Leo freezes for a second before turning around.
"Hayley!" Multiple voices sound at once and noticing the awkward tension in the air, Jackie is quick to pull the girl into a hug.
"Hey, pretty lady. We missed you." Happily, Hayley hugs her back, dropping her bag to the ground by her feet. "Did you break out again or are you finally free?"
"I missed you too." Hayley laughs. "And no, I did not break out again. They let me go."
"No hitchhiking, Woods?" Leo asks, bringing her in for a hug.
"Nope, mom and dad dropped me. They let me out a couple hours ago, and we came right here." She explains. "Don't tell Alex though, it's a surprise, Brooke."
Said girl closes her Louie, smiling sheepishly at the older girl. "Hey." They exchange hugs.
"So, who are the new Ravens?" Hayley asks, looking at the new faces.
"That's Manny." Leo introduces, and Hayley shakes his hand.
"It's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Ms Hayley." Manny grins. "I've heard so much about you."
"All good things I hope." She jokes. "If Cruz said something, I think I have enough dirt on him for a good payback."
"Well-" He starts before he's cut off.
"And this is Court-" Leo tries to introduce.
"Courtney?" Hayley looks at the brunette, shocked. It's been years since she's last seen her, but she looks very much the same. She still has the same long brown hair, large almond-shaped hazel green eyes, and she'd know that smile anywhere.
"Hayley?" The girl pulls Hayley in for a hug, trying to make up for all their lost time in that single moment. "Oh my gosh. How have you been? It's been such a long time since I last saw you."
"I'm good. How are you? You never replied to any of my emails." Hayley asks her in return.
"Ok, ok." Leo comes in between the two girls. "As much as we enjoy watching this reunion, I think I'm as confused as everyone else, so I'm just going to ask 'what's going on?'"
"Hayley and I knew each other when we were little." Courtney explains. "We went to the same kindergarten so we've basically known each other since we were in diapers."
"But then you suddenly left in the first grade." Hayley points out. "And I haven't heard from you since."
"I told you, my dad was relocated so we had to move." Courtney explains. "And I lost my email address so I had no way of contacting you. Forgive me?" Giving her best impression of puppy dog eyes, she turns to her old friend.
"Ok." She smiles, picking her bag up. "I'm going to go put my stuff on my bed before I surprise Alex. It's still the same one right?"
"Of course." Jackie teases. "Captain here wouldn't let anyone else have it-"
Hayley shakes her head, laughing at the shade of red Leo's face was turning. "Thanks Leo."
When she returns, she takes a book out of Brooke's hands. "Come on, I need your help to surprise Alex." Happily, said girl follows.
"Can I come?" Courtney chimes in. "I don't think I recognised little Alex the last time I saw him."
"Sure." Hayley shrugs, leaving the clubhouse with the girls in tow. As she rounds the corner, she spots a familiar frame.
"Daniel." She calls out, breaking the boy from his thoughts.
"Hayley?" He quickly turns before running up to her. "You're back!" Giving her a hug, she immediately reciprocates, her arms winding around his back as his move into her hair. "How have you been? Does Alex know?"
"I'm much better now." She smiles at him. "And no, Alex doesn't know. We're on our way to surprise him."
"Ok, cool." He gives her one last smile. "See you later. I have to go do something."
"Bye." She waves, before turning to the two girls behind her, hearing them whisper conspiratorially behind her back. "What?"
"Nothing." Courtney gives her a teasing look. "Just wondering if you're with Leo or Daniel."
"Courtney!" Brooke chastises her. "I told you she's with neither. She's a strong confident woman, and she doesn't need a man."
"Thank you Brooke." She throws an arm around the girl as they continue their walk to the Eagles' clubhouse. "Can you send Alex a message asking him to meet you outside?"
"Sure."
"Brooke?" Alex opens the door, looking around when he feels a tap on his back. "Hayley!"
"Hey bro." She returns his hug.
"So good to have you back." She smiles. "Are you sure you don't want to be an Eagle?"
"Positive. I think I was better as a Raven." She tells him.
"Ok. As long as you stay this time." The sibling duo share a couple of laughs before Alex feels a pinch on his cheeks.
"Oh my gosh, this is little Alex?" Courtney coos. "He's grown so much. The last time I saw him he was practically this tall." To demonstrate her point, she crouched down, placing her palm an inch from the floor.
