*Author's Note:* Please forgive the short/slow chapter and horrible update schedule. I'm seriously so sorry for not posting in over a year, I've been writing this fic the entire time! I have been facing a series of unfortunate events (declining mental health, homelessness, two jobs, a breakup, and a loss of a pet) and it's been difficult to sit down and be creative. Of course I love this fic and will work on it when I can, but it's just busy over here now. I hope you understand 3

Additional note: I recently became aware that readers on are unable to see the hyphenated time skips, which really sucks and I will go back and fix it one day. For now though, I have changed them to be an asterisk (*) instead. If there are any other issues (spelling and grammatical errors, or even continuity errors) please let me know!

"Yes Sir," Patryck nodded as he obeyed the order. He turned back to Alison before walking away, she stared longingly at him. Her shoulders drooped and she wondered what was so important that neither of the generals could be present to hear it. Paul was already at the doorway, hand on the knob. They were instructed to lock the door on their way out and wait for a knock when Red Leader demanded to be let out.

Upon the return of Alison, he ordered her to be taken to a questioning room deep in the basement levels of the Keyhole. At first, this decision was questioned, but he had explained to his generals that it was because after spending such a long time with the enemy, he needed to hear the full story before she could go back to her daily life. She was once again bound to handcuffs and sat in a chair, a nightmare she could never seem to escape this week. When Red Leader came to meet her, she was delighted to see him, but he didn't share such excitement. Patryck especially observed his behavior as quite odd- he barely spoke to her directly, and referred to her as a prisoner. He was going to ask his commander why he was being so cold, but he was ordered to leave the room before he had a chance. He knew better than to deny him, so he relented and stepped out calmly. He and Paul exchanged glances, Patryck searched his face. For once, he couldn't tell what he was feeling. After the fight in the warehouse, the both of them didn't speak to each other apart from necessary work-related conversation. Patryck felt like Red Leader was angry with them, too. That could have just been him looking into it too much, maybe it was his own shame from the loss seeping through. If Red Leader truly was angry, he didn't express it directly. For the first time in a long time the generals were forced to retreat. He had to call for a cowardly pull-back, admitting defeat from an opponent that meant nothing. A group of nobodies...overwhelming me. His mind was still brewing how it was possible. Granted, it was a strategic retreat. He chose to leave because he had gotten what he came for. Besides, they weren't just nobodies, were they? No, not all of them. The leader of such an organization was none other than Red Leader's sworn enemy. He had never met him personally, but he's seen him before- many years ago. He cursed himself for not recognizing him upon meeting, instead it all clicked when he introduced himself. Tom, he had said simply. I suppose if I had killed him, the boss really would have had my head then, right? It was true, Red Leader swore many times over that Tom was his kill and his kill alone. It wasn't Patryck's place to deny him that kill, nor was he in a position to question his grudge after so many years. But he supposed that Tom also had a grudge, and perhaps Red Leader was right to stay mad for so long. Now, he had made a group to rise up against the army, so maybe his commander was right all along.

Paul was turning the key to lock the door when Patryck couldn't handle the silence between them anymore, "what's on your mind?"

"Hm?" Paul looked up at him with dead eyes. "Nothing, really. Did you have something?"

"No," Patryck looked away. "Well, that's not entirely true…" He peered into the tiny window in the middle of the door, there Red Leader was standing in the way of Alison. From that angle he couldn't tell what was going on inside. "I've just been thinking about everything is all."

"Ah," Paul rested his back on the wall and crossed his arms. "Well, I don't have much to say about it."

Patryck smirked awkwardly, hoping he would lighten up just a little bit, "you aren't angry with me, are you?"

"For calling the retreat? No, I wouldn't be angry with you for something silly like that."

