(A/N: Hello again my faithful followers and welcome to chapter 25, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter because I loved writing it. Now just so you know there's gonna be a bit of drama in this one, mostly between Dallas and Simon but I'm sure you guys were already expecting that one. Now let's get to the main event shall we?)

Chapter 25: Reunion

After the fight naturally everyone went home to their families to try and relax a little bit, and this included Marinette as well. But she still had to be in witness protection sense the Chameleon was still officially after her, which also meant that she had to keep lying to her parents, the new excuse she gave them was that Gabriel had officially taken her on as his apprentice and decided that she needed to be near him at all times so she would be given room and board which for some reason neither of her parents found suspicious, but once Dallas had a chance to properly question the assassin she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. An entire day had passed after being captured by Ladybug's team. After being chained up with a series of chains to a chair the Chameleon found that it was quite impossible to leave without someone to let him go. But he knew that he wasn't going to get off the hook that easily, especially when dealing with superheroes such as the miraculous holders, and now that he knew they were working with the Black widow he knew he was in a much tougher situation than he'd care to be in.

His head then perked up when he heard a door open up and then slam shut, then he heard the sound of footsteps, then he heard a voice, slightly muffled as if being covered by a mask. "Sleep well?" It asked as it's owner came into view.

They were clearly male with tanned skin and black hair from the back, they wore a tank-top T-shirt and blue jeans. Once they'd turned around the Chameleon saw that they had their face covered with a wood carved mask designed to look like a blue demon if anything at all. "So which one of the miraculous holders are you?" He asked the young masked man standing before him as he walked closer to him.

Dallas then leaned over to look him in the eye and asked. "Do I look like a superhero to you?" Then he forced the Chameleon's head back while pulling one of his eye lids open then he held a knife loosely in between his finger and thumb just over his eye as he continued. "Now let's play a little game shall we? It's called truth…AND dare, I'll start, who hired you to kill Marinette Dupain-Chang? And I DARE you to lie to me!"

The Chameleon could see this kid was just trying to scare him, or so he thought, either way he wasn't scared of him. And he confirmed this when he just started to laugh. "This is your first time interrogating isn't it?" He asked with a smug grin.

Which was quickly replaced with screams of pain as Dallas dropped the knife right into his captives eye, then he said with a growl. "Wrong answer." Then he began to twist the knife around in the eye socket filling the room with the loudest bellows of pain he'd ever heard in his entire life.

After he'd finally stopped he pulled the knife out of the Chameleon's eye and just wiped off the blood on his shirt. "Sense when does Ladybug let her team torcher people?" The assassin shouted at the masked teen.

"Oh she doesn't let her team do that, goes against her morals, that's why she asked me to…let's say extract some things from your brain for her. She can't stomach the brutality." Dallas replied as he walked over to a table sitting just behind the Chameleon and placed the knife down on the table then picked up a pair of plyers wondering to himself if he should use them next. "You see…your obviously a bad guy…if not just a bad person. But lets face facts those obviously go hand in hand. Anyway what I'm driving at is you're a really bad guy, and I'm the guy you call to fuck up people like you, ya know so the good guys don't take the blame for it."

"Oh I get it, so sense she's a symbol in the eyes of the people she doesn't want to ruin her public image for herself and her team so she gets you to do it on the down low." Chameleon summed up.

"You catch on pretty quick, guess your not as dumb as you look. But how smart were you to begin with? I mean you got caught by a bunch of teenagers for fuck sake." Dallas chimed as he put down the plyers and tapped the heads of a jumper cable together after hooking them up to a car battery.

"Uh…they had SUPER POWERS!" The Chameleon fired back in defense. "So I think it's safe to say that it wouldn't have mattered."

"Excuses-excuses, anyway I think it's safe to say that she doesn't really know about this part, not that I'm ever going to tell her." Dallas replied as he put down the jumper cable and picked up a power drill and held down the button for a few seconds to test it. "Let me ask you something, how familiar are you with the history of torcher? Because if you grew up the way I did then you learn a lot about every corner of history from the good to the bad to the seriously fucked up shit. Namely torcher, did you know the Apache would take you out into the deepest part of the desert and wrap a wet bison skin around your entire body then tie you up and just leave you there to let the sun dry it out? Basically the effect is eerily similar to that of a boa constrictor coiling around it's pray as it just SQUEEZES the life out of you, that is if heat stroke doesn't kill you first. But they only reserved that right to the warriors they liked believe it or not." As Dallas put down the drill he then picked up a small mallet and gave it a few good swings as he continued.

