Hi all!
Thanks for the awesome reviews! You guys
really make me feel like this is all worthwhile!
C-Town Chica – Thank you so much for your reviews. And you're right, would any daughter of Lance's be that well behaved? :-)
Queen Merla – I gotta keep you guessing ;-) Thanks for your review!
Alas, there is only one chapter left after this one, but I couldn't wait to post this one. I had a lot of fun with this chapter, I hope you like it!
Enjoy!
Failte
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"Hey, honey!"
Darcy wrapped her hair up in a towel and walked out of the bathroom to see her husband standing in their bedroom, "Hey, what's up?"
"I wanted to fill you in on what Keith told me," Lance said. "Where's Sky?"
"In her room sulking."
"Why is she sulking?"
"We had a little disagreement about what she was going to do today. She's rather upset about not being allowed to go swimming with Cady."
"Did you tell her we would take her tonight?"
She nodded, "Yeah, but you're not Cady. As far as I'm concerned, we won't go at all, she is behaving horribly."
Lance smirked. He crossed to the door and peeked into Sky's room. His heart stopped when he saw it was empty. "Sky?"
No answer.
"Schuyler, answer me, now," he demanded, walking into the room and checking the closet.
"What is it?" Darcy asked, entering the room, rubbing her hair with the towel.
"She's not in here," Lance got on his hands and knees and looked under the bed. "Where's the dog?"
"Last I saw he was hiding under our bed to get away from her screaming," Darcy told him. "Lance, did you open the door?"
He lifted his head and looked from her to the open door and back again, "Didn't you lock it?"
"I thought you did," her voice rose.
"Alright," he stood and wiped his damp palms on his pants. "It's alright, she's here somewhere." He unclipped his communicator and dialed up Keith. "Keith, I need you to lockdown the castle."
"What is it, Lance?"
"Sky's not in her room, we don't know where she is."
Keith nodded to Koran and told him to put the castle into lockdown, "No one could have gotten into the castle without our knowing."
"Yeah, but she could have gotten out," Lance replied.
Darcy was wringing her hands and taking deep breaths to calm herself, "Chewy!"
The dog stuck his head out from under their bed.
"Damn dog!" She cried. "You're supposed to stick with her!""Darcy," Lance laid a hand on her shoulder, "Let's go find her, we'll start down by the lake. Don't panic, you need to keep a clear mind."
She nodded, following him as he broke into a run down the hall. They passed the rest of the Force who Keith had called in for a search. Guards were patrolling the halls and checking rooms.
Lance threw open the doors and raced toward the lake. Cady, Declan, and Gideon were all splashing around in shallow water while Allura sat at the edge of the lake with Tess, letting the baby sit with her feet in the water. Nanny was sitting on the shore watching all the action in front of her.
"Allura!" Darcy shouted.
The Queen looked up and smiled, but her expression quickly changed when she saw the look of fear on her friend's face. "What is it?"
"Have you seen Sky?"
"No, we were waiting for her, but we haven't seen her, why?"
"I went in to take a shower, she was alone for maybe ten minutes," Darcy's voice shook as she explained. "She's gone now! The door to her room was open and she's gone!"
"Okay, calm down," Allura settled the baby on her hip and took Darcy's arm. "She can't have gotten far, we'll find her."
"Keith has the castle in lockdown," Lance told her. "We're searching it from top to bottom, she should still be in the castle."
Allura called to her children over her shoulder, "Cady! Declan! Gideon! Out of the water now! Come on, we have to go in!"
All three children groaned and griped as they stomped back onto the shore. Allura gave the baby to Nanny and asked her to take the children inside, promising to come find them later.
She turned to her friends, "Let's go to Castle Control, we'll see what they've found."
"I'm going to help with the search," Lance said. "Contact me on my communicator if you find her."
Darcy felt her heart skip at his use of the word if instead of when. "Lance."
He turned and gave her a quick kiss, "It'll be alright, babe, this is not your fault, we'll get her back."
She nodded and bit her lip, watching him run off.
Allura slipped her arm through Darcy's, "She's probably with Becca."
"I yelled at her, Allura," Darcy whispered. "She wanted to go swimming with Cady, but Lance didn't want us out of the castle without him. She called me mean and I told her that if she didn't behave we wouldn't go swimming at all."
"This isn't your fault, Darcy, she's a little girl and she's going to misbehave and throw tantrums, Cady does it all the time."
"But what if something happens to her? The last thing I said to her was that she was a spoiled brat."
"Stop it, Darcy, you can't think like that. Nothing will happen to her."
Darcy wiped her eyes with a shaking hand as they walked into Castle Control, "When we find her, I promise to never, ever yell at her again."
Keith looked up, "How're you doing, Darc?"
"Have you found anything?"
He shook his head, "This is a big castle, she's probably hiding in a corner somewhere."