"That's good…" They sat in silence for a bit, Patryck's attempt to shed some joy on recent events fell flat. He could hear Alison's muffled voice coming from the other side of the door. Feeling nosy, he tried to see what was going on. Red Leader was crouched at her side, and he didn't look happy. There was a tear streaming down Alison's cheek, her face flushed bright red with frustration and confusion. He must have said something to upset her, because she called out something he couldn't understand through the thick metal door. Her voice came shrill and distressed, she bared her teeth at him. That was a bad choice on her part, because as soon as she did so, Red Leader raised his voice and got up in her face about something. Patryck grew concerned, "do you believe she's a traitor?"

Paul huffed, "she could be. I find it a bit hard to believe that she came out of the whole thing completely unscathed."

"Well she isn't according to her. She says she was starved."

"Did you hear her stomach rumbling? Was she dirty or battered to you?" Paul raised an eyebrow.

Patryck still felt a twinge of guilt for how she was being treated, "I just didn't really think she'd be the type, I don't know."

"Well, it doesn't matter. If she did betray us, then she's getting punished for it. If she didn't, well, she's not putting up a good case otherwise."

Patryck watched the scene unfold with a neutral expression. The one meant to be her lover was yelling something into her ear, to which she screamed out in protest. She struggled against her restraints and tried to get away from him, but it was no use. With his patience depleted, Red Leader grabbed Alison's face and forced her to look him in the eye. "I just think it's a bit much is all."

Paul shrugged, "does it really matter?"

A shriek of pain split the air that broke Paul out of his relaxed position. They both took a look inside and found their commander's robotic arm raised in the air and Alison's head hung at her chest. She was trembling now, and he carried out his intention whole-heartedly. They watched casually as the metal smacked against her skull for the second time. Her wail of protest was so loud they were able to hear her words. "Stop it! Please stop!" Instead, he took her hair from the roots and forced her head to look at him. Patryck saw his lips move, his stare going into a far-off place he did not know.

"I guess it doesn't."

Whatever Red Leader needed to say to Alison, he must have said it all. She sobbed mournfully with her head down in shame, her curls falling into a mess. He turned, the generals twisted themselves around quickly before he noticed they were staring. Within seconds there was a soft knock, and Paul answered it by opening the door for him. The dictator didn't look at either of his generals, instead he simply exited the questioning room and started on his way down the hallway, expecting them to follow. Patryck peered into the room for a final time. Alison was crying profusely to herself, "I'm not a traitor! I'm not a traitor. I would never...never in my life." For a moment Patryck wondered if she was repeating that mantra as a way to affirm it herself. In any case, he had no proof of her alignment, and the person with the final ruling had already made his judgement. In that way, he supposed, it was less for him to worry about. It was never his job to prove her guilty or innocent, just do as he was told. His job was simple, and he was grateful for that. Paul shut the door without saying another word. The generals only exchanged one final look before heading off to join their leader.

Edd looked over at Tom nervously, searching his face for emotion. He cursed the visor for making him so hard to read. They were just called in from the hospital waiting room and were on their way to visit Matt. His family had already been there a while, the news reached Danny late the night before. Edd wasn't there to hear it, but apparently he was not very happy. I wouldn't be either, Edd thought, it wasn't supposed to be this way. The only other thing he was updated on was that Matt was alive, for starters, but as predicted his eye couldn't be saved. His shoulder wound was fine too, nothing important was tampered with. His jaw bone was fractured however, and they had to bolt the crack closed and thick metal wires held the bone in place. He was in stable condition now, but where he was supposed to go from here no one knew.

Edd thought of something that had been bothering him, "what do the kids know? Do they have any idea what really happened?"

Tom shook his head and kept his voice low, "no. As far as they're aware, it was a car accident. And it'll stay that way, right?"

Edd jumped back, offended he thought he would blab about something like that, "of course!" He relaxed, "besides, I don't know what I would do with myself if Matt's kids hated me."

"Why would they hate you?"

"For getting him involved with something that almost killed their dad. They're like my little nieces and nephews, I'd be crushed if they knew I was a part of this." Edd looked at the ground in shame. He felt he was to blame for it all, if it wasn't for him Matt would be safe at home right now.