"In the middle ages if you spoke out against the Catholic church you'd get something called the heretic's fork, plainly put it's a fork with two heads which would be tied around your neck placed between your chin and your chest and it wouldn't be removed until you said the words…I recant, but that was nothing compared to the Judas cradle, what they'd do is hoist you up by a bunch of ropes then lower you down onto a pyramid-like device and forcibly lowered onto the tip and you'd be made to sit there for who knows how long. And then there's flaying, which plainly means you'd be skinned alive but that's nothing special. Then in the 14th century the Ming dynasty used something called Lingchi, which is more commonly known as death by a thousand cuts, it's slow and it was only reserved for the worst of crimes. But one of the most fucked up forms of torture would be what the ancient Persians would do to you, a little something called scaphism, you see they'd feed you nothing but milk and honey until diarrhea would set in, then they'd dowse you in more honey, strap you to a rowboat and set you adrift to be eaten alive by insects, and if the bugs didn't kill you then the dehydration, exposure, and shock of drowning in your own filth would. But the most painful in my opinion would have to be what the Russians would do to captured Nazi soldiers, first they'd find the most attractive most arousing girls they could find and essentially buy them a lap dance, but it was shortly enjoyed after they became aroused. Because after this they'd take a long thin piece of glass tube and stick it into your urethra, then they'd take a pair of plyers and break it while it was still inside of you, easily ten times worse than any kidney stone you've ever had I'll tell you."

"Is there a point to this stupid history lesson?" The Chameleon asked as he just started to get board of Dallas's ranting.

Dallas then walked back over to his captive and said while filling a syringe. "The point is that over history each generation comes up with a new and more horrible form of torture than the last. This for example is my own, do you know that there are literally thousands of herbs in the world each with it's own unique properties? Some do wonderful things to the body, while others…" He paused as he stuck the needle into the Chameleon's neck then pressed down on the plunger. "Just fuck you up in the most horrible way there is, the ones I've selected for you are very rare herbs that are known to be quite poisonous. Oh but don't worry they're not fatal. I've taken care to get the mixture just right, they'll just play on your greatest fears and darkest memories and stick you into a never ending nightmare, that is until your body processes it within twenty-four hours. Have fun." After giving him a little pat on his cheek and pulling out the needle Dallas then walked a way from the Chameleon as he just started to curse himself mentally, almost a minute later he then heard the panicked screaming of the Chameleon knowing that his special brew of roots which weren't easy for him to come by as they were particularly hard to acquire was working perfectly.

After quickly changing his shirt and putting on his jacket he walked out of the warehouse which the team had agreed to keep their captive in until he chose to talk, Dallas then hopped into a cab where Adrien was waiting for him. "That didn't take very long, did he give you what you wanted?" Adrien asked trying to be as cryptic as he could.

"He said he couldn't help me out at the moment so I told him that I'd swing by later when he had some free time, it got a little messy though I must admit because he was a little reluctant to talk to me at first. But I'm sure he'll be able to help us in the end." Dallas replied not looking at Adrien, mainly due to the fact that he put out one of the Chameleon's eyes, he told himself it wouldn't matter because in the end he was going to die, or at least that's what he felt he had to tell himself. Anyone who truly knew about his background would agree that the assassin deserved nothing less but that didn't mean Dallas was okay with it, at least not anymore. Before he knew he had a child he was willing to do what ever it took to get the job done, and drawing blood was no exception. But now he was a father which meant he had to change and set a good example for his son, which meant he had to keep the darkest part of his past as far away from Yuri as he could.

He may not have been completely clear with him but Adrien could tell just by looking at Dallas that he had to do more than just ask nicely. But for once it looked as though he felt…regret, he actually looked sorry for himself for what he did. In any other situation Adrien would know what to do but in this particular situation he didn't have a clue how to help him as he'd never have to deal with anything remotely close to this. So he figured that the best way to help him was by getting someone who knew him better than he did, namely his girlfriend. But that would have to wait until after they'd smoothed things over between Marinette and Valentina officially, even after what Dallas had told them a few hours prier Marinette still wanted an official apology from her.

After finally getting back Adrien finally broke the silents. "Are you okay Dallas?" He asked calmly as he turned to see his foster brother slowly munching on a ham sandwich. It was plain to see that he wasn't really in the mood for a casual conversation with anyone, but Adrien knew Dallas needed something to take his mind off of what he was currently thinking about. He sat down across from him at the table and began to get Dallas to open up. "Dallas, let's not play this game today, we both know that nobody really wins."

Dallas just sighed as he replied. "I'm growing soft…" He plainly said. "This sort of thing never bothered me before, but now that I'm trying to be a good father for…Yuri…everything I do makes me worry how he'll turn out. That's the last thing I want for him is to become another version of me."

And just like that Adrien quickly understood what the problem was. "Ah, I see. So does this mean you don't want to keep questioning the Chameleon? Because I'd understand if you didn't." He stated with a sympathetic tone.

"No…I...I can get it done, I just need a little while to…to relax a bit. I promise you Adrien, I…am….fine." Dallas replied with an unconvincing tone.

"You know what I think you need to relax is a big slice of cheese…" Plagg added as he floated over to the table with a giant wheel of camembert. "I've been ageing this baby for two months now, it's just the thing to brighten a muggy day."

Both boys just stared at Plagg with an uninterested stare. "Is this your answer to every problem Plagg? A giant wheel of cheese?" Dallas asked rhetorically as he folded his arms.