After fifteen minutes, the full castle search had turned up nothing and Darcy was near hysterics. She paced Castle Control, twisting her hands, her heart racing. Keith had joined Lance in searching the grounds, leaving Allura and Koran to monitor Castle Control and keep an eye on Darcy. When the door slid open and Lance walked in, his face pale and his eyes dark, she ran over and grabbed his arms, watching him pleadingly. Without a word, he pulled her into a tight hug.
"You know where we have to go," he whispered.
She nodded, terrified of what they would find.
They looked up as the monitor in the main console beeped. Koran opened a connection, "Castle Control."
"Sir," a young private responded. "We found this in the side of the road near the entrance to the castle grounds."
With her heart in her throat, Darcy crept to the monitor and what she saw had her knees giving out beneath her. Lance caught her and wrapped his arms around her, looking over her shoulder to see the young man holding up one of Schuyler's little red sneakers.
Lance snatched his keys from his pocket and turned toward the door, Darcy at his heels.
"Lance!" Allura followed him. "Wait for Keith, don't go alone.""He's not going alone," Darcy called back.
"Just wait and take Keith with you."
"It's already been a half hour since Sky was last seen," he said hoarsely. "I can't wait any longer."
…………………………………………………………
Less than two minutes later, Lance brought their car to a skidding halt right in front of the gates to the circus. They noticed that half the tents were taken down and large trunks were being loaded and taken to carrier ships.
"I'm sorry," a clown greeted them at the gates. "Due to circumstances beyond our control, Muskerry Brothers Circus had to close early, but we do hope to be back on Arus soon."
"Outta my way," Lance snarled.
"I'm sorry, we're closed," the clown said more sternly.
He leaned into the painted face and whispered menacingly, "I will take you down with one strike."
Two men, both built like Hunk only angrier, appeared behind the clown. Lance sighed angrily, "I don't have time for this shit."
"Please leave, sir," one man said. "We don't want a scene."
Lance turned and looked at Darcy. He tilted his head and said, "I have something to take care of, honey."
She nodded.
He turned back to the three men and grabbed the clown, twisting him around and pushing his arm to just the point of breaking it. Taking the distraction, Darcy ran past the men. One reached out and tried to grab her, she slipped past his fingers and he was knocked down when Lance pushed the clown into him.
Running past people and trunks, animals and tents, Darcy ran until she came to the small tent behind the main tent, which was almost entirely taken down.
She ran her hands over the fabric, trying to find an opening, but the flaps were tightly closed and tied. Her breath caught in her chest when she heard voices within.
"…all parents say that, it's not really true," Pepo said.
"Yes it is!" Sky insisted, stomping her bare foot on the ground. "My Daddy said I was a mir'cle!"
"A miracle? No, you are a troublemaker and a brat. They don't really want you."
Sky glared at this man, her arms were crossed over her chest, she remembered her mother telling her she was a spoiled brat and tears sprang to her eyes.
Pepo smiled indulgingly when he saw the tears, he knew he had just gotten somewhere, "I am going to take you to a wonderful place where there are people who will give you everything you want and will love you very very much."
……………………………………
"What are you doing?" A deep voice rumbled.
Darcy looked over her shoulder to see a huge man standing behind her. She ignored him and continued to search for an opening in the tent. A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, squeezing painfully. With a grunt of annoyance, Darcy whirled around, grabbed his arm and flipped him to the ground. The man squeaked as all the air rushed from his lungs when he landed hard on his back. He made to get up, but she pulled her foot back and slammed it into his crotch, smiling slightly with satisfaction as he grabbed himself and curled up in the fetal position.
Turning back to the tent, she pulled and prodded, trying to find the seam.
……………………………………
"I wanna go home," Sky whined, rubbing her eye with her fist.
"I'm going to take you to a new home," Pepo patted her head. "A better home."
"I want my Mommy," she sobbed.
"She doesn't want you."
Finally finding the seam, Darcy forced her fingers in and pulled with all her might, tearing open the tent and wrenching apart the ties. "That's not true!" She yelled struggling into the tent.
"What the hell?" Pepo whirled around."Mommy!" Sky screamed.
"Stay back, baby," Darcy commanded.
Schuyler heeded her mother's warning and hid under the desk as Pepo advanced on Darcy.
"Who do you think you are?" He hissed.
"I am her mother and you are in a shitload of trouble," she replied.
"You dare to come into my tent and threaten me?"
"You dare to take my daughter?"
"She wandered in here, lost and scared," he said gently. "I was trying to help her."
"Dat's a lie!" Sky called from under the desk.
"I know, Sky, stay there," Darcy raised her fists and widened her stance. "I will gladly kick your ass if you take one more step."
"I'm not afraid of a woman," he said mockingly.
Before he could react, Darcy swung out and caught his jaw, knocking him backward into the table. "You better be."
"That is assault," he stood and held his hands up. "I can have you arrested."
"Bring it on," Darcy challenged, anger and disgust giving her new found strength.
He advanced on her but was stopped when her fist met his nose in a sickening crunch. She was oddly pleased when she felt the bone crack under her knuckles and he stumbled backwards.
