Authors note: Hey everyone! So, I was wanting to get at least two chapter before the end of the year, but let's just say the years been pretty busy. Hopefully I can finish chapter 18 before Christmas. Anyways hope you enjoy this chapter!

"Alright ladies hit the showers," Jenna said as the young women walked towards the locker rooms. She laid her hand on a certain someone and sternly said, "Except you."

Scarlet gave an aggravated sigh as the rest of her classmates went by her. When they were finally alone, she started, "Jenna-"

"You lied to me. I went by your place and you, nor Duncan were home when you said you'd be. Why?"

"I was getting there," Scarlet obviously frustrated. "I didn't want MEGTAF in my business for once."

"You didn't want MEGTAF in your father's business," Jenna said with strong emphasis. "Scarlet, do you realize how important something like this is to the United Nations?"

"No, Jenna I don't," Scarlet said with a slightly raised, annoyed voice. "Look you're not innocent here either. Don't act like you didn't invite me over specifically to get intel. Knowing MEGTAF you guys probably knew my father was back or you've been constantly on the lookout for him and just didn't have the evidence yet to prove anything. Am I right or wrong?"

"...Kid-"

"Don't kid me," Scarlet said walking off, "I'm hitting the showers."

As Scarlet was letting the water run over her body, she couldn't help but think, 'What happens now?'

The question bounced around in her head as the water beat down on her back. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh before heading back to the lockers to change. Just before walking out the hallway Scarlet felt a touch on her shoulder.

"Hey," it was Mi-suk with her wet human hair, "you good?"

Scarlet gave a half smile before answering, "Yeah…I'm good. Just got a lot on my mind."

"Well, look at it this way one more week till Thanksgiving Break!" Just then the bell rang, and she blissfully walked past Scarlet saying, "See you around!"

"Yeah…see you around."

Over the course of the week Scarlet couldn't help but overhear everything that was going on between Belloc and MEGTAF. Every day Duncan was getting calls either from Jenna or a United Nations member either about Belloc's whereabouts or the legal side of things. It was a looming cloud over the household all week. Finally, Friday came along, and Scarlet was in her room getting ready for bed when a knock was heard at the front door. Heavy footsteps were next as Duncan went to the front door.

"Jenna," the princess stood still and listened in, "what is it now?"

"Don't shoot the messenger, but they set the court date for Wednesday," Scarlet heard a paper being passed between the two.

"Wednesday? Before the holiday?"

"Look, I don't think the judge is exactly happy either, but that's the date that worked for your father's lawyer and…" the agent hesitated.

"And?"

"Under state law Scarlet is allowed to speak on her own behalf, but of course that's up to her."

"I highly doubt she'll agree to that, but I'll mention it."

"Ok, well that's all I came over for. I guess I'll see you both Wednesday."

"Yeah…" then the door shut.

A moment later Duncan knocked on Scarlet's door and got the strong response, "The answer is no."

He opened the door to find her picking out her outfit for the next day from her small closet, "You were eavesdropping?"

"A little hard not to with these ears and thin walls," she snidely said before pulling out some jeans. She sighed before continuing, "I don't want to go to the hearing."

"And I'm not gonna make you," Duncan said before sitting on the edge of her bed while she continued on her search, "but I know you have an opinion on the matter. So, what is it?"

"If it's the same judge from when they divorced don't you think he'll just put the same standards in place?"

"Not necessarily. When they divorced the idea was, I'd see him on the weekends, but he wasn't exactly there on the weekends. The judge might just keep me as your full-time guardian."

"Even if that happens," she said pulling out her favorite white shirt, "who's gonna stop him from seeing me if he wants?"

"Fair point," Duncan said with a hopeful half-smile. Just as Scarlet was finishing up her outfit he went over and gave her an unexpected hug. At first, she froze before returning the gesture. Duncan gave a tight squeeze before whispering, "Everything's gonna be ok."