"Well it's better than getting stoned, HINT-HINT." Plagg retorted with a low blow, which didn't really seem to bother Dallas that much as he countered with his own remark.

"Well at least I'm not addicted to what I love, unlike a certain someone I know, HINT-HINT." He said as he narrowed his eyes onto Plagg.

"How dare you I am not addicted I can quit anytime I want." Plagg declared as he hovered in Dallas's face. Then just to prove his point Dallas grabbed the wheel of cheese and tossed it across the room and into the trashcan. "NOOOO!" Plagg cried as he rushed after it.

"I rest my case." Dallas said with a smirk, and finally feeling better about himself for the moment. After his snack Dallas simply went into the living room to try to find some kind of show he might enjoy. But once again he didn't find anything he liked. So he decided to simply go for a walk to try and clear his head. He just buzzed around the block a few times until finally Spizz spoke up.

"Don't you think this is a poor way to get your mind off of the Chameleon Dallas?" He asked plainly. "Also I don't think that you're really doing anything to remedy how you're feeling right now.

Dallas stopped walking for a moment as he knew that Spizz spoke the truth. "I know, I just don't know how to deal with this. I always have a plan for every eventuality, but for once I haven't got a clue."

Spizz began to think of what to tell him, once he felt that he had the answer he simply said. "I think the reason your feeling this way is because your beginning to have a stronger sense of justice, even for those who don't deserve it, and because of this your conscience is making you feel guilty because of what you told Adrien earlier about setting a good example for Yuri, so perhaps you should consider asking someone else to question the Chameleon like Adrien said."

Dallas could see the wisdom behind his words, but he still believed that he was the only one for the job, despite knowing that Valentina could get what they needed from him easily, but after what she'd done the night before she couldn't be trusted to do it anymore. So he figured that he'd just have to muscle through it the best he could. But for now he just needed a distraction of some kind, and that came in the form of a text message from the last person he expected to have his number. Once he opened up the message he saw that it was a number he didn't recognize, it was only until after he read the message that he knew who it was from.

Hey little brother!

Then another message popped up just after the other one.

Ladybug said that you were helping her out with some stuff recently and she gave me your number, this is you right Dallas?

"Son of a bitch Marinette." Dallas cursed as he just stared at the message. "What the hell did you go and do this to me for?"

"What's wrong?" Spizz asked curiously wanting to understand his owner's new problem.

Dallas looked down to his kwami and replied with an agitated tone. "Marinette gave Simon my phone number without telling me first. Now he's got a direct link to contact me."

Spizz just became confused and didn't really understand what the problem actually was other than his brother coming to Paris on such short notice let alone being on the run from the law. "But weren't you going to go and talk to him later like you said you would?" He asked while at the same time reminding him of what he felt he needed to do.

"Well yeah but that doesn't mean I want to give him a direct way of contacting me, I mean what if he starts to message me none stop and leave some kind of trojan horse virus in one of his texts to try and track me down." Dallas replied knowing very well that was exactly what his brother would do, and sense he was familiar with the shielding their father had developed for the two of them before he died he would know exactly how to get past it without any kind of difficulty.

But Spizz held firm to what he believed which was that Dallas had to reunite with his brother, weather he liked it or not. "Dallas like it or not you promised yourself that you would fix things with Simon, so I think the best thing to do is just get it done as quickly as possible. Just go and see him, and try to make up with him, otherwise you might lose your bond with him forever."

Dallas just sighed as he replied. "I should be so lucky."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spizz asked not fully understanding what he meant.

Dallas looked away from Spizz as he replied. "You remember what he said back at the mansion right? That part of the reason for being here was to try and restart dad's gang, just the two of us? Well it's like I said before I don't want anything to do with that and I won't have a hand in it either."

"Just because he wants you to be apart of the new gang that doesn't mean you have to be apart of it, just tell him that the answer is so simple." Spizz stated the obvious. "And if you don't then he's just going to keep on asking you until you do don't you think?"

Dallas began to growl knowing that he'd been defeated by his kwami's words of wisdom. Jeez he is just like my grandpa, he thought feeling extremely annoyed. "FINE, I'll go talk to him about it right now. This would be way simpler if he was still in jail."

"Why is that?" Spizz asked again with a weird look.

"Because all I'd have to do is visit him once then walk away and not have to worry about it until he was released from jail." Dallas replied sternly. After quickly calling Adrien and letting him know that he was going to see his brother and texting Simon back Dallas prepared himself for yet another encounter with Simon which he wasn't really looking forward to at all. After getting to the hospital he headed straight for his brother who had just gotten out of the monitoring room. Once Simon had caught a glimpse of him there was an awkward pause between the two of them neither of them was really sure of what to say. Deciding to be the bigger man, and also feeling a little guilty for the way he treated him earlier Dallas chose to brake the silence. "Hey…" He started slowly trying his best to word things right. "I…heard you got akumitized…so I…came to see if you were okay."

