AN: I meant to publish this chapter last week. However, due to the demands of real life and the stress associated with that, I had fallen behind my writing. Hopefully, another update will follow later this week (to catch up on my uploading schedule), but if not, there will be another week before another update. Thank you to those who have reviewed and supported my story so far. I hope that you enjoy the next instalment of my story.

I have been asked about Karen and her children being fluent in French in this story. To be clear, this is a head canon of mine that I wanted to explore. Conversations with readers have led to interesting discussions on languages. In an episode (FR: Mission Prison), we see Megan speaking in Italian and there's also the possibility of other languages (German and Dutch) being spoken as well. I like to think that during her spy days that Karen would be a polyglot and would be fluent in many languages. What do readers think? I'd be interested in reading your opinions on what languages you think Karen would be fluent in

Thanks always to A.M. for helping me with the language and for being a patient beta.

Chapter Four

The warmth of the November day had gradually disappeared throughout the late afternoon, giving way to a bitter cold and blustery evening. Dark and menacing clouds had appeared so suddenly in the distance that it was as though they were summoned there by magic, and soon after their arrival, the wind had picked up. Soon after the three Clark boys had returned from WOOHP, the sky had darkened as the storm clouds approached. The wind caused the house to shake and the old trees that lined the property to creak and groan as it tore through them, causing the wind to sound like an endless roar. The few minutes of peace and quiet as the wind ceased was replaced by the sound of hard rain as it poured from clouds so dark that it felt like it was night-time. However, the moment that the rain had lifted, the wind returned with a vengeance and tore through the trees as it turned into a gale.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, an angry grumble as lightning flashed in the sky. While Lee had tucked an already sleeping Marc into bed, Tony had rushed at once to the open window and tightly latched it shut, drawing the blinds before he and Lee quietly withdrew from the room, closing the door behind them so that Marc would not be disturbed. The two brothers regularly checked on their sibling throughout the rest of the day, but had not stepped into the room, instead watching Marc sleep from the doorway before they left to do other things.

Marc had awakened twice in the late afternoon. Once when Lee had entered the room to return the copy of the National Geographic that their mother had brought into the house before the storm had started. His brother set the magazine down on his desk before he slipped quietly out of the room, but not before he looked in the direction of the bed to where Marc had burrowed under his blankets. The other time he had woken to the sound of both of his brothers digging in the closet for some board games that Marc had meticulously organised on the top shelf. According to the quiet conversation that managed to make its way over to where he lay, the power had gone out, and so the two boys had to keep themselves from getting bored.

"...Do you think that Marc would mind if we played Stratego?" Lee asked Tony in an undertone. "Or what about that CSI board game?"

"Just as long as we don't lose the pieces," replied Tony as he stood on a chair. He reached up and pulled the games off the shelf and handed them to Lee. "However, if we do play CSI, I am calling dibs on the Grissom playing piece!"

Lee craned his neck so that he could better see the other board games in the closet and chuckled to himself. "I can't believe that Nerdy Bro still has that maths game. Now that's a game that I always lose, especially to him!"

"You're just upset that the last time you played and lost, you had to give him your weeks' worth of Cola Gummies. It's not a bad game if you can keep up with the strategy part of it. Do you see anything else you want to play, or should we go ransack your closet for board games?"

"Well, let's not play that maths one. While you're on that chair, see if you can pull down Mouse Trap and The Game of Life. I think these games will keep us busy for a while. Hopefully, the power will be turned back on soon. Otherwise, we'll have to make sure we've got lots of blankets for tonight… and flashlights."

Tony had managed to pull down the two board games that Lee had requested, setting them down upon his desk before he carefully climbed off the chair under the watchful eye of their eldest brother. He had just picked up the games again before his gaze wandered to the bed where Marc's chestnut hair was barely visible due to the blankets that had been pulled up over his head.

"Do you think we should wake him?" He asked Lee who had come to a stop in the doorway and had looked back to see why Tony hadn't followed him. "Maybe he'll feel up to playing with us."

Lee threw a quick glance in the direction of the bed to where he could see the barely distinguishable form of their brother underneath his comforter and shook his head. "No, we'll let him sleep for now. If he's still asleep by suppertime, we'll wake him then. He was so exhausted earlier that it's for the best that he gets more rest."

"But what if something…?" Tony's voice trailed off before he could ask the question.

