8 hours earlier…

"Okay, so what do we have on this guy?"

The voice that had rang throughout the room was that of Jonathan Liam "Jon" Fontana, Sergeant of the LAPD's Thirty-second District Intelligence Unit. And the room, the bullpen where the other members of his unit were in. One of the LAPD cops, a detective with blonde hair, scooted her chair out from behind her desk and gave her immediate boss a tan colored folder.

"Just came in from MC," she told him.

Fontana took hold of the file. "Thanks for the intel Skyler."

Just a moment later, another detective peeked his head out from behind his desk.

"Hey, supposedly, this is one of the people that we've been after for the past month." He said to Fontana.

The detective, none other than Ren Chaney. Soon enough, his partner on the job, best friend, and former Army buddy, Dolan Chase, got out of his seat, and handed his boss another file.

"I read through it twice already, and it seems like Ren's right, and guess who knew this prick at one time?"

Fontana took a breath as he took the folder from Chase's hand. After reading through it, he sighed in annoyance.

"You've got to be kidding me? You mean him?" Fontana asked his teammate.

"Yeah, him. Do you want Skye and I to go down and see if we can get some info from him?" Chase asked.

"No," Fontana replied. "It's not worth it. As if already, we've got more than enough intel. Don't waste your breath."

Chaney's phone then started buzzing. The cop took a hold of it, read the message on the screen, and placed it back down a moment later.

"That was Zach just now," he spoke.

"He said that he was able to get more info from his CI. And it just so happens that this particular LA County Prison inmate knew our suspect at one point."

Skyler Washington then peeked her head out from behind her desk again.

"That sounds about right. And I thought we were done with this already."

"Apparently not," Fontana shot back.

"And neither are these knuckleheads who hate our lovely friends from Burbank. And that's why we need to stay one step ahead of their game."

"How?" Chaney asked, after taking a sip of his green tea.

"I think I know where Sarge is going with this," Chase told his friend.

"He's saying that we need to think like them—but not to their extent, and see what their next move is going to be before we scoop them up, and flip their tables."

"Yes, exactly." Fontana said.

"Because if any more of our law-abiding citizens from Burbank get hurt by these… these hate-filled idiots, I'm going to lose my ever-loving mind."

Chase took a look at his soon-to-be bride, and knew what she was thinking. And he knew that Fontana was not playing games with their current case. After the Sergeant went into his office, slamming the door behind him as he walked in, Washington motioned for Chase to join her at her desk. Chaney did the same as she too motioned for him also.

"We need to tell Jasper, and Rachel. But not with the kids around," she whispered softly.

"When?" Chase asked her, his voice lowered. "It's not like we can't tell them now."

"I know that," Skyler replied.

"But I think that if Wakko faced any more trial from these knuckleheads again, and he got killed just because of who he is, I won't be able to live with myself. That kid's like a nephew to me, and the same way with Yakko and Dot."

"So you're saying to inform them tonight?" Chaney asked.

Washington only nodded her head as she took a drink of her sweet tea. After placing her drink down on the coster on her desk, Washington spoke again.

" Them? Ren, we don't need the kids—especially the Warners to know that they're being hunted again."

"Yeah yeah, I get that part," Chaney replied. "I was meaning Jasper and Rachel."


7 hours earlier…

Yakko had helped Jasper carry the remaining items from the vehicle, and into the apartment that was located right above the office of Burbank-Kell Private Investigations. A few months ago, Yakko would just come with his siblings in tow to spend time with the Kells, but to be a member of the family, bearing the last name as a result, had the toon smiling as he carried a box full of printer paper up the stairs and into the apartment. As he walked in, he couldn't help but breathe in pure gratitude that he, nor Wakko and Dot, did not have to live in the water tower ever again, for that matter. Dot came in behind him, carrying a bag of groceries. Rachel, Fay, and Grace had already came in the house when they first came back from the park earlier. The reason why they had came home so early was because Wakko had started to feel puny as they were celebrating Rachel's birthday.

Yakko figured that his brother was still struggling with health complications from the experience Wakko had went through earlier this year. Wakko had struggled up the stairs, limping as he was feeling lightheaded, and so, Yakko had helped him up the rest of the way. By the time they finally got into the apartment, Yakko had helped his brother to the couch, where Wakko laid his head back and closed his eyes. Dot, at that point, had brought her immediate older brother a cup of water. Knowing that he was still a little weak yet, Dot helped Wakko place it to his lips. After drinking half the glass slowly, Wakko finally reopened his eyes. He felt the left side of the couch dip down, so he looked beside himself and saw that Rachel had sat herself down right beside him. She placed a hand on his back.