This of course was true, he may not have been very kind to him before but he still cared for his wellbeing. Simon could sense the sincerity of his words and felt a little better about what he'd said to him back at the mansion. But he still felt somewhat bitter about it. "Why did you even bother coming here Dallas? What even makes you think I wanted to see you?" He asked bluntly.

"Well why did you bother texting me if you didn't want to see me?" Dallas fired back as he stood in the doorway.

Simon could see the logic in his words as he pointed out his earlier actions with his texts to his brother. "Fair enough…" He replied as he averted his gaze from Dallas with the hurt still fresh.

Sensing this Dallas began to apologize. "Look Simon I'm sorry for what I said back at the mansion okay? But in my defense I was a bit pressed for time and I thought a friend of mine was dying and I wanted to help her, however that turned into it's own giant shit show which didn't quite have a happy ending but ended a lot better than it could've ended that much is true. Also it's a really long story and I'd rather not get into it right now."

Simon did remember what Dallas had told him back at the mansion about a friend of his being in the hospital and decided that it was probably better to just let it go. "Okay…I guess I was being a bit greedy, but you didn't have to just go and say what you said to me about me being…well we both know what you said to me, it really hurt to think that you didn't care about me anymore." He replied still not looking at him. Until he followed up with. "Why didn't you come to visit me Dallas? I thought about you and what happened to dad every day when I was locked up and you didn't even bother to come see me once. You didn't even bother to write me a letter."

Dallas could sense that Simon was still trying to get over him neglecting his existence after being separated, he also felt that he deserved an explanation, and the best one he could give him was one he didn't want to bring up or even consider using as a scapegoat. "My mom." He replied softly as a tear fell. "After mom found out about dad she was…well she was angry that he'd lied to her naturally. Hell she even said a bunch of things about him that I never thought I'd hear her say in front of me, and she was especially pissed when I told her that he'd been teaching me to steal behind her back the whole time, and she wasn't too fond of the fact that you were apart of the problem. So she never let me visit you, and I figured it would be better not to risk sending any letters, that and mom was always driving all around the country so it would've been impossible for you to write me back anyways. And as for while I was in foster care, well I was just…pissed."

Simon could see why the first half of his statement was true very easily, but as for the other half, that needed further explanation. "Pissed at what though? It couldn't have been something I did." Simon summed up quickly.

"Your right, it wasn't because of you." Dallas confirmed as he started to clench his fists. "It was because of uncle Seth, after mom died he was the best person to take care of me until I was eighteen, but after CPS brought me to him you know what he said? You're a waste of my time, I have better things to worry about than the wayward son of my criminal brother."

"Wow, I always knew uncle Seth was a prick but to just dump you into foster care like that? There's just no excuse for that, I mean it's bad enough that he pretty much abandoned his family to pursue his career but to flat out turn you away at the door when you have no where else to go? That's just unforgivable." Simon stated finding a lot less love for his uncle than he ever had before, which wasn't much to begin with sense he didn't really know him that well. "I guess neither of us had it any easier than the other did these past few years."

"Yeah, only difference was I was being moved around causing more trouble than I should've and just barely making it out by the skin of my teeth…" Dallas replied as he narrowed down his most recent endeavors. "Then I ended up joining a gang here in Paris, tried to screw over said gang, got into a fight with my foster brother, kicked his ass by the way, got shot by said gang, then ended up getting saved by my foster brother all within the same week, then after that Gabriel Agreste took me into his home in hopes that I could fix what he'd broke with his son, and now we're all in witness protection because apparently Gabriel used to know the same guy who possessed you and made you into a supervillain from way back in the day."

Under any other circumstances Simon would correct Dallas but he remained silent due to the fact that he'd already agreed to keep silent about this. So he decided to change the subject by figuring out how he managed to get something more useful from the book. "So like I said before Ladybug said that you'd been working for her and her team, mind sharing what that's all about?" He asked sounding as innocent as can be.

"Well…I probably shouldn't tell you this but…Mr. Agreste has this book, it's kind of a spell book for the miraculous, and Hawkmoth really wants that book too because it holds the secret to more power within the miraculous. Or at least that's what I've come to understand." Dallas replied while trying not to share too much information.

"So that's why you're in witness protection?" Simon asked while trying to sound clueless about everything.

Dallas nodded as he continued. "From what I've seen he was right, about everything, and every single spell I've learned from it I've given to Ladybug and her team, without my help I doubt that she'd ever know even half of the things she does now."

"Damn, could you imagine how many heists we could've pulled if we had something like that while dad was still around…" Simon summarized, but upon saying this he felt a small twinge in his heart. "If he did have something like that, maybe…he might still be here."

Dallas felt very insulted and disgusted that all Simon could think of using the miraculous for was pulling off a heist, especially when he should've already realized that using the miraculous for anything other than good was out of the question. But hearing him say that reminded him of something else, something that Gabriel had lightly touched on before he had to leave. "Actually…I think dad might've had one of those, according to Gabriel." He replied figuring sense Simon had gone on far more heists with their father that he might've seen this.