It was 5 o'clock Wednesday and Isabel found herself walking into The Bronze Coin Pub in the heart of the city. Being the day before Thanksgiving it wasn't awfully busy. She walked to their usual booth in the back of the establishment where she found Kenny and Duncan pouring up glasses. Taking her seat, she looked at the bottle before pouring her own glass, "Triple Sec…nice."

She took a sip before finally asking, "Ok Duncan, what's bugging you?"

"We had the hearing today," he admitted before taking his first sip.

"And?"

He ever so slightly removed the glass from his lips before answering, "We agreed every other weekend."

"...Is that a bad thing?" Kenny asked.

"Yes…no…I mean," Duncan gave a frustrated sigh before putting his face in his hands and admitting, "I don't know. I just want to do what's best for her."

"We know man. Trust me we're all just doing our best," Kenny said with sincerity.

"And we know you just don't want her to get hurt," Isabel chimed in. "But when it comes to this sort of stuff at the end of the day their relationship is between them. You just have to know when it's necessary to jump in."

"That's what I'm worried about. My father just goes in and out whenever he sees fit and leaves everyone else scrambling to put things back together. He did it to mom, he did it to me, and he did it to Scarlet once already. I don't know how she'd handle it if he did it again," Duncan said as he swirled the liquor left at the bottom of the glass. Then he stopped swirling, set the glass on the table, and sudden a small crack showed up on the glass before he continued, "I don't want him leaving her even more wrecked than he already has."

Isabel put one of her fingers in glass and slowly pulled it away from Duncan's grasp as she said, "We know Duncan."

"Does Scarlet know yet?" Kenny asked.

"Not yet."

"Well, I see it like this man if that happens again, you're the strongest safety net she's got."

"Yeah…" Duncan hesitantly said. Then he gave a half smile before saying, "Thanks for meeting me out here. I know it's probably a busy time."

"Duncan, we're always gonna be here when we can for you," Isabel said.

"Yeah man don't be afraid to call us," Kenny said finishing his glass, "Besides we could all get out of the house a little more."

There was a knock on the door around 3 o'clock and since Duncan was in the shower Scarlet opened the door. It was an unfamiliar face with two pies in her hands who quickly introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Angelina, you can call me Angie! You must be-"

"Scarlet, nice to meet you," she said taking one of the pies from her hand and leading her into the kitchen. Looking in the box as they set them down, she asked, "Apple?"

"And pumpkin. Gotta have those fall flavors!"

"Smart woman."

Just then the bathroom door opened, and Duncan peeked into the kitchen with only a towel asking, "Hey who was-" The two females looked straight at him. Scarlet lifted a brow while Angie had a very apparent blush on her face and a giggle on her lips as she waved at him. Giving a nervous chuckle himself, Duncan whipped around the corner saying, "I'll be right back!"

As the room to his door slammed shut Scarlet said in a loud voice, "You would've heard who it was if your music wasn't blasting."

"Thanks mom!" They heard back.

Angie just continued giggling, "I didn't realize I was getting dinner and a show."

"Oh trust me this is definitely not Hamilton. More like an action shonen," Scarlet said as she began pulling out the dining ware.

"Like FMAB."

Scarlet paused for a moment before turning and admitting, "I wouldn't have taken you as an anime person."

"Well," Angie said as she took the plates and put them on the table, "I'm not the most active watcher, but that show got me through college."

Scarlet pulled out the silverware and asked, "What else do you watch?"

"Well, after a long day of predicting weather patterns and going through emails saying how I got everything wrong I like a good episode of ," Angie said as she took the silverware and placed it.

"You're really into the well-thought-out sci-fi fantasies huh?"

"Seems like you are too since you know what I'm talking about."

Scarlet pulled out the cups before saying, "Ok, ok I'll throw a wild card out there: Ouran High School Host Club."

"Deserves a second season!" Angie passionately said as she placed the cup on the table.

Just then Duncan walked back into the kitchen fully dressed in a polo shirt and black jeans. He looked at the table and saw everything was placed in the proper order and said, "Wow! Who taught you how to do that?"

"My grandmother," Angie answered, "She was a stickler for the proper arrangement of things."