"Very funny, Coco." Alex lets it slip from his mouth before he realises what he said. "Wait, Coco?"
"Hi Alex." She gives him a hug. "I didn't recognise you until I saw your sister. You've gotten so big. I guess I can't call you a little bug, any more."
"Little bug?" Brooke turns to her. "Do tell, I love hearing embarrassing Alex stories."
Said boy can only groan just before shouts are heard from the clubhouse. "Oh my gosh! Everybody take a look at this."
Turning to Sophie, everyone including the Ravens at the door rush in, watching the television.
"Rumours are spreading that the country is about to wage war on Ozmainia in retaliation of the terrorist attack on the kids of the Greenhouse last month. Here is a clip from the president's speech just an hour ago." Michelle Wallace signals the producers to play the clip.
"We simply cannot let this go. Our children should have a safe place to grow and learn and have fun. This amusement park attack was a direct attack on our children, and I will not stand for it. Something has to be done, and the perpetrators will not get away with this." The clip cuts off to show Michelle back at the studio.
"Protests are emerging all over the country. Some are saying that retaliation is the best way to end this. Others are expressing the need to protect our country's children. These protests have been quite peaceful so far, the protesters marching up and down the streets with no casualties reported, but no one knows how long this peace will last."
"I'm Michelle Wallace and this has been the Evening News." The reporter signs off and Sophie turns off the television.
"We can do something about this right?" Sophie turns to everyone before noticing the Ravens in the room. "Hayley, you're back. How's your arm?"
"Barely has a scar thanks to Tammy." She greets the girl. "But I don't know what we can do. This is International. It's trickier than just a villain with a virus."
"You're right." Sophie concedes just as Hayley has an idea.
"We could try appealing to the president." Hayley suggests, and they look at her questioningly.
"How? There's no way we could even talk to the president. Washington Dc is so far away, and if he is preparing for a war, he'd be too busy to listen to a bunch of kids." Parker adds in, and the Eagles just nod their heads.
"He wouldn't be able to ignore us if we were on the news." Brooke supplies. "And I'm pretty sure Sophie still has Michelle Wallace's number. Soph, could you set it up?"
"I could try." Sophie begins scrolling through her Louie, looking for the right contact. "In the meantime, we should probably decide who should speak if she does agree to it, and what they should say."
Brooke nods.
"Hayley should do it." Courtney declares and a chorus of agreement follows. "She was the first one to realised something was wrong right? And her mom's famous so he'll definitely have to listen to her."
"But what will I say?" Hayley looks around, trying to find a way out of this. Sure, she's not afraid to speak out loud, or speak her mind, but this is International Television, and she doesn't want to accidentally make things worse.
"I'll help you." Brooke assures her. "We've got this covered Soph."
"You better." Sophie smiles triumphantly. "Because the interview will be tomorrow at 3 o'clock."
"Good day, everyone. I'm here today with Greenhouse Academy student, Hayley Woods, to talk about the recent terrorist attack that they went through." Michelle Wallace smiles as the camera begins rolling. "Hello, Miss Woods. How are you doing?"
"Hi Michelle, we're doing great. It has been a very fun and interesting start to the new school year, and we can't wait to see what Louis has in-store for us." Hayley speaks into the camera, watching the screen in front of her as it broadcasts the news live.
"Wonderful. Now, can you briefly tell us how the attack happened?"
"We were at the park when we noticed something was off and found that there were bombs placed all over. So we quickly gathered everyone together, and escaped. Luckily no one was seriously injured, and the police arrived soon after."
"You kids are quite a lucky bunch, then." Michelle continues. "In the investigation of this attack, the terrorists were found to be part of a popular terrorist group from Ozmainia. Due to that, rumours are spreading that we are due to break alliances with Ozmainia and wage war. Our children are our future and we can't let others get away with hurting them."
Michelle lets a tear slip out to win the hearts of her audience. "And Hayley has something to say in addition to that."
"Thank you, Michelle. All I would like to say is that breaking alliances and waging wars are not the right things to do. If history has taught us anything, it's that war leads to nothing but chaos. You say the children are our future, and that is true. So instead of waging a war that could potentially severe family ties and take away lives, spend that money on our education and on our health. There are so many children living in poverty, and this prevents them from reaching their true potential. With the right opportunities, they could be our next leaders, doctors and teachers. They could be so much more if they were just given the chance to."