This remark caught Simon's attention instantly, especially with how specific it was about Gabriel, but the part with their father didn't make much sense to him. "Wait, are you saying that dad…and this…Gabriel guy…knew each other?" He asked sounding puzzled.

"Yeah, back before Hawkmoth became a supervillain he asked Gabriel to fund an excavation in the Himalayas, which he did, he also brought our dad along for the ride according to Gabe. Then they found two miraculous and the spell book. Then Hawkmoth started turning into an asshole and tried to kill everybody, then dad stepped in and used the other miraculous they found to try and stop him, but all that did was cause an avalanche which killed everybody, except you know who that is." Dallas replied as he relayed everything that Gabriel had told him before he left. "Also according to Gabe he and Dad each took something to keep safe, Gabe took the book while dad took the peacock miraculous. Gabriel even said that it was probably because of Hawkmoth that dad died that night."

All of this new information hit Simon fast without anyway to respond, but he never recalled his father ever using or even mentioning anything about the peacock miraculous even once while he was still alive, and he knew that his father wouldn't simply hide something like that from either of them. In fact if he did have something like that he would've told them both at the earliest opportunity. "Are you sure about that? Because I don't remember dad ever having anything like that, I mean he wasn't exactly secretive when it came to us pulling off a job so if he ever had something like that he only ever used it during a solo job. But still he would've told us about it at the very least." He replied as well as confirm Dallas's suspicions.

"I knew it…" He responded. "I knew he was lying. But why? And how much was he lying about?" Dallas's brain just became racked with questions, not only that but now Dallas's earlier theory about Gabriel and Hawkmoth being the same person had resurfaced, but none of this mattered at the moment, what did matter was that he had to fix his relationship with his brother.

Simon knew this as well, but at the moment he was a little more preoccupied with the idea of Gabriel lying to both him and his brother, which he didn't take too kindly to naturally. But for the moment he was just glad that his brother was back and that he was trying to fix things between the two of them. "So…what's new with you these days little brother?" He asked as he finally started on the long road to reconnecting with his younger brother.

It took about an hour for Dallas to get Simon caught up on everything he'd missed in his life. Starting from his first few weeks in foster care up until the very moment they were in, minus him being Iktomi and the fact that he was a father now of course, he refused to tell him about that especially sense he knew that if he did then Simon would most definitely ask him to help him use it during a heist which was something he would never do, and as for Yuri, he would rather not give Simon the chance to teach his nephew how to steal or anything else that their father had taught them before he died. After finally being discharged from the hospital Dallas and Simon went for a burger at an American themed tourist trap. Which was of course just a bar and grill. But it wasn't long before Simon started talking about the one thing Dallas knew he couldn't avoid, pulling a heist. "While I've been here I've seen quite a few museums with some pretty great scores to nab, most of which are in the Louver, with a little more time I can scope the place out and figure out all the guard shifts and all the blind spots in the cameras, after I get all the right gear…"

"No…" Dallas interrupted him as he gave a stern look. "That part of my life is over Simon, I have a normal life now, a real life, the kind that you and dad could never enjoy clearly."

Naturally Simon was surprised by his words, but he just thought he was joking. "HA! That was a good one little bro, so anyway…"

"I'm not joking Simon, I really am done and glad for it." Dallas replied just as firmly as before. After taking a better look at his face Simon could see that he was genuinely being serious. To say that he was shocked would be an understatement, he was flat out flabbergasted.

Simon didn't really know what to say, other than what was truly on his mind. "Holy god you're serious? But why? I figured that while I was locked up you'd…"

"That I'd try to restart the Clearlake gang in honor of dad? Or that I'd try to strike out on my own? Why in gods name would you think that Simon?" Dallas asked thrice. "After what happened in Missouri I told myself that I was done, the only reason that I fell back on it after I went into foster care was because sometimes I didn't have a choice. Some of my foster parents were a bunch of dicks who either didn't want to feed me half the time or just felt it best to hit me. So I'd get back at them the only way I could, stealing their hard earned money, which I never wanted to do but at the end of the day it all boiled down to having no choice in the matter. But I don't have to worry about that anymore, because now I've found a foster family that I actually like, before Gabriel left he even said that he'd considered me as a second son, and Adrien…he's been a great foster brother to me, hell he's been more patient than anyone else ever has even after I beat the crap out of him."

Simon didn't say anything for almost a minute, the silence was almost maddening for Dallas. He honestly would've preferred if his brother had just started yelling at him, the silence was finally broken when Simon finally said in response. "I don't believe you."

The first thought when hearing this that Dallas had was simple and plain, oh boy here we go. "Look, I know it must be hard for you to accept but this is what I want okay? Just a regular, simple, boring…" Before he could even finish Simon cut him off with a completely different tone than he expected.

"No, I mean I don't believe that your done. I mean you might think this is what you want but I know you Dallas, your just like me, your just like dad, once you get a taste of the life you can't just stop." He stated as he assumed what was the truth. "It's in your blood Dallas, you're the son of a master thief you can't help but feel the pull, the rush, it's impossible and you know it."