"You bitch!" Pepo gingerly touched his nose and winced. "You fucking bitch!"
Before he could advance on her, Lance grabbed him by the lapels and lifted him six inches off the ground so they were nose to nose. "You come to my home, you scare my daughter, then you try to kidnap her, and to top it all off you call my wife a bitch. You are a stupid, stupid little man." Lance threw him across the tent, sneering when Pepo landed hard against his trunk.
"It's about time," Darcy muttered, walking around the desk.
"You only had one guy," Lance told her.
"I had to deal with two angry giants and a clown," Lance knelt beside Pepo and pinned him to the ground by his throat.
"Come on, sweetie, its okay," Darcy crouched in front of the desk and held her hand out to her daughter. "What did you do to them?"
"If you so much as move I will snap your neck you son of a bitch," he hissed at the man on the floor. "I knocked the clown out and was faster than the other two guys. Then Keith showed up with the Calvary. Paton and her men are rounding everyone up for questioning."
Darcy picked Schuyler up, hugging her tightly, "Where are they now?"
"They're giving me five minutes with our friend here. So, Pepo, are you going to tell me what's going on, or am I going to get to hit you again?"
The man moaned as blood flowed down his face and his eyes closed.
Lance looked up at his wife and grinned, "You broke his nose, babe."
"I know, it felt great."
He nodded to Sky, "How're you doing, Shorty?"
She tightened her arms around her mother's neck and her legs around her waist, but she lifted her wet face to her father. "I wanna go home."
"Yeah," Darcy kissed her wet cheek. "Let's go home, peanut."
The shredded tent flaps were pulled apart and Keith stepped in, followed by two uniformed officers. "Time's up, Lance."
"That's all right," Lance stood. "I want to wait until he's conscious before I beat some answers out of him."
Keith nodded to the two men, "Get him to the hospital and get him patched up. We'll question him as soon as he's able to talk."
Lance slowly got to his feet, all the fear and anger slowly faded and he suddenly felt tired and weak with relief. He walked over to his family and ran a hand down Sky's hair, "Are you hurt, sweetie?"
She shook her head before turning her face into her mother's neck, mumbling something.
"What, baby?" Darcy asked.
With fresh tears running down her cheeks, Sky lifted her head and whispered shamefully, "I'm sorry I'm a bwat."
Letting out a gasping laugh of disbelief, Darcy blinked back the tears in her own eyes and rested her forehead against her daughter's, "You are not a brat, Sky. We love you very much and nothing will ever change that."
"Come here," Lance lifted Sky into his arms and hugged her. "Let's go back to the castle and get Chewy, okay?"
Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she smiled up at her father, "You kicked his butt, Daddy!"
He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, "I think Mommy kicked more butt then I did."
Sky looked at her mom, "Way to go, Mommy."
Lance wrapped an arm around Darcy's shoulders and hugged her to him. She slid her arms up around him and they sandwiched Sky between them in a tight hug.
Keith walked over, feeling bad about interrupting an obviously personal moment. He cleared his throat and waited for Lance to lift his head. "Go, man, get Sky checked out. We'll fill you all in when we're done with our questioning."
……………………………………………………………………..
Schuyler sat on an examining table in the hospital wing, hugging Mr. Bumbles tightly and watching as her aunt bandaged her mother's hand. Brightly colored bandages covered scratches she said trees had given her on her arms and legs. Not that they were actually necessary, the scratches barely broke the skin, but it made the little girl feel better.
Lance sat down beside her and lifted her onto his lap, "Are you sure you're okay, Sky? You can tell us if he hurt you."
"My foot hurts a little," she sighed. "I lost my new red shoe."
"We'll go buy another pair," he promised, lifting her foot to check for any cuts.
"Daddy?"
"Hm?"
"I don't like da circus."
"Neither do I, baby."
"But I do like elly-fants."
He smiled and kissed the top of her head, "No, Sky, you can't have a pet elephant."
She leaned her head against his chest.
"Do you want to tell us what happened?" Lance asked gently.
Darcy hadn't wanted to quiz her so soon, knowing that Sky was so upset. But he wanted to hear what happened as soon as possible while it was still fresh in her mind.
She shook her head.
"I promise you're not in trouble, Sky, we just want to know what happened," he prodded.
"Lance," Darcy warned.
"I wanted to go swimmin'" Schuyler whispered, afraid to meet her parents' eyes since she knew she had been bad. "I went ou'side and den…"
"Then what, sweetie?" He whispered.
"I went out da wrong door and dere was a man," her voice hitched and a tear ran down her face.
"It's okay," Darcy ran her hand down Sky's hair. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"I don't wanna."
"Here, little Sky," Becca held out a red lollipop. "You have been very brave, you deserve a lollipop."
Sky took it and smiled, forgetting her tears, "Thanks, Aun' Becca!"
Lance slid off the table, holding his daughter close, "Come on, I think we all need a break. I know I need to sit down and try to catch my breath."