"Well, rest assured you won't have to worry about it." Tom took a quick breath of air and cracked open the door. Edd peered inside and saw Matt laid in a hospital bed, the back raised so he could sit up. He was surrounded by his children, with his husband on his right side holding his hand tight. In the other arm he was holding his newborn wrapped in a blanket.

When Dan saw the door open, he looked up and his smile noticeably faded. Everyone looked over at them, making Edd shift uncomfortably. Matt was the one who greeted them, "hey guys!" He sounded joyous to see them, but it was obvious he was weak. There was a slur to his words, his jaw couldn't open all the way. Edd noticed the round eyes of the second youngest, Tatianna, fixated on him.

Tom answered quickly, trying his best to seem nonchalant under Dan's intense stare, "hey man, still breathing?"

"Yup!" Matt smiled at them, grateful to say such a thing. Dan eyed him and bit back something to say in response.

Despite feeling the tense fog that was held between them, Edd didn't hesitate to make his way over to the bed. Roy, the eldest child, crossed his arms and moved out of his spot so Edd could take his place. He thanked him, but he said nothing in return. "Damn, that is some carnage!" He was observing Matt's face. The skin where it was burned had a bandage on it, and the slice over his eye was stapled closed.

Matt was almost embarrassed, "yeah...they said it won't look too bad when it's healed though."

"Nah, it looks awesome! You're like a cool seasoned sergeant in a war movie or a mysterious detective!"

Despite his attempt at lifting the mood, Matt didn't feel any better. Dan turned to his son, "Roy, can you take Rain and them outside? The adults need to talk for a little bit." Roy huffed and begrudgingly took the baby in his clumsy arms and herded his sisters out of the room. Edd could tell he wanted to stay a little longer, or at least be present for the conversation. When he heard the soft click of the closing door behind them, Danny crossed his arms.

Tom began suddenly, "I'm so sorry this happened, if there's any way we could compensate you-"

"I don't want him fighting with you anymore," Dan said sternly.

Tom was stunned for a couple seconds so Edd protested for him, "no! We love Matt and he's been a great addition to us!"

"I know that, and I'm sorry," Dan avoided looking them in the face, "but look at this mess…"

Edd looked around trying to convince him otherwise, "he wouldn't have to be in battle anymore, he can take up a different role instead!"

"This is true," Tom urged, "Matt is talented in his field, and he's saved our lives before. He can still be in the order without being on the front lines, there are multiple departments-"

"No. Absolutely not." It was clear Dan wasn't going to budge. "All of this has gone too far already. Our family has already lost so much, we can't afford to play games and lose more."

"I know that..." Tom sighed sadly, "but this was an accident. It won't ever happen again."

"And how can I trust that?" Danny was starting to get frustrated on Matt's behalf, upset that he wasn't being listened to. "He's almost been killed three times now. Three!" He had to take a step away and he shook his head in disbelief.

Tom interrupted, "Matt's trying to say something." Dan glared at him for ignoring his point, but once he realized it was true his gaze softened.

Matt's face was full of sadness, "he's just trying to protect me. Be kind to him, please…" This was directed at Tom and Edd. Danny relaxed his shoulders and unclenched his jaw when he realized he was being too intense.

Tom elbowed Edd in the side, "of course we will. Again, Matt, we're really sorry this happened to you. I-I didn't know things would turn out like this."

Matt nodded slowly, "I know, and that's okay." He turned his attention to his husband, "you have to remember, Danny, I volunteered myself to be on that mission."

"Yeah, but-"

Matt went on, "and I was shooting back. I put myself in the position to get injured and that's just what happened. Don't hold it against them, please, it wasn't their fault." But that's not exactly true, is it? Edd thought about Alison, and how if he didn't capture her, there would be no ransom mission. I'm sure you think that, but in the end it was all me, wasn't it? He turned to Tom to see if maybe he was thinking something along the same lines, but there was no way to tell.