Just then there was another knock on the door. This time Duncan answered, and it was the Vasquez's and the Roger's all with their various foods. Duncan let them in before introducing everyone accordingly, "Angie this is Isabel and Kenny my best friends and their kids Garnet and Finn. Everyone, this is Angie."

Angie shook everyone's hand before they all collectively moved to put all the goods on the kitchen counter. As everyone started to commune Scarlet looked at her brother and then at his new friend and thought, 'They've been talking every night since the conference and he just calls her Angie?'

Eventually they all sat down and had a small meal together. There were more dessert options than anything else, but there was still enough food for everyone to get their fill. After dinner Finn pulled out his pack of Uno cards and the games officially began. Everyone congregated to the living room and sat on the floor around the coffee table.

"Alright who's joining so I can wipe the floor?" Finn asked with a smug grin.

Everyone except Angie raised their hand and that's when she nervously admitted, "I've never played this game."

"Oh, you'll definitely learn with us," Kenny said.

The deck was shuffled, and the instructions were taught on the first few rounds before everyone slowly, but steadily got into their normal habits of backstabbing one another. Scarlet throwing the first verbal punch, "You know Finn, you can't skip me forever."

"No, but I definitely can until I run out of cards."

After half an hour of skips, reverses, and plus fours it finally came down to Duncan with the only uno and Angie was the only one who could stop him. Scarlet, not wanting her brother to win, got Angie's attention and said, "I don't know what you have in your deck, but don't throw down a yellow."

"She's lying," Duncan interjected, "how would she know what card I have?"

"Counting all your colors! And the last time you threw down a wild card you picked yellow! Angie don't listen to him!"

"Angie why would I lie to you?" Duncan looked at her with a smile.

Scarlet looked like she was lightly fuming, "Because you're a liar when it comes to card games! Let me give you an example. This man right here," Scarlet pointed to him, "cheated me during a game of Go Fish when I was seven."

"I absolutely did not!" Duncan said pointing his finger back at her.

The two siblings continued to fight while the other guest simply looked at Angie who was chuckling as she went through her cards and pulled out a blank custom card. Suddenly there were gasp around the room which got the siblings attention.

"So, if I remember correctly," Angie mischievously said, "a blank card means not only do I get to pick the next color, but the conditions for the next player are completely up to me."

Angie looked at Duncan with a sly grin across her face. He asked, "What are my conditions?"

Her grin turned into a smile before she said, "Show me one of your baby pictures or draw twenty-five cards."

For a moment Duncan just looked her in the eyes before slowly moving his hands towards the deck to everyone's surprise. Scarlet's eyes grew wide as he counted out one by one the twenty-five cards. With a sigh he asked, "What's the next color?"

"Red."

"I win!" Came a voice from the corner of the table. Stuck between Duncan and Isabel was Garnet who no one had been paying attention to as she'd stayed quiet the whole game.

"You sneaky little bug!" Isabel said as she laid her cards neatly on the table. "You better have those same skills when you play your dad in dominos."

"Speaking of which," Kenny looked at the time, "I said I'd have you to your mom by six kiddo."

"Yeah, we better head out too before your grandma starts wondering where you are," Isabel said to Garnet.

They cleaned up the cards, replaced the decor that was usually on the table, and gather their leftovers before saying their goodbyes and nice to meet you's. Just as the door was closing Angie said, "You have really nice friends."

"Yeah, I know. Except when it comes to Uno apparently," Duncan said with a mocking look on his face.

Angie jokingly scoffed, "All I asked for was a baby picture. What's wrong with that?"

"Uh-huh," Duncan said before moving on. "Well, we usually end these things on a bang."

"A bang?" Angie said curiously as Duncan began to walk towards Scarlet's room.

"Yep, usually a good action movie to accompany the copious amounts of sugar." He got to her room and realized her door was closed. He knocked and asked, "Can I come in?"

"No thanks," she answered, "I think I'm gonna head in for the night."

Duncan made a concerned face, "And miss the single greatest Superman movie ever conceived?"

"Yes," Scarlet answered firmly.

