For the first time in nine years, Yakko found his mind wandering at work and his cases suffering as a result of it. It wasn't like the time he and Babs had broken up for two weeks because he'd accidentally totaled her car when he wasn't paying attention to the road. It wasn't like the time he'd been sued by Warner Bros Studio for the name 'Warner.' It wasn't like anything that had ever happened before, because this time, it had to do with people he loved deeply. Or had loved at one time.

Yakko tried to deny it, of course. He found himself drinking and smoking more than he ever had, and he didn't particularly like the change in himself that ensued. He snapped at Babs more often. He became impatient. He paced the interior of their home office every night, his mind racing with thoughts that he didn't even fully understand, feelings of guilt and self-hatred welling up inside of him that he'd never felt before. He stopped eating on a regular basis, with the effect that his clothes now seemed to hang off of him. He and Babs hadn't even slept in the same bed for close to two months now, Yakko preferring the cold, hard couch to the loving arms of his girlfriend. He supposed it was some sort of self-imposed punishment coming from his subconscious, but he couldn't seem to change it. He couldn't help it.

He was worried about his brother and sister.

Were they all right? Did they have enough to eat? Did they have someplace safe to go to at night? Not knowing the answers to these brought torment to the brother who'd always considered himself the Warners' own best advocate. It's not that he didn't doubt his siblings could do just fine without him; it was not knowing if they were doing fine without him that bothered him.

Dinner had become a silent time for both Babs and Yakko. Music played in the background now to break up the awkwardness of the hushed meal, but a little of the uneasiness was always there. Tonight was no different, and as the soulful voice of Mahalia Jackson did her best to ease the iciness between the couple, Yakko poked at his food disdainfully.

"For crying out loud Yakko, if you don't want it, don't eat it! But don't sit there stabbing it!" Babs finally cried.

Yakko threw his fork down. "How the hell am I supposed to eat it? It takes like rubber!"

"You made it!"

"Well you picked it out!"

"Oh Christ!" Babs said. "How much longer is this going to go on?"

"How much longer is what going to go on?"

"You acting like a sulking two year old! I've put up with it for months now."

"Oh well excuse me, Miss Perfect!" Yakko sneered sarcastically. "I'm sorry we can't all be as faultless as you are!"

"You know what?" Babs threw her napkin to the table and started to walk towards the bedroom. "I don't need this, buddy. I'm outta here."

Yakko didn't move until he could see her packing a suitcase through the open door of the bedroom. He shot up out of his seat, suddenly frightened. "Wait a minute, wait a minute! You're not leaving, are you?"

"What does it look like!" she bellowed at him. "I've tried being patient. I've tried being kind. But as I don't even know what's eating you, because you won't talk to me, I can't even feel sympathy for you! There's only so much of your behavior that a person can take, and I've had it!"

"Wait, Babs, please…"

"Yakko, honey, I love you. I do. But I can't put up with this anymore. Your moodiness, your sharp tongue, everything. I know this must have something to do with your brother and sister, but it's something you've got to work out for yourself, all right?"

"Babs, wait, just wait a minute." Yakko jumped on top of her suitcase, refusing to let her throw any more clothes in. "Look, I need you, all right? I need you to be there for me!"

"Oh, and like I don't need anything back? Honestly, Yakko…"

"Babs, we're made for each other! Haven't we always got along great together? Come on, I know I'm not perfect, but haven't I made you happy?" Babs continued to pile clothes on the bed and tried her best to ignore Yakko's heartfelt pleas. He watched her for a moment longer before sighing and said in a serious tone that she'd never heard before, "Don't do this Babs. I've made this mistake before. Believe me. It's not worth it to leave someone you love when you know they need help."

Babs paused at the dresser a moment. She'd almost forgotten about he and his brother. Yakko's recent behavior started to make more sense all of a sudden. She turned to meet Yakko's watering gaze, then embraced him. "Things need to change, understand?" she said softly into his ear. She felt him nod. She pulled him tighter. "We're going to find your brother and sister. We need to fix this."

"Are you sure it's the only way?" he whispered to her, without breaking the embrace.

"Deep down, it's what you want," she whispered back. "Maybe you just need a little shove in the right direction."

"You threatening to leave is it," Yakko said with a feeble laugh, pulling away and looking into Babs' face. Neither one of them ever got too emotional, but then again, neither one of them had ever threatened to leave before. It had scared him. "All right. We'll find Wakko and Dot."

Babs grinned for seemingly the first time in months. "Now you're talkin'!"

"But where do we even start? I mean, they could be anywhere, doing anything…"

"Babe," Babs said, closing a dresser door. "We're lawyers. Tracking people down is part of our job. We'll start with tax records, the most recent ones."

Yakko smiled. "You are a genius, you know that?"

"Of course I am," Babs said in a matter-of-fact voice, kissing Yakko on the end of his nose. "Tax records will have all the info we need – addresses, telephone numbers, hell! Income, number of dependants – "

"Dependants! Maybe I'm an uncle!" Yakko said proudly.

"Look, tomorrow at work you work on finding Wakko, and I'll work on finding Dot. It shouldn't take much more than a day, as long as the government has some record of them."

"Yeah, I wouldn't trust a Warner to always pay his taxes," Yakko mused. "But I do know that everyone knows we exist."

"Not knowing you guys exist has always been the tricky part. Do they still play your old cartoons?"

"Who knows?" Yakko said with a shrug. "I never see any royalties. Mind you, what else is new?" For the first time in a very long time, Yakko felt hungry and grabbed a bag of chips. He began shoving fistfuls in his mouth. "I mean, look at some of the other toons who were the most famous toons of their day! Where are they now? Working at a fast food joint, or sweeping the streets. You know who I ran into the other day dressed in a janitor uniform? Woody Woodpecker! The guy was famous for thirty years, and the second his cartoons stop being shown on TV, he's out the door. And don't even get me started on Tom and Jerry!"

It never ceased to amaze Babs how strongly Yakko felt about justice for cartoons. She shook her head. "We do the best we can. But maybe we can make life a little better for your brother and sister if we can find them. Let's focus on that."

Yakko nodded. Don't worry guys, he thought silently to Wakko and Dot. Your big brother is coming back for you…