Chapter 2

Rocky shook his head, stepping out the shower. Water droplets flew in all directions as he moved to the mirror, frowning when he saw Colt leaning into the mirror, turning his face back and forth. What he was looking at, Rocky wasn't sure, but he didn't want to get stuck behind his brother once more.

If anyone thought Colt would be the one who spent the most time in the bathroom, the older they got, Rocky would've given them a gold medal…after laughing incredulously. Colt, when younger, wasn't one who seemed that he'd do anything that would deem him as someone who cared much for his appearance.

While Rocky tried his hardest to stay as clean as he could, and Tum-Tum was simply too busy snacking on candy to do anything else, Colt was the one who would return home completely covered in a layer or dirt, mud, and blood caked onto what seemed like every surface. With only his blue eyes and bright grin visible beneath it all.

Then, the older they got, the more he became interested in girls, and the more dances and dates became a thing, the more time Colt spent in the bathroom mirror. Which didn't help when Rocky wanted at least a little bit of time to himself. He and his brothers were close, but they weren't that close.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing my hair what does it look like?"

Rocky rolled his eyes. "Okay, I don't have an entire year for you to keep your face in the mirror." He grabbed his brother's shoulder and pushed him toward the bathroom door. "Get out."

"Lay off!" Colt lifted his elbow and deflected Rocky's hand off him. "There's more than enough bathrooms in this house!"

"And that's exactly why you should go find another one."

Colt sneered at his brother. "As much as you may act like it sometimes, you're not a girl, Rock. You don't need to look 'perfect' for everything. It's just a stupid dance."

"Coming from the guy who's been spending a lot of time on his hair," Rock shot back. "Whatever." His eyebrows twitched upwards, using his free hand to wipe a towel across the mirror, the other hand holding the knot of the towel around his waist tight together. "Oh wait. You have a pimple, don't you?"

"Shut up!"

Rocky laughed to himself.

He remembered the first time Colt received a pimple. It was on the tip of his nose, seeming to be a blinding beacon for everyone around him. Or, at least, it seemed that way for Colt, who was his first date to his first school dance. He could handle falling over when messing up a ninja skill, he could show off a black eye or a busted nose from a stupid thing he and his brothers had gotten into, but anything that would throw any of the 'real life' insecurities to rear its ugly head tended to send Colt into his sullen mood.

"Come on, Rudolph, I doubt it's that bad."

"I said lay off!"

Colt swung towards Rocky, who quickly managed to subdue him and turned his brother around, bringing him to his chest and pinned him there, holding his arm over his neck. Rocky wasn't going to do anything that would actually injure his brother, but it was nice to know he was still able to best him. Especially when Colt was trying to prove he could truly beat him in a ninja competition.

"You know, one of these days you're going to beat me," Rocky said calmly. Then he grinned. "But I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon." He pushed his brother forward, toward the door. Colt had to reach up his hands to keep himself from falling face first on the "Especially when you're so focused on what you look like."

"That's funny," Colt replied. He opened the bathroom door and leaned against the doorframe, eyeing his brother. "Considering you're the one who cares so much what other people think of you."

Rocky opened his mouth to defend himself then stopped, seeing the gleam in his brother's face. Knew he was right. Didn't want to admit it. He cared more than he liked to let people know he cared. And it'd only came to be something he noticed when Colt had asked him why Rocky had let him win. Rocky would deny it 'til his dying breath, he didn't want to deal with his brother being right about something.

And certainly, didn't want to deal with the wrath Colt would show when it was proven he was right. Especially when it was something Rocky hadn't even wrapped his head around yet.

He was never one to give up on something, and it was the first time he did. Ever. And it bothered him that there was a part of him that still couldn't quite understand why.

Don't worry about that right now, Rocky scolded himself, turning his attention back to getting ready for that night. He ignored his brother, who continued to wait for a response against the doorframe. Rocky continued to ignore him, finally, Colt got the message and left him alone with a quiet, "Whatever," under his breath.

The simplest way they exchanged any sense of annoyance, frustration, excitement, between brothers. That time, Colt knew his brother didn't want to talk about it anymore. Or maybe it was the stony expression that'd come to his face. Another part of how he lived up to the 'cool and solid, as granite rock' that'd been bestowed upon him years ago.

Still, as Rocky stared at his reflection, not taking his eyes off himself as he towel dried his hair, he couldn't help but see the glimmer of amusement that still came through his eyes. His brother could say he didn't care what anyone thought as much as he wanted, but it was clear he still cared very much what Rocky thought. Why else would he still wait to hear what I have to say about anything, instead of running off like he usually wants to?

Colt could've easily done what he wanted, raced in with Jo and Cloud and subdued as many people as they wanted. Greatly hurt them, maybe even…Rocky shook his head. Even Jo wouldn't go that far for revenge. She wasn't about things getting to violence when they didn't need to be but was one of the strongest and bravest warriors he knew. Yes, part of him was proud of what she'd done to protect her family, but there was a part of him that was horrified when he saw what Jo and Cloud had done to the security men that Harding had hired.