"How are you feeling now?" She asked him.

Wakko leaned his head back up against the cushion of the couch. "A little bit better."

After a few moments, he squeezed his eyes shut.

"I hate it… I hate it so much," Wakko said softly, his Scouse accent showing through.

"I hate what he did to me… I hate it, and I'm so sorry that we had to leave early. And Dad had planned this for the last week or so, I'm sorry."

Rachel then placed her hand on Wakko's head as he leaned it onto her shoulder.

"Hey, this is not your fault Wak. Not in any way, shape, or form. And I'm sorry that you feel that way. I know that this has been a hard year for you, and that's why I feel for you. But I want you to know that as your mother, I'm not angry, upset, or frustrated about us leaving the park earlier. You felt like you were about to pass out, so we took action, and did the right thing by coming back here so that you could rest. I love you little guy."

Wakko felt his throat tighten up as the tears threatened to spill down his face, but he just pushed the feeling aside as he smiled instead, knowing that no matter what, he was loved. After a couple more minutes, Rachel got up and off the couch, and as she did, she looked down at Wakko and saw that he had fallen asleep already. His head leaning against the back cushion, Rachel smiled a little as she could tell that from the way he was positioned on the couch, that he was comfortable. And the peaceful look on his face gave it away. Wakko looked like he was sort of smiling, the ends of his mouth barely curved up. Rachel saw that the cross necklace that she and Jasper had bought for him on his birthday rose upon his chest with each breath Wakko took.

A moment later, Dot had reentered the room with a glass of water for herself. After seeing that her mother had went back downstairs for a moment, Dot sat herself down where Rachel had sat just moments ago, and gently, she laid Wakko's head on her shoulder. The front door opened up again as Rachel walked in. As she walked over to the couch, she saw that Dot had taken her seat, and that the girl was gently stroking her brother's face as he slept. Rachel then placed herself in one of the loveseats. It was only then that Dot realized that her mother had came back into the room. After a few minutes, Rachel sparked a conversation with her second littlest.

"So question here. Has your brother always blamed himself for anything like this, or similar?" Rachel asked.

Dot only gave her a rueful smile as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, when we had lost our parents, Wak would blame himself whenever he had the chance. And it probably didn't help with all the arguing that Yakko and I did the first two years after both our parents' deaths. No offense, but he's always bottled up his feelings about himself."

Rachel thought she felt a tear fall down her face. "That would probably explain why he's the way he is."

Dot's smile then grew a little more.

"Y' know, for the way he is, Wakko's always had a big heart for others. But I wish that he would be more confident about himself than he gives himself credit for. And with everything he has been through, I'm surprised that he hasn't lost his heart for others. If you know what I mean? What I'm trying to say is that… he always sees the good in other people, and is compassionate towards them. But he never sees the good in himself. And just for one day, I wish that he would."

Dot had tears streaking down her face as she stopped speaking.

"But I wouldn't trade him for the world. He's a good brother. That's why I love him. I love him for the way he is."

Rachel grabbed a Kleenex off the lamp stand and gave it to Dot. "I know what you mean."

Dot swallowed hard before she spoke again.

"He's like a sponge, no offense. Whenever he sees someone in need, he'll cheer 'em up, but the moment someone… someone like that punk that shot him, comes along, they always take advantage of his compassionate heart, and tries to squeeze it out of him, figuratively speaking, that is."

Wakko, at that moment, stirred a little. Dot quickly reassured him that he was back home with them, because she realized that he was waking up. After a long moment, Wakko opened his eyes halfway, looked at his sister, then closed them again as he leaned forward and placed a brotherly kiss on her face. Then he leaned his head back up against the top cushion of the couch, and opened his eyes halfway again, looking up at the ceiling.

"How y' feeling sleepyhead?" Dot asked her brother.

Wakko chuckled at that one. "A little more better than about fifteen minutes ago. But still sick to my stomach."

A few minutes went by before Rachel realized that both Wakko and Dot were slowly dozing off, both of them trying to keep their eyes open, as they stared intently at the wall. As Rachel was to say something, Jasper walked into the room, and took one look at Rachel.

"Hey," he began.

"Dolan, from Intelligence, gave me a call. And he said that he has some… disturbing news for you and I. He said that he'll visit us. He's on his way right now."

Rachel looked over at the two kids, and saw that Dot's head was leaning on Wakko's shoulder, and that both of them had fallen asleep already.

"What type of news?" She asked.