"No it's not Simon, it's just difficult. But it doesn't matter anymore because I'm happy with the choice I've made, especially sense I'll be getting married to Val soon enough and I refuse to bring that life into our home." Dallas replied trying to get the point across to him.

"Wait, married? You're getting married?" Simon asked twice with surprise.

Dallas just shrugged as he clarified. "Well It's more like I'm getting engaged to be engaged but soon enough we will be tying the knot and after that I promise you I am officially done, so please do me a solid favor and respect my wishes."

Simon was at a loss for words, after so many years of praying and waiting to see him again Dallas had dropped a bombshell that he never saw coming, and wasn't sure if he could accept it. But all he truly wanted was for him and Dallas to reconnect and if that meant watching him walk away from the life that their father had given them then that was a price he'd have to be willing to pay. But for him it couldn't just end without another word. "One last job then, please just one job that's all I'm asking for at least give me that." He begged.

But his words fell upon deaf ears as Dallas simply shook his head. "I'm sorry Simon, but my days as a thief are over and that's that." After standing up from the table Dallas took out a few bills and placed them on the table. "That should cover the tab, I'll…I'll try to text you later bro, try to keep your head down." And without another word Dallas just started to walk out, only for Simon to grab his wrist.

"Dallas please, it's just one job after that you can do whatever you want. I mean at least think about it won't you?" He stated plainly and being as stubborn as ever.

But Dallas just shook him off and said. "I don't need to think about it Simon, I'm surprised that you do. You finally have a chance to start over and make something of yourself and all you want to do is go back to doing what dad wanted us to do for the rest of our lives. We're not just pawns in dad's life anymore, we're free to choose who we want to be, and who I wanna be…is just a regular guy." With that said Dallas began to make his way back to the safehouse.

As soon as he walked through the door he was greeted with the sight of a very happy blond three year old running up to him. "Daddy-daddy-daddy-daddy-daddy!"

Dallas didn't hesitate to kneel down and open his arms to catch his son as he ran right into him. "Hey kid-o, daddy's so happy to see you." He said as he held his son tight and feeling all his stress from his earlier meeting with his brother wash away. As he scooped Yuri up in his arms he looked around to see if Valentina was anywhere to be seen, but to his surprise all he saw was Adrien, Plagg and Doof, the dog of which was sitting on the couch glaring at Dallas as usual. "Where's your mommy?"

"Mommy and auntie Megan took auntie Mawi out shopping fow some tuff." Yuri replied plainly. "She said dat she'd be back waiter."

When Dallas looked up to Adrien his foster brother had a feeling what he was going to ask had something to do with what Valentina had done the other night, so he simply nodded his head yes in silence for Yuri's sake. The last thing that anyone needed was for Yuri to know what his mother had done. Dallas was thankful for the discretion, he already had enough on his plate for the day with having to fight his own brother and shoot down a simple request of his. No matter how hard it was. "So, what do you wanna do buddy?" Dallas asked his son.

Who simply replied with a big toothy smile. "I wanna watch Thomas duh tank engine."

Dallas chuckled in his throat a bit then said. "Thomas the tank engine it is then, you go get the T.V. ready and I'll make us some popcorn." As he sat Yuri on the floor the toddler raced off to the living room and turned on the television and started searching for his favorite show.

As Dallas started preparing the popcorn he casually started a conversation with Adrien in hopes that it would distract himself from his issue with his brother. "You know Thomas the tank engine was created by a Catholic priest as a way to entertain young boys in England."

"Really, I didn't know that." Adrien replied finding it somewhat interesting that Dallas simply knew this off the top of his head.

"Well you know what they say, write what you know." Dallas chuckled as he clearly knew something about this topic that Adrien clearly didn't pick up on.

"I'm sorry what?" Adrien asked as he just became confused.

"Well you know, all the crap in recent years about Catholic priests molesting small boys? It's a really bad joke?" Dallas replied as he turned back to Adrien, who just looked at him with displeasure.

"Okay that's just in poor taste even for you." Adrien stated as he folded his arms in disapproval.

Dallas just shrugged and added. "It was better when Jeff Dunham said it." It was around that moment when Adrien's look changed from displeased to confused.

"Who?" He asked dumbly.

"What? Oh come on how can you not know Jeff Dunham? He's the most famous ventriloquist in the world." Dallas stated in disbelief that Adrien had never heard of one of his favorite comedians in the world.

Adrien then looked away from Dallas for a minute with a smirk as he just made a joke of his own. "Oh so he makes a living playing with dolls, that explains a lot."

"SILENCE…I KILL YOU!" Dallas shouted jokingly as he pointed a finger at Adrien and quoted one of the most iconic lines in the comedian's act.

"What?" Adrien asked as he didn't get the reference.

Dallas's arm fell to his side as he gave Adrien an are you kidding me look. "Achmed the dead terrorist? He's one of his dummies? He's literally the only one he has that looks like a skeleton." But all he got in response was a shrug. "Oh my god no wonder he never came to France during his world tour you guys don't understand comedy!"