When they had been taken to the hospital, to be checked over after everything had wound down, after Harding had been taken into custody, Rocky had seen what happened to the men. There were gaping wounds in them that he'd never seen before. He'd seen broken bones, sprains, contusions, abrasions, and downright embarrassment from the people he'd taken down before. There were more than enough things he'd been told by his father over the years that he hadn't wanted to ever experience, and that night was the one that had done it.

He saw the wounds from the tomahawk, from the arrows, from the punches and kicks that landed into their faces, necks, chests, arms, and legs. Saw the horrible bruises, saw the way they screamed and cringed and cried and twisted and turned as they were wheeled into their rooms to be looked over. Jo had shown remorse for it after, had prayed hard—in the way the Tawankans did—to ensure their safety.

But it was still horrifying to see what they'd done.

That was the thing that he hadn't thought too much about when they were kids, when they were younger. They hadn't seen what happened to the people they had taken down when their house was broke into and Snyder had tried to kidnap them. He hadn't seen what happened to Koga's henchmen. He hadn't seen what happened to JJ and the other guys that worked for Harding. Didn't see what happened to the guy that legitimately tried to kill him when he was rescuing Jennifer

It was like their lives were kept separate in that way, where they could turn their backs on their actions and not see the consequences. Now that they saw it, that they were able to see it in person, it was horrifying. One of the hardest realities he had to face.

You have to face this one now, Rocky thought, still staring at himself as he dried off. All the consequences that are going to come from it. You're getting a chance to have one last chance of freedom. Don't ruin it.

He as brushing his teeth when the door burst open once more. This tie, he merely glanced over toward his brothers as they pushed their way in and crowded around the sink so that they could brush their teeth as well. Rocky shrugged and stepped to the outside of the counter, watching as his brothers squeezed in to do the same. All three brothers stood in age order in front of the mirrors.

What a Kodak moment.

"Would you get out of the way?" Tum-Tum demanded, elbowing Colt in the side. He leaned closer to the mirror. "I need to brush my teeth!"

"It's going to take more than one day of brushing to help your breath," Colt replied in a low mumble, foam frothing around his mouth. "Do you know how many cavities you had when you were a kid?" He grinned, nudging Rocky on the arm. "Something tells me you're going to be the first one to get dentures."

"Yeah," Rocky agreed. "In the next year."

Tum-Tum glowered at his brothers, watching their reflections in the mirror. "Ha ha. At least I don't have to worry about scaring people off with my face." He shook his head. "You're just going to end up alone."

"Good," Colt replied with a snort. "I like being alone."

"'Yeah, I think we figured that one out ages ago," Rocky commented. He spat in the sink, smirking when Colt jerked away form him, and used his free hand to count. "The time you ran away from home—"

"—He only made it to the end of the street," Tum-Tum reminded him.

Colt rolled his eyes. "I wasn't supposed to cross the street."

"The time you decided you were going to try and run away again, and, instead, just climbed the tree in the backyard and got stuck," Rocky continued.

At that, Colt snorted, though the side of his mouth turned up. "Those firefighters were pretty cool, though."

Rocky remembered his mom being a little more than annoyed at that. Not to mention he had gotten blamed for the whole thing, which was an injustice. He'd been hanging out with Emily and another friend he'd had then, and Colt was running around, annoying them. So, as any brother would, Rocky had told him to get lost. And Colt had decided to take that and fly up a tree. Rocky was grounded that day, for not watching him as closely, and for sending him away in the first place. Colt was grounded for running away and then needing to have the fire department called. And Sam had yelled at them enough so that they didn't make that mistake again.

"When you decided not to come to mom when she was going to pick you up after school. Where you made that one girl cry when she tried to ask you out and you flat out said 'no'—"

"—Did you want me to lie?"

"—You could've been nicer about it."

"Whatever."

"The time we went camping and you got so annoyed with Tum that you decided to make your own campsite and nearly froze to death that night—"

"—My fire went out earlier than I thought it would."

"Except for the embers," Tum-Tum reminded him. He grinned, shaking his head. "Dad nearly killed you when he saw what happened after that."

Colt finally started to laugh. He shook his head. "Yeah…I didn't think he'd ever stop yelling. My ears were ringing for a week." The boys finished brushing their teeth and started in on fixing their hair, which Rocky knew was going to take the longest. Colt liked to grow out his hair, there was one point it was long enough to make a long ponytail. He hated it when people confused him for a girl, hated it when he was a toddler and insisting on having longer hair and people would comment their mother on her 'daughter's' hair and eyes. And yet he was the one who still paid the most attention to his hair.