For the next few minutes, Tom continued to urge them to accept his offer of compensation. Matt kept refusing, but Dan seemed more interested. Edd thought that was funny, he found the couple to be weirdly entertaining. They work so well, if anything worse happened to Matt, I don't know how I could handle that. His guilt was distracting, and while they talked about numbers, his eyes wandered to a moving figure in the door window. He recognized Roy's dark and puffy hair as he tried to get a peek inside standing on his toes. Once his widened eyes noticed Edd looking back at him, he flashed away from view. Me too, kid. For a minute, Edd wondered as a thirteen year old how much information Roy would be able to handle. If he knew the truth about what happened to his father, would he understand? If Matt were to tell him about the order, would he be able to keep it a secret? Probably not, at least I wouldn't have been able to. His mind went on a tangent about himself at that age, and a thought popped into his head. Oh no, but Halloween is tomorrow! He looked over at the door again, I wonder what that means for them, then…

"Is something wrong, Edd?" he jumped when he heard Tom's voice grab his attention.

"Oh- well, actually…" he didn't know whether or not the question would be inappropriate, "what are you going to do about tomorrow?"

Matt turned to his husband as if this was something they have already talked about, "we don't know yet. It's kind of up in the air right now."

Dan added, "the doctors said he can be transferred to home care, but I can't leave him alone."

"Besides, there's Rain, too…" Matt continued.

There was a moment of quiet among them, but a lightbulb flickered on inside Edd's head, "I know!" Everyone turned to him. "I can take the kids if you want! I'm taking Amy out anyway, it could be a group thing."

Matt's face lit up at the idea, "Robin and Amy haven't met yet have they? Wouldn't that be fun!"

Dan held up a hand to stop the both of them, "whoa now, hold on a second. Edd, no offense, but I'm not sure if I trust you around my kids after all this."

What? Edd snapped his head towards him, taking offense. This had nothing to do with the kids, what do you think I'd do with them? "What do you mean?" He tried not to sound outwardly offended.

"I just mean," Dan groaned in frustration, "that you keep getting into trouble. All of London is searching for you- and even if you're not hunted in my neighbourhood, I don't know if I want a wanted criminal around my kids." Matt tried to interject but he had one more point to make, "besides, they don't know you that well anyway."

Edd argued without thinking, "well this can be a good start!" Dan sighed in response. "I'm bringing my daughter, if I were to endanger myself, I would be harming my own kid too. I promise I wouldn't do anything, what would I even get myself into? The order isn't taking any action right now, right Tom?"

Tom flinched at the sudden mention of him and awkwardly waved himself out of the momentary spotlight, "yeah. We have to mole ourselves into hiding again. We have way too much to do." He looked sad to say it.

"Unfortunately," Dan crossed his arms, "that doesn't warrant my approval. You can be responsible for your own kid, that's fine. But I don't trust you around mine."

"Danny…" Matt's weak voice croaked as he placed a gentle hand on his arms, "consider it a little more. He's offering his help, and if he was so wanted, they wouldn't have been let into the waiting room- right?"

Tom jutted in with a hint of attitude towards his oppressors, "you can say that again. They knew it was us the whole time I bet, and yet I haven't been denied access to any government facilities- like here. No travel checkpoints, nothing. No one even questioned me about moving out of my apartment." I wonder why, Edd thought, it feels like we're being protected.

"That's all well and good, but it doesn't change the fact that they could be looking for you." Dan turned to Matt and spoke softly to him, "didn't you promise me that when you got into this business you would keep it away from them?"

"But this isn't order business, Danny," Matt urged. "This is a friend helping a friend." Not giving up hope to convince him, Matt grasped at a final straw, "I think I have an idea!"

Stacy held the camera close to her eye and held out a straight arm, signalling the kids to huddle closer together. Curse Matt and his ideas, Edd groaned internally. After more convincing yesterday in the hospital, Dan finally agreed that he would let his kids go with Edd if his ex-wife was there too. Matt knew that Edd wouldn't dare try anything with her around. Why do I feel like I'm the one being babysat?

"You guys look so cute!" Stacy gushed as she snapped another photo. The kids had all just gotten dressed in their costumes and she was taking advantage of the last stretch of sunlight. They all looked uncomfortable to be there, Amy more so because she was the odd one out in the group of Matt's kids. Roy didn't seem too excited to be with a bunch of little girls, but he stayed close to his sister Robin anyway. The only one who seemed unbothered was Tati, who was soaking up the camera's attention as she fluffed out her princess dress. It was obvious that they weren't the most comfortable around the strange adults, especially after the hospital visit the day before.

"Be sure to call me if anything happens," Dan's voice pulled Edd out of his thoughts. He turned and saw him standing on the edge of the porch with a coffee mug in hand. While Stacy was busy taking pictures, Edd stepped away to answer him.

"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen," he was mostly sure about it, but it would be a lie if he didn't already think about the possibilities.

Dan wasn't entirely convinced, but he didn't say anything more. He projected his voice to ask the group generally, "is everyone ready?"

"I am!" Tati threw up her bag in excitement.

Roy looked around for a moment, then stepped towards the door, "I'll be right out." Edd watched him reenter his house, vanishing behind the door. By then, Dan was doing a last check up on everyone's outfits. Curious, Edd followed the teenager inside, hoping to get a couple last words in with Matt before he left. As soon as he entered, he heard Roy's faint footsteps going toward the living room. Matt was planted there in a hospital bed, completely bedridden. Edd followed him softly, as he approached he could overhear their conversation. "Are you sure I can't just stay at home with you?"

"Aw, but wouldn't that upset your sister?" Matt's voice was just as weak as it was the day before.

"She has Tati and that girl." Edd frowned at the inflection.

"Roy...be nicer, she's a friend."

Roy ignored the comment, "besides, I'm thirteen, I don't need to trick-or-treat anymore."

"But don't you want sweets?"

Suddenly, the activity sounded a lot more enticing, "yeah...but I can just steal some from Robin." Frustrated, he whined, "I just don't want to leave you here! And I have other things to do…" Admittedly, Edd felt bummed to hear that he wasn't excited to go out with him. He wondered if the real reason was that he didn't want to be around three strangers. He guessed Roy wouldn't want to admit that a family friend was the reason he didn't want to spend a holiday with his siblings.

Matt said something that Edd couldn't make out and they exchanged a couple quiet sentences. In the end, however, Matt got his way and Edd could tell by his voice that he successfully made Roy at least a little more willing to come. As Roy moved to leave, he spotted Edd in the hallway. As soon as they noticed each other, they averted their eyes. Roy tried to slip past, but Edd caught him before he went, "I'm sorry if you're having a bad day."

Roy looked up at him, surprised. He quickly apologized, "I didn't mean- no, my day is fine."

Edd smiled, hoping he'd pick up on how genuine it was, "I promise we're gonna have fun alright? I know the situation isn't...ideal, but I wouldn't let any kid miss out on getting a ton of free sweets!" To his satisfaction, he saw the corners of Roy's mouth lift into a small grin. Trying to push the negativity aside for good, Edd pointed at a component of his costume, "that cape looks so good! I kind of recognize it actually." This year, he was dressed like a vampire, probably to match his edgy teenage aesthetic.

"Oh, thanks, I found it in my dad's closet," he said while slipping back outside.

"So naturally, I couldn't help myself and I threw one more egg at his window, unfortunately though, he couldn't take much more than that, because he ended up calling the police on us," Edd was telling another one of his stories from a long-passed teenage Halloween to the kids. It was mostly Roy listening, as the girls left every couple of minutes to go door to door for their candies.

"Did you get arrested?" his eyes widened in interest.

"Well I-"

"Don't. Answer that," Stacy said with a disapproving look.

Edd laughed and said quickly with a hand against his mouth before she could cut him off completely, "we managed to run away before they arrived, it was quite the adrenaline rush!"

"Ooooo," Roy's expression lit up at the resolution.

"Alright, alright," Stacy put an encouraging hand on his shoulder and urged him forward towards the next house as the girls rushed past them. He reluctantly gave in, as he wouldn't be hearing any more rebellious tales of Edd's youth. Now just the two of them, Stacy tried to keep the moment solid in the present, rather than talking about the past. "Look at those two," she elbowed her ex-husband in the side and pointed at their daughter and Robin. They were walking side by side and having a piecey conversation between houses, "they seem to be having fun together."