Once the popcorn was finished popping Dallas came over to the living room and sat next to his son, despite Doof's protests Dallas just sat with Yuri in his lap as they just sat and enjoyed their time together. About half way into the episode there was an audible knock at the door. "I'll get it." Adrien called out to the other occupants of the safehouse, on instinct Doof hopped up from the couch an headed for the door and took a battle ready stance ready to kill whoever it was, assuming they were indeed hostile. Once Adrien opened the door he was shocked to see who it was standing there. "Simon? What are you…?" Before he could finish Doof charged for the door and tackled the intruder to the ground similar to how he attacked Dallas the first time they'd met.

As Simon stared up at the massive dog all he could say in response as he growled and eyeballed his throat was. "Big dog! Very big dog!"

"Uh DALLAS, I need a little help over here!" Adrien called to his foster brother from within the apartment.

Dallas just groaned as he sat Yuri off to the side and headed for the entrance of the apartment. "For god sake Doof you don't HAVE to attack every single person who…" He stopped once he saw who it was pinned underneath Doof's feet, Dallas just narrowed his eyes and said with a very annoyed tone. "Never mind, eat'um."

"WHAT?!" Simon cried hoping that his brother was only joking, but at this point he wasn't really sure if he was.

"Dallas?" Adrien half shouted at him clearly not finding his 'joke' funny at all.

Dallas just let out a groaning sigh. "FINE, Doof down." He commanded the dog, who unsurprisingly did not obey. "DOOF DOWN!" He said again with a firmer tone, but was still ignored. "Don't worry I've got an ace in the hole, I was kinda hoping that I wouldn't have to involve him but…Yuri, your doggy is being a bad boy."

After hearing his father calling for him Yuri stood up and headed for the front door to see what his dog was doing, yet again. "Doof NO!" He scolded as he marched over to his pet, he walked around him to stare straight into his eye. "Bad…bad-bad-bad…sit!" He shouted as he swatted his dog on the nose. Finally doing what he was told Doof stopped threatening Simon and sat, directly on his head.

"No-no-no-no-no awwwww…god…it stinks!" Simon uttered as the foul smell of the dogs rear end was literally in his face. This of course earned a chuckle from Dallas as he found this to be absolutely hilarious.

"Doof no, don'd sit ON him! Down…DOWN!" Yuri shouted again as he pointed at the floor, and Doof obeyed yet again, mostly, as he then proceeded to lay down in an awkward way. "NO! ON DUH FWOOR!" Then as usual Doof simply responded by giving Yuri a big slobbery kiss. "Eew!"

Deciding that he'd had enough Dallas then reached for Doof's collar and pulled him off his brother. "Alright that's enough Doof you've earned your keep for today." He said as he let the dog go. "That's all we needed Yuri thank you."

Yuri looked down at the man on the floor then looked up to his father then pointed a finger and asked. "Daddy, who's dat?"

Upon hearing the key word 'daddy' Simon's head perked up as he asked as well. "Wait, daddy?" Then he looked at the three year old for a brief second then looked up to his brother, he kept on looking between the two for almost half a minute until he finally realized that there was a striking resemblance between the two. "Oh my god…you have a kid now?"

Dallas just threw his head back and let out a long sigh before introducing his son to his brother. "Yuri this is your uncle Simon, Simon this is your nephew Yurochka but you can call him Yuri." He said as quickly as he could as he came to face the very situation he didn't want to deal with.

Yuri then turned back to his uncle, gave a little smile, then waved at him and said warmly. "Hi uncle Simon."

If Simon wasn't surprised before then he certainly was now, especially to see that his brother had fathered a child. "I don't believe this, first you tell me your dating the second deadliest assassin in the world and now you've got a kid? What other crazy shit happened while I was locked up?" Simon asked as he sat up on the floor.

"Dude, little ears!" Dallas half shouted as he gestured to his son.

Simon immediately realized what he did and tried to apologize. "Oh crap…I…am so sorry, I'm not used to being around little kids."

"Yeah no duh…" Dallas replied as he turned to Yuri and said. "Buddy why don't you go back inside with Doof and I'll be with you in a sec okay?"

"Otay daddy, bye-bye uncle Simon, come on Doof." Was all Yuri said as he and the dog entered the apartment. But as he walked past him Doof let out one last deep growl at Simon as his only warning not to hurt Yuri or else he'd regret it.

As Simon began to stand up he took a moment to collect himself before saying. "Seriously what else did you do while I was locked up? Did you secretly become the king of England or something?"

"I've got a better question for you, what the HELL are you doing here? Or better yet, how did you find HERE?" Dallas asked back.

Simon just gave a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his neck and said. "Well I…kinda bugged you."

Dallas's eyes shot open with this remark. "Come again?" He asked with confusion. Simon then grabbed Dallas's wrist and lifted it up revealing that Simon had indeed bugged him, as there was a small penny sized tracking device on the cuff of his black leather jacket. "Oh you gotta be kidding me I can't believe I fell for that old play!" He said as he began to criticize himself for not seeing one of the oldest tricks in the book. "You know what forget about it, why are you here? And it better not be for what I think it is."