Tum-Tum hadn't cared much at all, until he met Amy when she'd moved to their area in eighth grade. Tum was still at that age where he equally found girls to be mysterious and alluring one minute, but confusing, annoying, and not worth the trouble the next. Nevertheless, Rocky could see the nerves that shot through him as he did something with his hair, made a face in the mirror, brushed it out, then started all over again.

Rocky smiled to himself, shaking his head. He studied himself in the mirror, brushing his hair into the same style he always had it. With a light swoop across his forehead. Not that most people saw it anyway, he almost always wore his hat. People asked him why he did, some joked he had a bad haircut he didn't want anyone to see, but the more honest response was that it was easier to hide behind his hat. Easy to take moments that he didn't want anyone to see him and rectify it by taking his hat by the brim and turning it so that a shadow was cast across his forehead.

Gave him the opportunity to watch people closely, to figure out what he was going to get as a response with what he was to do or say. To figure out what was his best course of action to steady himself with whatever came his way.

"And it's not like Rocky doesn't like being alone," Colt continued. Rocky eyed his brother out the corner of his eye. Colt smirked toward Tum-Tum. "How many times have we been pushed out of his room? How many times has he done nothing but stay up in his room all night? How many times had he preferred to be alone when we're hanging out with everyone?"

"Yeah…" Tum-Tum leaned forward so he could look Rocky in the eye. His eyes narrowed, lips pulling back into a knowing smirk. "What do you do in your room by yourself all the time?"

"Tum," Rocky said in warning.

Colt started to laugh. "Whoa!" He held up a hand, waving a comb around. "I don't think I want to know about that! Whatever you do by yourself you can just do by yourself."

Rocky shoved him. "Grow up!"

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to have some alone time. You know, it'd just be better if we were warned that when you really want to be by yourself…" Colt burst out into hysterical laughter as Rocky felt his face heat up with equal parts embarrassment and annoyance. "Okay, but when you and Emily are alone, what do you guys do?"

"I don't know." Rocky shrugged. "Talk, mostly."

Colt raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Talk?" He paused, waiting for Rocky to fill in the silence. Rocky merely shrugged again. "That's it?"

"Yeah, we just hang out. And talk. That's really about it." And that was all they were going to get. He really knew the difference when they were asking things to be annoying younger brothers, and when they actually cared. At that point, they were being nosy to know what was going to happen that night.

As far as Rocky was concerned—or at least was probably deluding himself into thinking—it was just another night of hanging out. There was nothing serious to it. Besides, she asked him to the dance, as far as he knew, he really didn't need to worry about anything.

"Really? That's it?"

"Yes!" A slight edge came to Rocky's tone.

Still, Colt pressed forward. "How in the world can you sit in a room and just talk?"

"I don't know, Colt, how can you sit in a room with a girl and only want to make out with her?" Colt gave him a 'duh' look before grinning widely. Which made Rocky smile seconds before he rolled his eyes. "I meant, how can you not want to get to know someone in the time that you have?"

"You guys have known each other for years and years and years. How much more do you need to know?"

I need to know whether or now I want to ruin the friendship by taking that risk, Rocky thought. But didn't say out loud. It was a stupid thing to even have them understand. Colt never worried about that, even with Jo. He tended to find girls he liked and were attracted to first and worked through that interest, and then became their friend after things, inevitably, didn't work out.

Rocky, on the other hand, cultivated friendships. He was friends with Emily even though there was always a point of attraction there. He was friends with Miyo despite the attraction there—though he knew distance was a major issue with that. He was friends with Jennifer long before they started dating. Friendship was always important to him. Though he couldn't quite say what drove that point for him, maybe from his parents. He heard that story many times before, how they'd come to be good friends before they dated. Maybe, in a way, he was trying to recreate it.

But there was something to be said if they could have their children put their lives in danger on what seemed like a daily basis and still work as a team and love each other so much.

Silence stretched through the bathroom as the boys finished getting ready for the dance; finished fixing their hair, getting dressed, Rocky and Colt helping Tum-Tum fix out the best tie for him to wear as well as how to tie a tie, getting their father to come in and put the finishing touches on things. Then things became noisy and boisterous when their mother flittered around, insisting on plucking and tucking at their clothes to make sure they looked perfect and then took pictures of each and everything.

Mori sat to the side, chuckling as he watched his grandchildren get accosted by his daughter but enjoying it all the while. Even Rocky found himself having a good time just hanging out with his family before Jessica shoved the corsages into their hands and fluttered them to the door when it was time to take pictures. As it had been with previous years, everyone came into the Douglas house for pictures and 'pre-gaming' before big events.

And Emily did say she would pick him up that night so…

When the doorbell rang, his mother practically shoved him toward the front door so he could answer.

"Hey," Emily greeted him cheerfully, with a little wave.

"Hey." Rocky smiled the second he got a good look at Emily

She looked great.

A/N: Don't worry guys, you'll see Snyder again starting the next chapter. But I hadn't done stuff with the boys for a while so here we go. So sorry for the wait. Hope to have this updated again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles