound of laughter if there were any boys around.

You just have to give yourself some time, Flik had told her, back when she complained to him about being too little to fly. You're still a seed.

It was pure instinct that made Dot flap her wings while plummeting through the mist after Thumper chased her off the cliff. When she opened her eyes and found herself hovering in the air beside the cliff's edge, still in one piece with her wings buzzing behind her, Dot had been sure she was either dreaming or dead. It was Flik's words echoing in her mind that gave her the courage to open one eye, then two, and realize that he was right: she had become a tree.

Flik was looking at Hopper now in a way Dot had never seen him look before, and it was scaring her. She felt an uncomfortable pressure in her back, like someone was squeezing her wings together.

"What's it gonna be, ladies and gentlebugs?" Hopper demanded.

Said ladies and gentlebugs seemed to be at a loss. Atta was clutching Flik's arm, her face ghostly pale. Tuck and Roll were speechless for the first time since Dot had met them. Rosie had four of her legs wrapped around Dim's snout and four planted on the branch, like she was holding the beetle back from charging forward at any second. Flik still had that look on his face, the one that looked so strange on him. It was like anger, but more than that. Like the anger she'd seen on Hopper's face when Flik challenged him tonight.

Anger that could kill.

What was wrong with all of them?

There was another tug on her wings, this one sharper than before, and Dot's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she finally realized what Hopper meant.

A royal ant who can't even fly...without her wings.

No. Dot blinked away tears and bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop the whimpers threatening to escape. Hopper was mean and bossy and violent sometimes, but he wouldn't do something like that. He was just saying it to scare them, or to make them mad enough to do something he wanted. She had to be brave so they would see that.

"It's okay," Dot mouthed, even as tears trickled down both of her cheeks. "He won't hurt me."

Flik gave her the tiniest of nods and mouthed something back that made her smile. "You're a tree."

I'm a tree. But maybe I'm not the only one.

Hopper's grip on her scalp was so tight Dot couldn't even swivel her head to look at him. Instead she reached behind her and found Hopper's thumb, the one pinching her wings together. She wrapped her own fingers around it and squeezed softly. It was the only thing she could think to do, the only way to communicate what she wanted him to know.

You're not as bad as you think you are. You don't have to be your dad if you don't want to be. You can be a tree.

A second went by, then two. The rain started to slow down for the first time all night. The pressure in Dot's wings loosened ever so slightly. Flik reached his arms toward her, his eyes filling with relief.

And then a shriek from above pierced the air and Dot felt something like a stinger ripping through her back.

Her antennae filled with the sound of screaming before everything went dark.