Duncan sighed before slowly walking away from the door. His face said it all, a little bit of shock and disappointment all mixed together. He stood in front of Angie and said, "I'm sorry it's just…she's not usually like this."

Angie broke eye contact for a moment for before asking, "Can I try?"

"Are you sure?" Duncan asked hesitantly. "She's sometimes a ball of pure teenage emotions."

Angie thought about it for a moment before saying, "Yeah, I'm sure."

Duncan stepped out of the way and with his hand casually pointing to the wall said, "Be my guest."

Angie walked down the hall to Scarlet's room and was also faced with the white door. She took a deep breath in and out before knocking on the door. She asked, "Scarlet, may I come in?"

There was a moment of silence before the door cracked open. Angie gasped a little bit surprised and turned to Duncan with a thumbs up before slowing walking into the teenager's space. Scarlet was already in her pj's and sitting upright on her bed when Angie came and sat on the edge beside her. Scarlet's face was a mix of stiffness and sadness as Angie pulled a half smile for her.

"What's got you so in a funk?"

Scarlet sighed and bit her cheek before opening her mouth to answer but hesitated and slowly closed it.

"You can say it's me. I won't be offended."

"No!" Scarlet said quicker than expected, "It's not you! I promise…it's just…" Scarlet bit her cheek once more before continuing, "I don't know how much Duncan told you, but they had the custody hearing yesterday."

"Yeah…and how did that make you feel? Or is making you feel?"

"...I don't know," she whispered, "part of me is ok with it and another part of me isn't."

"Ok," Angie said taking another deep breath, "what part of you is ok with it?"

There was a bit of silence before Scarlet answered, "The part of me that…cares…for my father and wants to see him."

"And what about the other part?"

"The other part wants nothing to do with him because he always leaves."

Angie shook her head for a moment before saying, "I get that."

"...You do?" Scarlet asked a little shocked.

"Yeah, my mom was in and out of my life for a long time. She always had this dream of being in Hollywood and she achieved it. All be it at a cost."

Scarlet gave a nervous chuckle, "Your mom's an actress?"

"Yep, she's Jennifer on Stop and Smell the Daisies, Klarissa on That Girl, and of course Annabeth from The Sweetest Revenge," Angie said with her hands flared for effect. "And whenever she did visit, I'd always shutdown because I didn't know what else to do around her. I didn't want her hurting me constantly so, that became my defense mechanism. But then I got older and the number of roles she was getting started to dwindle. I guess that gave her time to think and be alone and she eventually found me one day and we actually talked. Then she apologized."

"And how did that go?"

"I didn't know how to take it. My instincts expected her to just leave all over again, but my heart wanted every single word to be true. So," Angie looked Scarlet in the eyes, "I told her to prove it. To make the effort to be in my life."

"And?"

"And I guess she must have taken it to heart because slowly, but surely, she tried to make the present count more than the past. It wasn't overnight, but now we have lunch once a month and call once a week. And now I know that she wasn't there for me because no one was there for her. My mom wanted to be perfect for my overbearing grandmother who was never proud of her unless she did something big and she thought that was the only way."

Angie laid a hand on Scarlet shoulder, "I guess what I'm trying to say is maybe there's more to the story than you think? Don't wear your heart on your sleeve, cause your heart is important, but give a little grace here and there. Besides you've got a wonderful older brother who's always gonna be here when you need him."

A small smile sprung up on Scarlet's face, "Yeah…I do."

"And he's probably eavesdropping because he really wants you to watch that movie with us," Angie said loudly towards the door where Duncan was in fact eavesdropping.

"For your information, I don't have to be next to the door. I choose to be," Duncan's muffled voice said matter-of-factly.

Scarlet got up, opened her door, looked Duncan in the eyes with a straight face and said, "Just like I choose to watch a Superman movie when The Dark Knight is better."

Duncan's eyebrows shot up as the two women walked past him as he said, "Really?"

"Yeah really," the princess said before plopping down on the couch, "now are we gonna watch this thing or not?"

Angie and Duncan joined her as they closed off the Thanksgiving holiday with a bang.