Simon just sighed signaling that he was right. "Okay fine you caught me, but it's just this one…"

"Stop right there, I've already told you twice now and the answer is still no, I'm not pulling another job with you no matter how temporary our partnership is." Dallas declared once again feeling extremely annoyed with his brother for having the nerve to plant a tracker on him and following him back to a police safehouse.

Simon could sense this, but he wasn't just going to drop this unfortunately. "Dallas please, I can accept that you don't want anything else to do with the Clearlake gang but…"

"And stop calling it that, the name Clearlake was one to be honored and respected, thanks to dad our family will forever be stained with the marks of his sins." Dallas half shouted at him.

Simon took a step back in surprise that Dallas had actually said that to his face. "What happened to you?" He asked with sincerity. "I mean first you say you don't want to be part of the gang and now you go out and say something like that about dad."

Dallas quickly replied with all the anger and truth he wanted to let out in that very moment and he wasn't holding back. "I grew up that's what happened, and dad made the choice to live the way he did. We were a well and respected family back home before the truth came out about dad, now everyone looks down on us as the laughing stock of the tribe. We were even descendants of a chief for god sake, one that made a deal with the great creator. And what did dad do with that? He spat right in the face of that respect and honor when he became a thief. The point I'm trying to make here is that it was only a matter of time before dad got what was coming to him and if you don't wise up the same thing will happen to you too."

Without another word Dallas turned back into the apartment and just returned to his son's side. As Simon tried to follow him Adrien just stood in his way. "Hey move it rich boy I'm not done talking to him." Simon declared as he tried to push past him.

"Well he's done talking to you clearly, and I suggest you get out of here before I sick the dog on you again and don't think I won't." Adrien threatened.

But Simon wasn't intimidated by him. "This doesn't concern you, this is a family matter and you are not family."

"That's irrelevant, if he doesn't want to talk to you then you can't force him to, especially over something like this. Now please take your leave and don't bother us again." Adrien stated firmly as he shut the door behind him.

Simon wanted to just kick down the door in that moment, and force Dallas to talk to him, but he didn't think that would go over very well, especially with the dog being in there and he'd rather not have another confrontation with Doof so soon. He figured that it would be better to try again on a later date when Dallas wasn't so worked up.

About an hour later Simon had returned to Gabriel looking a little angry, as soon as he'd entered Gabriel's safehouse he locked his focus onto him and said with a cold tone. "We need to talk…right now!"

Gabriel just sighed and said. "What is it now Simon I'm rather busy."

"It's about my dad…" He announced already deciding not to drag things out. "My brother told me that you hired him for something before he died, something similar to what I'm doing now. I want to know everything your not telling me or else I walk."

Normally Gabriel wouldn't simply take to being threatened lightly, but he could understand how Simon felt about being kept in the dark. "It's true that I hired your father years ago, I sent him a few copied pages from the book for him to translate, pages regarding my miraculous mostly." He stated truthfully. "I admit I had my doubts at first because I'd gotten my hopes up far too many times with other scientist in his particular field of work before, but that all changed when he sent back something useful to me. So I kept on sending him pages for him to translate, of course I hadn't heard about your father's grim demise until after he'd stopped sending me everything I wanted to know, along with his death being announced on the news."

This information managed to answer Simon's other question about his father's passing. "So you didn't screw him over."

Gabriel finally turned around to face him and asked genuinely confused. "Why on earth would I kill the man I hired to help me?"

"I'm not saying you did, or would for that matter. All I know is…on his last heist…someone sold him out to the cops." Simon announced. "To this day I still don't have a clue who it was or why, but I'll bet you it was my grandfather."

Gabriel saw a single tear fall from Simon's face with that remark, he then turned away from him and returned to what he was doing as he stated. "I can assure you it wasn't your grandfather, according to your brother it was someone else. And from what he's told me that someone, who ever he or she may be, is already paying for it. I'm not sure what he means but I can assure you that your father's death was avenged."

Simon didn't know what to say at that point, but for the moment he was content with this knowledge about his father. Without another word he left Gabriel to what he was doing previously, which was simply designing a new set of outfits for Adrien, Marinette and Dallas. "I might not be able to act as your shield son, but I can still protect you with these."

(A/N: That's all for this chapter everybody hope you enjoyed it, also sorry if it seemed a little short, I admit it was getting kind of long so I chose to split it up into two different chapters because of how long it was taking to get this one out. Of course part of that is because I had to watch my parents dogs yet again as they went on they're third vacation this year and only just got back a few days ago. Seriously how many times in a year do you have to go on vacation in a year before you feel destressed? Anyway it's time for the spoiler, in the next chapter of WOS Valentina takes Marinette shopping, Marinette tries to kill Dallas, again, and Simon uses Yuri to do something unforgivable. Alright that's all for now, also you won't have to wait for the next chapter after this one because I'm posting it right after this one.)