"Nothing will happen, Tone." Despite the reassurance in Lee's voice, his eyes had betrayed the fear he felt deep down for his brother and the current circumstances. "Look, if anything does happen, we'll be here in a heartbeat. We'll be in my room next door."

Tony didn't appear convinced but followed his older brother who had stepped out of the room, motioning for him to follow. For a moment, Lee struggled to close the door as he balanced two board games in his arms, but he managed it and followed Tony down the hallway and into his room. Marc had dozed off shortly afterwards, lulled back to sleep by the roll of thunder and the sound of pouring rain.

This time when he dreamed, it was a vague memory of an event that took place two summers back when he had been ten and Tony had been nine. The two had decided to go to the beach for the afternoon as it had been a hot and humid day. They had a fun day until Marc had noticed the towering cumulus clouds in the distance over the lake and had pulled his younger brother from the water citing that they had to get home as quickly as possible as there was a thunderstorm nearly upon them. Tony had wanted to play some more; he had met some new friends while Marc was taking the time to study a large willow tree whose long branches touched the water and had observed a loon in the shallows near the water's edge.

A rumble of thunder had cut short any plans for exploring or playing and the two brothers had packed up their beach stuff and walked as quickly as they could back home. The thunderstorm had made landfall and was above them the moment Marc and Tony had raced up a long and narrow footbridge that took them over wetlands. Tony had been in a panic when the wall of rain had hit them and heard the thunder rolling above them. Marc had done everything to keep from panicking himself. However, they had made it across the wetlands without incident and had taken refuge in a coffeehouse in the street that they had come out of. They had waited out the thunderstorm by sitting in a booth drinking hot chocolate and eating warmed sandwiches that had been toasted in the oven.

The dream shifted so that it took on a darker undertone. At first it didn't feel like a nightmare until Marc felt the sharp thrill of panic rise in his chest. The memory of him and Tony sitting out a storm in a coffee shop had dissipated, replaced by endless corridors that went nowhere and the feelings of being trapped. However, this time around, there was a faceless figure that was now hunting him. Suddenly, he found himself back inside the warehouse desperately trying to piece together a large puzzle, and all alone. He felt panic rise inside him because he knew that he was being chased and that it was only going to be a matter of time before he was found. Yet, he knew he had to piece together the puzzle because it contained clues as to who… or what… he was dealing with. He set himself upon his task as though his very life depended upon it, fumbling over the small puzzle pieces as he tried to put them together. Meanwhile, the sound of footsteps was heard from somewhere in the building, steadily getting closer to where he was.

A loud crash from outside caused Marc to sit upright in bed. His heart felt as though it was about to jump out of his chest, and he glanced wildly around at the room searching for the cause of the noise. The room was dark as it was late in the evening now but when he had tried to turn on the lamp, he realised that the power was still out. He felt the sharp thrill of panic rise in his chest and whimpered. It was so easy to imagine that someone was standing in the shadows that he soon threw himself upon the bedside table and opened the drawer to grab the flashlight that he knew was there. He turned on the flashlight and looked around the room, his heart still felt as though it was still in his throat, but he soon calmed down when he realised that nobody was there.

He relaxed further when he heard Tony whoop loudly from Lee's room, followed by a loud exclamation that one of the old maple trees that had lined the road had been struck by lightning. Marc lay back into his pillow and counted slowly to ten and willed his breathing to return to normal. Usually, this was more than enough to calm him down, but tonight it wasn't working. In the aftermath of that afternoon's attack, he found that he was on edge. No… Marc wasn't just on edge- he was absolutely terrified. The image of the attacker was fresh in his mind, and he trembled at the memory of that afternoon's events when he realised that this was only just the beginning.

The beginning of what, though. Marc mused as he gazed unseeingly up at the top of the bunk. What is the point of all of this? If it's a tactic to scare me then it's working because I am extremely scared.

Honestly, there were hundreds of outcomes that could come out of both questions, but Marc's strategic thinking brought him round to the more obvious answers. As he thought about that day's events, one troubling thing kept coming back to the forefront of his mind. The fact that the villain had even known where he lived and had arrived at the very place that should have been a safe haven. WOOHP kept all personal information of its agents' secret, including encrypting this information so that it couldn't be easily accessed by outsiders. Even the real names of agents weren't easy to access as Jerry protected this information very well. The only way that somebody would know to find agents' names or even their personal addresses were if they were hackers or if they were WOOHP agents themselves.

