Give thanks to my Co-writer. KaylaMicael, and my Proofreader, Sabrina06!


The tower was quiet, dimly lit, and had an empty feeling to it. The air conditioner quietly hummed, sounding almost eerie.

Yakko and Dot sat on the couch, huddled close together while watching TV. Yakko felt bad for just sitting around watching television, but he was gonna go insane if he didn't have some kind of stress reliever.

He put his arm around Dot and gently rubbed her shoulder. Dot hadn't cried in a while, but he could tell that she was very unhappy. Things simply weren't the same without his younger brother around, and it hurt both of them to not be able to do anything.

Yakko forced out a chuckle at something on the TV, in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Dot wasn't having any part of it. She kept her expression blank, not even acknowledging that he laughed.

"You know, letting yourself laugh might make you feel better," he said.

Dot glared at him.

"How can I laugh when I know my brother is missing and I might never see him again?!"

Yakko's throat tightened, but he forced himself not to show his fear. Instead he placed a hand on his sister's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, making her look at him before he spoke.

"Even if he was gone forever, which he's not, do you really think he'd want you to be miserable for the rest of your life?"

Dot sighed and covered her eyes with her hands.

"No," she said softly. "He wouldn't. But I just can't have any kind of fun until I know he's okay."

Just then, the doorbell rang and both siblings jumped. Even though they feared getting their hopes up, they couldn't help but wonder if this was it.

"Well, you might get your wish," Yakko said as he stood up, approaching the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it.

His heart immediately fell when he saw Harold's tired face. It wasn't a completely grim look, but it wasn't that of someone bringing good news.

"May I come in?"

Wordlessly, Yakko stepped aside. He couldn't even look at his sister; he could already see her crushed look in his mind's eye. Harold slowly entered the tower and let out a heavy sigh.

"The raid was pretty much a success… we got the hostages, but I'm afraid your brother wasn't one of them."

Yakko closed his eyes, ordering himself not to cry; he heard Dot whimper softly.

"Then… we're just back to nothing?" she sniffled.

"No." Harold's firm tone made Yakko look up again, just a slight bit of hope returning. The toon detective continued.

"We have a suspect in custody. I'm positive he knows something, and I'll get it out of him. Wherever your brother really is, we'll find it out."

Yakko wanted to believe that more than anything, but the crushing disappointment of knowing Wakko was still missing kept him from feeling any real hope.

"How do you know this guy knows anything?"

Harold looked at him, and Yakko could tell he'd heard the skepticism in his voice. He spoke in a tone that was dead serious, and left no doubt that every word was true.

"I've been doing this a long time. Trust me, I know how to tell when people are hiding something. I also know how to get people to tell me that something."

Yakko cringed. He didn't like the idea of torturing someone for information, but if it had to be done in order to find his brother, he was ready to accept it.

"I've got to get going, we're going to interrogate the suspect in an hour."

Yakko nodded and gently shut the door as Harold descended down the ladder. He took a seat next to Dot, she gazed at him with curious eyes.

"What did he say?"

"They have a suspect that might know where he is," Yakko deadpanned tiredly.

The expression on Dot's face was a combination of skepticism and sadness. Tears filled her eyes, but she forced them back down, determined not to cry.

"Let 'em do their job. Everything's going to be okay."

Dot didn't respond, but instead slouched back into the couch.

Yakko turned the TV back on, trying his best to get his and Dot's mind off of Wakko… at least for a little bit.


"All right, come on… keep it moving. No dawdling!"

Wakko glanced around at the other kids, trying not to tremble from his growing nerves. Not long after everyone finished eating, the guards had gathered them all together and began separating the kids into groups before leading them off. He'd wanted to ask Alex what was going on, but he was taken with a different group.

"What're they gonna do?"

Wakko glanced at Jarod, who was walking close beside him. He looked so scared, and Wakko found himself wishing he could tell him they weren't gonna do anything. But the best he could do was look out for the kid in any way he could.

"I don't know," he whispered. "But try to stay close, okay?"

Jarod nodded and tried his best to not cry. His hands were shaking and he felt like he wanted to burst into tears.

Wakko rubbed the back of his neck. He was nervous obviously, but he was more focused on finding any weak spots or chances to escape. He examined the area around him, trying to spot which group Alex had been put in to.

After a quick glance around the room, Wakko was quickly able to spot Alex in the midst of a group of much larger and seemingly older kids. Alex was trembling and obviously confused, but he puffed his chest out in an attempt to look brave and tough.

Wakko sighed, noticing that he was mostly surrounded by younger kids. He figured they must have divided them into separate age groups.

His fear grew when he noticed some men approaching each group with metal cases. Their faces were emotionless, and they were wearing blue gloves that looked like medical ones. One of the guards spoke up, his voice loud and aggressive.

"All right. Form a line and no dawdling! Give us any trouble, and you'll get a lot more!"

Wakko glanced at Jarod, who looked almost ready to turn and run. Quickly, he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him the most reassuring smile he could manage. Moving with the other kids, they shuffled into line. Suddenly he heard a kid in another line gasp.

"No, please don't!"

Wakko quickly looked and his stomach clenched. A human girl, not much older than eight, was crying as one of the gloved men grabbed her arm.

"Keep quiet," he grumbled.

Suddenly, Jenkins entered wearing a black t-shirt and a red vest, with baggy jeans. He was carrying a large bullhorn, and he began speaking.

"Listen up kids! You may be wondering what we're doing right now, but I assure you, there's no need to be afraid! We will cause you no harm."

Wakko's fist tightened. He didn't believe a single word that Jenkins was saying. The man continued to speak, with all the charisma of a talk-show host.

"You'll be getting one shot at this time every day. It won't take long, and we will do our best to make it as painless as possible."

Wakko's eyes widened as the gloved man lifted a syringe filled with a cloudy liquid, then pushed the needle into the girl's arm. She whimpered, but obviously didn't dare do more than that. The man reached into the case and replaced the needle as the girl stepped away, rubbing her arm with tears in her eyes.

"Next."

Even though nobody appeared reassured, Wakko could tell they were even more afraid of resisting. No one put up any argument and received their shots without complaint. Even Alex didn't say anything, though he sent the man an impressive glare. All too soon, it was Wakko's turn. He tried hard not to tremble as he looked up at the man, and was relieved when his voice came out steady.

"What's this for?"

The man sighed, looking impatient.

"No questions."

Wakko cringed as the needle was pushed into his arm, but was relieved as it ended almost as quickly as it began.

"Move along"

Wakko sighed and rubbed his arm as he began walking towards a table, where Alex was sitting, followed closely by Jarod.

"Don't look at me, I'm just as confused as you are." Alex harshly said as Wakko and Jarod took a seat.

Jarod sniffled as he held his arm, tears swimming in his eyes as he looked at the other kids.

"W-why're they doing this? We d-don't need shots."

Wakko glanced at Alex, then tried to look encouraging.

"Maybe they just wanna make sure we won't make each other sick. They need us for something, and they'll probably want us in good shape."

He saw Alex roll his eyes, but Jarod looked up at him hopefully.

"You really think so?"

Wakko managed a smile and nodded. To be honest, he doubted it as much as Alex probably did. He didn't like lying to Jarod, but it wouldn't do any good to scare him more. Besides, with any luck he'd be able to find a way out and they'd be gone before things got worse.


Shorter than my last chapter, but we've had a major snowstorm hit us and we've lost power. I haven't been able to write lately, and I've been putting all the work on Kayla.