"Also, the children of Ozmainia should not suffer for their elder's crimes. They have not done anything wrong, so they should not have to pay the price. I agree that I want justice for what my friends and I had to go through, because no one should have to go through an experience as traumatic as that, but the innocents should not bear the costs."
"I speak for myself, for the children of this world, and for everyone, that what we want is peace, not war. We should work towards a common ground and build bridges. Give each other a chance."
"Thank you, Hayley." Michelle dabs at her eyes. "That was a wonderful speech." Placing the handkerchief down, she looks to the teleprompter. "And that concludes our show for today. Thank you everyone for tuning in. I'm Michelle Wallace, and have a good day."
As Leo turns the television off, Sophie deals with the camera, and Brooke helps her with the mic.
"You did great, Hayley." Brooke gives her a hug. "Congratulations."
"Thanks." She accepts a hug from Jackie. "That was probably the most nerve-wrecking I've ever done."
"Even more than the virus?" Jackie teases. "Anyway, you did great. There's no way the president or pretty much anyone could have ignored it."
She laughs, finally relaxing on the couch.
She's sitting by the window, looking down below when something catches her attention. She sees Daniel walking towards a strange man with a similar build to his own, the two men then moving somewhere out of her sight, and she can't help but worry.
"Strangers are not allowed in the Greenhouse." She tries to assure herself. "There are security guards now, and if the guy's suspicious, Daniel knows to report him to Louis."
Her Louie rings with an unknown caller. She immediately hangs up. She used to take calls from strangers, but after everything that's happened, she knows it's probably safer that she doesn't. She does look the number up however, and is surprised to find it's from Belzia.
"Hi... Dad?" Daniel greets the man with a handshake. He's not quite ready to give him a hug yet, not until he knows the truth.
"Wow Daniel." His father looks him up and down, studying his appearance. "You've grown so much, son."
"Stop right there." Daniel looks him sternly. "You don't get to call me your son, not until you tell me the truth. The whole truth."
"Ok." His father nods, leading the two of them to a bench.
"So mom left just like that? Because you found out what she was doing was illegal?" His father nods.
"I tried to find you. I spent years looking for you. But when I found you, your mom threatened me saying that if I even went near you, she'd say I kidnapped you. She had got you a new birth certificate where I wasn't listed as the father." He explains. "I told her I could just call the cops on her and tell them what she was doing."
"But then she reminded me that she would be able to provide a better life for you than I ever would. Even if her money was illegal, it's so much more than I earn as a surfing instructor and fisherman." He sighs sadly. "Besides, you didn't remember me, so taking her away would be taking away the only parent and support you knew. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't do that to you. I'm so sorry son."
Tears start pooling in his eyes and he reaches around his dad for a hug. "I'm sorry too, dad. Thank you for telling me the truth." He wipes the tears from his eyes as he and his dad share a watery smile.
"You know, if you want, you could come visit my boathouse. It's not much but I would really love to spend more time with you, son." His dad suggests.
"I'd love to, dad." Daniel smiles, happily. "Just let me go ask Louis when I can go."
His dad nods, and they both get up. "Keep in touch, ok son?" He grins. "Don't be a stranger."
"Bye dad." Daniel waves as he watches his dad walk out of the Greenhouse. He feels a hole in his heart beginning to fill and he finally feels almost complete. All his life, he's always missed having his father around.
He'd see other kids with their dads and wonder why he couldn't be with his. He knew not to mention it to his mom, though, because she always told him that he was a bad man, and he could not be trusted. But now he knows his mom lied, and he wishes he could've found him sooner. At least now, they'd be able to make up for lost time.
Hayley wanders around the Greenhouse, taking everything in once again. The place feels so much different from when she first stepped in more than a year ago. Instead of resentment, she feels love. She can't imagine what life would be like now if she hadn't come to the Greenhouse.
Maybe the Client Jason had talked about would have succeeded. Maybe the cave wouldn't have been destroyed. Maybe her mom would still be in the cave, while they mourn her death. Maybe her father would still be-
She feels a tugging on her wrist as she's pulled to the floor. Falling onto the grass, she's about to scream before the person before places a finger to his own lips, telling her to not make a sound.
Peace. He signs.
She looks at him carefully before realisation dawns on her, and he lets go of her wrist.
"Prince Octavius?"