Marc bit his lip at this last thought. While there had been a deranged hacker that had targeted his family, he highly doubted that it was a ten-year-old in that body suit. However, the idea that somebody from WOOHP was possibly behind this made him feel slightly sick to his stomach. An agent was more than capable of finding out sensitive information and launching an attack… the only question was why. Surely Marc did not present himself as a threat to anybody? He was only a junior agent right now; he wasn't even in a higher-level spy team where they received far more rigorous training and had only been in WOOHP for a little over a year when he and his siblings had come to the attention of Jerry.

Yet, despite the fact that he was only a junior agent, Marc was still a very capable and competent spy… even if his brain tried to convince him otherwise. He had to admit that he did rely heavily on his intelligence on his missions versus his physical strength, but his smarts had come in useful during his missions- even saving both his and his siblings lives. However, he couldn't see how any of this could have affected a WOOHP agent to the point of going rogue. No, it couldn't be a fellow agent then… the idea was ludicrous at best and illogical at worst. Marc frowned in thought, he felt that the answer lay in WOOHP… he bet that if he could access their spy mission files, he would get the answer of who was targeting him.

It must be a villain from our past missions. There must be somebody angry enough to lash out in revenge, Marc thought to himself. Goodness knows how many bad guys we've locked up that promised vengeance against us.

The thunder outside had subsided, replaced by a spectacular display of lightning that flashed quickly from cloud to cloud. He listened to the soft patter of rain upon the roof and pushed himself up in bed and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. The headache that he had suffered from earlier had mostly gone, but he still felt a dull ache in his temples and massaged them absentmindedly. The lamp beside him suddenly lit up the room, causing Marc to jump slightly when his bedroom was suddenly awash in light, and blinked at the sudden brightness. However, his eyes quickly adjusted to the light, and he swung his legs out of bed, still massaging his head with his eyes shut.

"Headache still that bad?"

Marc raised his head sharply at the voice but relaxed when he saw that it was Lee. His older brother leaned against the door frame of the room; arms folded over his chest as he glanced worriedly at him. A moment later, Lee had disappeared, and he could hear his brother's footsteps go down the hallway and upon the stair. Marc wondered if he should tell his brother about his suspicions and fears but thought better of it when Tony had entered their bedroom, his eyes caught sight of Marc sitting up in bed and grinned widely.

"It's good that the power came back on," said Tony with a soft chuckle. "Lee is losing to me in Stratego and he's not exactly happy."

"He looked all right when he dropped by," replied Marc with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course, I suspect that he's letting me win because he's the eldest and he's being so noble," said Tony in a conspiratorial whisper. "It's not like playing with you, though, where the gloves come off and it's like a real battlefield."

Marc stared at his younger brother without saying a word for a few seconds, but a moment later he burst into laughter and couldn't stop. Tony looked bemused at this but joined in the laughter quickly afterwards.

"You should have seen Lee's face when my spy captured his marshal. It was like that time when Tami nearly figured out that we were spies."

"I can only imagine. You know how competitive he gets, even if he does allow us to win."

Tony fell silent, the smile that had played on his lips disappeared and a troubled expression flitted briefly on his face. Marc looked away when he noticed the change but glanced up when he felt the mattress move when his little brother sat down beside him. For a moment, his brother glanced down at his hands as he fiddled with his fingers before he finally sighed and looked over at him, his green eyes full of concern. "How are you feeling, Marc? You know that you can talk to me about anything, right? So, you can talk about what happened today if you need to."

"I… Tony, it's okay." Marc didn't know what to say. "I mean, I know that you're here for me, but you don't need to be worried. Everything is fine."

Tony did not look convinced at the last part of what he had said but before he had a chance to even say anything, Lee had returned to their bedroom with a bottle of water and a Tylenol. He handed both to Marc and stepped back, watching him closely to ensure that he took the pill.

"Thanks, Lee." Marc set the bottle of water upon the nightstand and noticed that both of his brothers were watching him, he looked away to avoid their looks and played with a loose thread on his comforter.

"Megan called earlier," said Lee after it became apparent that Marc wasn't going to speak any further. At his brother's questioning look he continued. "She had gotten the alert that Tony had sent to Jerry. She wanted to come home straight away, but Tone and I convinced her to stay at Henriette's place and to have a fun time."

"She didn't take the news very well, did she?" Marc asked, his head bowed and refused to keep eye contact with any of his brothers.

"Well, what did you expect, Marc?" asked Tony with a note of disbelief in his voice. "There was an attack at our house, and if that wasn't scary enough… the attack was against you. Of course, Megan didn't take the news well."

"She got quite upset about it, actually." Lee put a hand through his hair and crossed his arms over his chest. "She's going to want to see and talk to you tomorrow as soon as she gets back home."

"However, I think she was more terrified for you than angry with you…" chimed in Tony who had watched Marc and his reactions closely, and who had felt that his older brother needed reassurances that he had done nothing wrong. "We had to tell her to breathe because she was getting so upset. However, she had to keep everything contained anyway…"

Marc noticed that his two brothers exchanged dark looks but said nothing, knowing that they were going to tell him what had happened.

"Henriette has been asking questions," said Lee finally. He took in a deep breath and chose his words carefully so as not to cause alarm. "Turns out that her mother is a correspondent…"

At these words, Marc looked up sharply. His hazel eyes betrayed how startled he was by this revelation. "A correspondent…? You mean, she's a journalist?"

Tony appeared miserable but decided he had to tell Marc the truth. "She's just not any journalist. Marc… Henriette's mother is Sophie Pomeroy."

Marc felt all the colour drain from his face after Tony had revealed the name. A year ago, when they had been part of WOOHP for only a few months, the spies had a very near encounter with Sophie Pomeroy- who was a respected, highly renowned news journalist that was well known for being a fact finder. She did meticulous research in the stories she wrote and had been sent all over the world as a war correspondent before she had moved onto investigative journalism. Her passion, as stated before national television, was reporting crime and to ensure that victims of crimes received justice. She was known for being persistent in getting answers, was stubborn in her views, and was a highly intelligent woman.

However, their mission had nearly ended with the exposure of WOOHP and with their identities being revealed. If Jerry hadn't smoothed things over, Sophie Pomeroy would have done the exposé of them right then and there.

Yet, Marc's mind could not reconcile the fact that his new friend was the daughter of one of the world's well-known journalists, and he looked up to glance between Lee and Tony. "But… but… Henriette's last name is Tremblay. Surely…" he trailed off. He knew he was being stupid, but the thought of having to hide their secret identity from their friend whose mother spent her livelihood getting the truth out of people was just too much to bear. "No, the two of you made a mistake. There's no way that Henriette's mother…"

"Megan sent a picture via text message," said Tony in a quiet voice. "It's her. Show him, Lee."

Lee pulled out his phone and pulled up the image to show him. The picture showed Megan with Henriette and a tall, blonde woman with green hazel eyes who smiled broadly at the camera. In the background were three horses, fully tacked and ready for a day out on the trails. There was a message included with the image, but Marc could not read it as he was so focused on Henriette's mother and the shock of knowing that Sophie Pomeroy's daughter was now one of his closest friends.

Lee watched his reaction without saying a word before he sighed and took a seat on the other side of Marc. He put a hand through his hair and thought for a moment before he glanced over at his younger brother and said, "You know that you can still be friends with Henriette, right? This will change nothing about your friendship."

"Won't it, though?" Marc asked with a miserable note in his voice. "It's hard enough to build a friendship when you're having to keep secrets, but when there's a risk of that secret being revealed…"

"We all have a lot to lose if any of our friends or family were to discover that we were WOOHP agents," interrupted Lee, he held up a hand when he saw that Marc was going to protest and continued. "Jerry doesn't expect us to be alone, Marc. We can have friends. We'll just have to be extra careful around Henriette from now on. If she's a threat, we'll have to decide what to do with that information and get Jerry involved. However, Marc…"

Marc looked up to see his brother frowning thoughtfully at him but did not say anything. It was obvious that Lee was struggling with himself on knowing what to say… or more important, how to say it.

"Look, there's no other way to say it, Marc," Lee said finally. He noticed the way that his brother's shoulders had tensed and smiled reassuringly at him, but when he next spoke, his tone was serious. "Making friends has always been difficult for you, and the friends you have made are excellent people. However, we know that you had to suffer through some very terrible friendships, some of whom only used you before they hurt you by making fun of you behind your back."

Lee stopped speaking for several long seconds to collect his thoughts, but then continued. "Most people at our school don't know who you are. They know you as being extremely intelligent, but they don't know that you're more than that. They even consider both you and your intelligence as freaky. However, you've made a good friend with Henriette." His voice trailed off as he put a reassuring hand on Marc's shoulder. "You're allowed to have friends. Don't be afraid to be friends with Henriette just because of who her mother is."

Before Marc could say anything, they were interrupted by their mother who had appeared in the doorway to inform them that supper was done and that they were to come downstairs. The three boys had jumped at her voice as they had not heard her approaching the room. Lee had spoken for all of them when he assured their mother that they'd all be downstairs. Karen had just smiled at her children, and they heard her footsteps retreat down the hallway towards the staircase.

"We'll continue this conversation when Megan comes home tomorrow," Lee whispered to his two brothers, his eyes upon the door to watch out for their mother in case she had returned. He got up to his feet and stretched, gesturing to Marc and Tony to follow him. "We should go downstairs before mom comes back." He turned to Marc and said in an undertone. "Besides, she was in the middle of making potato sausage casserole when the power went out and she was extremely annoyed. So, I think we better get down there pronto."

The following afternoon found Lee, Marc and Tony outside as they took advantage of another uncharacteristically warm Autumn day. A flock of Canada geese flew overhead as the sound of a weed eater trimmer was heard in the yard of one of their neighbours. Miss Peverell's grey and white cat had returned to the Clark's yard and had gotten comfortable in Marc's lap, purring loudly as he was pet, and occasionally headbutting Marc's hand when he found that the attention he was receiving was lacking.

Marc watched his brothers play basketball from the porch steps, his attention diverted from both the cat and the book that he had brought outside with him and was trying to read. He absentmindedly scratched the cat behind his ears, trying to suppress the smile that tugged at his mouth when he felt the cat move so that his hand was redirected to petting the side of his body instead. He watched as Tony managed to steal the ball from Lee and shot it in the basket which caused a groan from their eldest brother as he jogged down the driveway after the ball.

"How did you manage to do that?" asked Lee after he picked up the ball. He dribbled it as he approached the basketball hoop and attempted to pass Tony who had taken a defensive stance.

"I learned how to do that from you!" Tony answered him, blocking Lee's move which caused the ball to bounce off the rim of the hoop and out of bounds.

Marc watched them play for a few minutes longer, shaking his head with a smile when he heard Lee cry out foul when Tony had done something that while successful in getting the ball in the basket, was obviously an illegal move. After listening to a small argument on the 'basketball court', Marc attempted to return to his book, only to find that the cat in his lap did not appreciate being ignored and had taken to rubbing his head along the edges of the book.

"Your owner named you appropriately, Sassyfrass." Marc told the cat as he relented and continued to pet him. In response, Sassyfrass purred contentedly and closed his eyes when he found that he now had won Marc's full attention. "You're so sassy and then you have temper tantrums every time you don't get your way. No, you don't get to make a toy out of my bookmark, Sass!"

As he fought with the cat to get the bookmark out of his mouth and away from his claws, Tony and Lee were pulled out of their game by the sound of an approaching vehicle. The two brothers glanced up in time to see a light blue car slow in front of their house and turn into their driveway, forcing them off the drive and towards the porch. Lee held the basketball under his arm, his eyes taking in the driver of the vehicle before he noticed Megan in the backseat with another girl. The two were giggling loudly about something, much to the annoyance of the driver who said loudly that they had reached their destination. He heard Henriette say something in French before she and Megan burst into a fit of giggles once more, which caused the woman in the front seat to shake her head with a bemused expression on her face.

"Megan!" Marc moved Sassyfrass from his lap and jumped quickly to his feet, running down the last remaining steps of the porch and hugged his twin sister who had finally emerged from the car. He saw that Henriette had also gotten out of the vehicle behind his sister and stepped back looking suddenly awkward. "Hullo Henriette! How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine," answered Henriette as she tucked a long strand of her dark blonde hair behind her ear. "I hope you're doing okay, though. It's been a very long time since you were last at school." She added, her green hazel eyes full of concern.

"I'm okay. Head injuries are the worst, especially when you've got to rest and take things easy. It's been pretty boring, actually."

He noticed that Henriette gave him a searching look and tried his best to keep his face free of emotions that would alert her to the fact that he was only providing a half truth and was not being completely honest with her. A few moments later, she had looked away but there was a small frown on her face and he wasn't sure if he had been successful in his task. He noticed that Megan had hung back, a look of reproach on her face as she observed the interaction between her brother and her best friend.

"It would be boring if you have to stay home and you can't come into school," Henriette said finally, a sympathetic look in her eyes as she lifted her gaze to his face. "Do you know when you'll come back to school?"

"My mom said that I might be able to come back the week after this week, but I might be able to do so later this week," responded Marc in an unsure voice. "It depends upon what the doctor has to say."

"And you're listening to your doctor?"

"Of course I am! Why do you ask?"

Henriette threw a quick glance towards Megan before she responded. "I heard Megan talking to Lee yesterday. She said that you got hurt again…"

Lee set down the basketball and approached them, standing beside his younger brother who glanced up at him with a lost look on his face. He smiled reassuringly at the blonde haired girl. Despite the cool confidence that seemed to exude from him, Marc could see how truly nervous his eldest brother was. The redhead put a hand through his hair and thought quickly of a response. When he and Megan found out that Henriette had been listening to their conversation, they had quickly changed the conversation to make it seem like Marc had gotten hurt while playing with Lee and Tony in the front yard instead of the more terrifying truth.

"You don't need to worry, Henriette. Marc's fine. We just moved too quickly and I accidentally hit him with the ball."

For a moment, the girl stared up at Lee, her expression a mixture of confusion and concern, not quite understanding what the redhead had said as he spoke in English too quickly. However, Megan pulled her aside and explained what had happened in French, and the confusion cleared immediately from Henriette's face. However, the concern remained and she voiced that when she told Marc to be careful.

Up to that point, the driver of the car had allowed them to have a conversation without interrupting them, but had rolled down the window and called out to Henriette. The driver, Marc was quick to notice, was not her mother but a younger woman that had the same colour hair and bore a strong facial resemblance as Henriette. The only difference was that her eyes were aquamarine green as opposed to the green hazel that Henriette inherited from their mother.

"Ettie, we must hurry! Maman says that we are to pick up Anne Marie on the way home and we have to stop by the supermarket."

Henriette made a face at the pet name but introduced the woman as her eldest sister Céleste to the Clark boys who all smiled and introduced themselves to her. When it was Marc's turn to introduce himself, he noticed that Céleste took an immediate interest in him, looking him up and down before she turned to her sister with a twinkle in her eye and a wide smile on her face.

"So this is the Marc Clark you've been speaking so much about," said Céleste in French to Henriette whose face had turned pink. When she noticed that Lee looked slightly confused, she switched back to English. "Is he a friend or…?"

"Of course I speak often about Marc," interrupted Henriette in an indignant voice. "He's a friend of mine! We often talk about our friends, don't we? I speak about Lee, Tony, and Megan just as much. You know… since they're all my friends!"

Céleste relented, she apologised to a very confused Marc who had no idea of what just happened and told him that she was glad to finally meet him as her sister often spoke of him before she got out of the car and helped Henriette and Megan carry her things to the house. When they finally finished and stood upon the porch before they said their goodbyes, the Clarks' mother appeared in the doorway, clearly drawn there by the sound of voices.

Karen smiled fondly at her daughter as she opened the screen door and pulled Megan into a hug. "Ah good, you're back home! How was your sleepover? Did you have fun?"

"I had the greatest time, mom!" Megan answered as she pulled out of the embrace and looked over her shoulder to where Henriette and her sister stood. "We definitely should have Henriette over sometime! She lives in the countryside so the city is strange to her, but we could show her our favourite places and bring her on a grand tour."

"That sounds like it would be fun," said their mother. "Anytime Henriette wants to stay with us, just let me know so that we can be prepared for her visit."

For a few minutes, Karen and Céleste had a conversation together and Megan, Tony, Marc, and Lee were able to speak to Henriette who they had pulled away from her sister where they stood near one of the old maples that was now bare of its leaves. Henriette picked up an orange and red leaf and examined it as she listened to Tony's chatter of how Lee had helped him the day before with his soccer practice, and how Marc found himself incredibly bored with having to remain home and that he was looking forward to returning to school. She hugged Marc at this and expressed how she hoped that he'd get better soon, citing that school was definitely not the same without him, and that she missed him.

Soon the conversation shifted to a substitute English teacher that had replaced Mrs. Buckley who had gone on maternity leave. It was clear to Marc as he listened that Henriette and his siblings did not like this new teacher who they called a cruel, vindictive bully that seemed to target students that she did not like with poor grades and gave a lot of attitude.

"I just don't get it," said Lee at last, his arms folded across his chest. "Mrs. Hormandale's only been at Southdale for less than a week, and she's been nothing but mean."

"Yeah, I get being strict. However, what this teacher's been doing is beyond strict. Besides, what she said to Henriette and other French speaking students was despicable!" Megan's eyes flashed in anger when she remembered what had happened in the classroom. "I heard that Katelyn and Natalie Levesque's parents have already complained to Principal Shields, and Elisabeth Gosselin's mother threatened to remove her from the school if nothing is changed."

"It's not just your grade that's being affected," Tony piped up with a scowl on his face. "Gregory LaPlante, Susanne Desrochers, and Michel Sterne in my grade have also been getting low grades. Susanne was nearly suspended because she stood up for herself in the classroom."

Henriette shook her head, an unhappy expression on her face and she played nervously with her hair. "Madame Hormandale…" She struggled with the pronunciation of the teacher's name before she gave up on it entirely and continued. "Well, she told me that I should go into French immersion where I belong and would be more welcomed when I asked a simple question in class. It's not even as though I am not fluent in the language, my Maman is French with an English mother. It's just that I struggle with keeping things in English or forgetting that I have to actually speak in English, and English grammar is so very different than French grammar!"

"And it's not exactly as though you can skip English class," said Lee as he rubbed at the side of his nose. "It's a mandatory class and I believe that even if Southdale had a French-Immersion curriculum, English would still be a requirement."

Henriette nodded her head fervently at this. "Yes, it is! Even in my home province of Québec English is taught to us and it is mandatory until secondary. If we had stayed, my Maman said that she wanted me to continue on with my English studies because it's very important to be fluent. However, we had to move because being in Québec brought my mother a lot of pain. She wanted to move us all to France where she comes from, but Céleste wanted to remain in Canada for her university and Anne Marie wished to finish high school- and of course my aunts and grandparents didn't want us to leave…"

Marc could not help but notice the bitterness in Henriette's voice and glanced over at her. He noticed that she appeared sad, her eyes brimming with tears that she tried to hold back, but he was sure that it had less to do with her treatment at the hands of a teacher and more with the fact that she had to leave everything she knew after she had lost her father and her mother had decided to move away for a fresh start. His sister noticed the change in Henriette and immediately drew her into a hug, talking quietly until the other girl laughed about something that had been said.

"Ettie, we must go now," said Céleste as she approached them, watching her youngest sister with an unreadable expression on her face. "Anne Marie is getting impatient and Maman is worried that we haven't returned home yet."

Henriette stepped away from Megan and gave her a small smile. She said her goodbyes to the Clarks and that she'd see them at school before she turned directly to Marc and said that she hoped he made a full recovery because she was going to defeat him at their next game of crazy eight countdown. Then she bounced off towards the car and got into the passenger seat, waving her hand in one last farewell as her sister said that it was great to have finally met them and that Megan was welcomed at their home at any time before she got into the driver's seat and slowly backed out of the driveway, stopping long enough to allow a red van to pass before she pulled out and headed towards the downtown area of the city.

Once the blue car had disappeared from their sight, Lee gave his siblings a pointed look and bent down to pick up Megan's backpack to carry into the house. Megan, Marc and Tony quickly caught onto what Lee was doing and they grabbed hold of the remaining items on the porch to bring them up to Megan's room.

"Henriette, her mom, and I made butter tarts," Megan said and she handed a large tin that had horses upon it to their mother. "Sophie said that I could bring this tin home with me since she and Henriette had made a lot."

"These look absolutely delicious!" their mother exclaimed happily when she opened the lid of the container to see the butter tarts. "I can't wait to try one, sweetheart." She held out the tin to Lee, Marc and Tony who all happily took a pastry and ducked under their mother's arm to bring Megan's stuff upstairs.

Megan carried her makeup case and her bag of toiletries, Marc held onto a fluffy pillow and the stuffed animal penguin that his sister loved dearly and brought with her everywhere, and bringing up the rear was Tony who helped bring up a cloth bag that contained Megan's maths and English homework that she had brought over to Henriette's so that she could finish it.

"Just set Pongo down on the bed," Megan told Marc, who obliged by setting the penguin down upon her pillow and sat upon the bed while his brothers dropped the bags down onto the floor. Megan carefully set the makeup case upon the vanity in her room and turned to her brothers. Her eyes immediately were drawn to her twin who looked cheerful but whose eyes took on a sudden wariness. She looked to Lee who had closed her bedroom door after he ensured that their mother hadn't followed them upstairs and whispered. "Is it safe to talk now, Lee?"

Their eldest brother listened intently for any sound outside the door before he nodded his head and stepped towards his siblings. He took a seat on the floor in front of Megan's bed, sitting cross-legged upon the rug and motioned to Tony to come join him. Megan sat down beside Marc and picked up Pongo to hug the penguin to her chest, her chin resting upon the head of the stuffed animal.

"Let's get the biggest issue out of the way first." Megan turned to her twin brother, her green eyes bore intently into him and Marc felt himself squirm under her gaze. "What happened yesterday, Marc? Are you okay? You didn't get hurt, did you? If Tony and Lee didn't get to the house on time…" she shuddered at the thought, and she buried her face into her hands.

Marc felt terrible for causing his sister to get so worried about him. "Hey, I'm okay and I'm still here, Megan. It's fine. Yesterday was…"

"... A brazen attack against you!" Megan interrupted as she raised her tear-streaked face and looked over at him. "Lee and Tony told me all about it, but I didn't hear anything from you and thought the worst. I thought that you had been injured or captured and I didn't believe our brothers when they tried to tell me otherwise. It wasn't until they showed me that you were safe and sound that I felt better. However, that doesn't change the fact that you had been attacked."

Marc didn't know what to say. His mind was completely overwhelmed with thoughts and he felt a wave of emotion wash over him, but for the life of him, he did not know how to address any of this. However, he decided to focus on Megan's concern for him, first.

"I am okay, Megan. Nothing is going to happen to me and I am safe here. Jerry said he is putting the WOOHP Secret Security agents to keep watch over us and they are good people that are well trained." Marc managed a smile and spoke in a soothing voice. "Nothing happened and I am still here. I wasn't captured and I will never be put into that situation. I promise that this villain won't get me."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Lee asked him in a quiet voice. He had been listening to the conversation between the twins in silence, but at Marc's promise he felt that he had to interject. He sighed and straightened his legs so that he was leaning back on his arms- beside him Tony had turned his face away so that he could not see his younger brother's expressions but the way he had stiffened told Lee that Tony was on edge.

Marc had no answer to Lee's question and remained silent as Tony redirected the conversation. Their youngest brother still hadn't looked over at the twins, but from what little Megan could see of his face, it was clear that Tony was worried.

"Since we don't know who is behind this attack and why they have it in for our brother, we should at least be prepared for the next time this villain comes back." When Tony finally turned to face his siblings, they noticed that he wore a fierce expression on his face. "I don't know about you guys, but I do not want to go into round two with this villain without having some form of battle plan. We got lucky yesterday. Lee and I surprised him before he got what he came for, but the next time he won't be surprised. Next time he'll get what he came for- which is why we all need to form a plan on what to do before that time comes."

Silence followed Tony's words as none of his older siblings could say anything. He noticed that Marc had a distant look on his face, one that Tony immediately recognised at once as it usually meant that his genius brother was deep in thought and something had come to mind and he had put two and two together. He glanced at his two other siblings, both had also noticed Marc's expression.

"What is it, Marc?" Lee asked him, his tone serious as he drew his knees up to his chest, his blue eyes intently watching their brother who didn't seem to have heard his question. Marc started violently when Megan gently touched his shoulder and he looked at her almost as though he had forgotten she was there. He focused his attention on Lee, a troubled expression on his face, but he said nothing. "Uh, Marc? Can you tell us what's going on in that big brain of yours? We're not mind readers and you shouldn't be locking us out, especially given the circumstances."

It took awhile for Marc to respond, but when he did, his words took all of them by surprise. "There was something really strange about the last mission I was on before I was injured. At first, when I had my suspicions, I had shaken them off because I felt I had no basis for them." He hesitated here, his face full of uncertainty, but a moment later he shook himself and his hazel eyes locked onto Lee's with fierce determination. "Yesterday's attack made me revisit these suspicions because they now make sense… All the clues make sense because they are falling together like puzzle pieces and are making a bigger picture."

Lee exchanged nervous looks with Megan and Tony, but turned back to Marc. He felt a sense of dread rise up in his chest when he saw how calm his brother was. It reminded him of all the times that Marc had solved a case and could tell him who was their villain long before the rest of the Spiez team did. He took a deep breath and asked, "These puzzle pieces, what did they reveal to you?"

Marc bit his lip, a strange expression flitted briefly upon his face, but he decided that the time had finally come to tell his siblings what he suspected. "I have a suspicion that the villain from my last mission and the attacker from yesterday are the same person, but I also have a feeling that we are dealing with a WOOHP agent."