They were both glad to see it, but Edd especially felt a surge of pride in his heart. After all, Amy didn't have a lot of friends- and to find one in his pseudo-niece was an absolute pleasure to observe. He smiled, "I hope they want to hang out after this! Wouldn't that be so sweet?" For a few minutes it was silent between them aside from making one-off comments about their surroundings. Edd couldn't help but notice the tension between them. He rarely spoke to her outside of co-parenting business. The truth was he missed speaking to the person he used to love, the one he shared his life with. After Tom and Matt left his life, she was the only one that held on, it seemed. But even her over time faded away, leaving Edd alone to fend for himself. Now, their relationship was a broken artifact of a marriage, too awkward to talk about anything else but their shared experience of parenthood. He struggled to think about a subject she'd be willing to talk to him about. It was hard to relate to her these days, he had no idea what she did in her spare time anymore. And even in the things he did know, he didn't know much about, let alone share the interest. Just as she turned away from him, he let his thoughts slip out, "do you still watch those reality shows about celebrities?"

She raised one eyebrow at him and huffed, "are you making fun of me?"

"Wha- no!" Edd leaned into her and lowered his voice slightly, "I was wondering if you knew about Alison Marigold." The mention of the name made him feel like he was doing something wrong, but he had to let his nerves cool knowing she had no idea of his involvement with the figure.

"Know about?" Stacy snorted, "of course I know about her, I'm more surprised you have any idea who that is."

Good, Edd thought, maybe I can get to know about Ali a little more this way. Or find out what happened to her. Shaking off his thoughts, he asked her, "I barely know anything about her, I just know she's Red Leader's girlfriend, and I saw her name in a recent news story. So I figured you'd know the deal better than me."

Stacy looked around for a moment, and waited for another set of parents to walk by them before answering him, "oh, I know everything!" She gave him a sly smile, like she's been waiting to share this gossip. Edd got excited as she began, "she was the original girlfriend of his, a couple of years ago. A complete nobody, I guess someone who worked internally in the Concave building. But then it gets really juicy!"

"Oh?"

"Oh yeah, relatively soon after they got together, another girl that works in the Concave was found hanging out with him in public, like restaurants and stuff, even on holidays!"

"Scandalous," Edd tipped his head to her, showing he was listening intently.

"Absolutely! So, now that the paparazzi was obsessed with them, Kathy- that's her name by the way, Kathy Grayson- had to make a statement that the three of them were in an open relationship together! The news went absolutely wild with it, especially because Alison kept refusing to make any public statements about it- still does."

The last point piqued his interest, "why is that? Is she embarrassed or something?" She didn't seem to be when I talked to her... Edd thought, but he didn't dare say it out loud.

"That's what was speculated, yeah. But she was never one to be in the spotlight. Which leads me to the next girl-"

"The next girl?" Edd pretended he didn't know, as it possibly would have given away how much he knew about the situation.

"Oh yes, yes yes yes!" Her mood lifted greatly in the few minutes she began talking about it. Amy stared at her parents smiling at each other as she walked past them to the next house. "Enter Hayley Brice. What you need to know about her is that she's a social media influencer. So- she does makeup and fashion and stuff. She comes out of nowhere on all her accounts announcing that she joined their relationship and they were going to go on holiday with him to Morocco that summer!"

Wanting to change the subject to focus more on Alison, Edd tried to steer her away, "so the first girl is camera shy, right? Has she ever made statements about the drama?"

"Not really, out of the three of them she's definitely the most boring," Stacy's blunt evaluation caught him off guard. "It's kind of a common thing to make fun of her, Hayley and Kathy barely acknowledge she exists. And it's whatever anyway, I'm a sucker for trash TV! I heard they're going to make a new housewives reality show out of them!"

Edd shied away at her obvious excitement, "that seems...kinda weird- making fun of your own girlfriend I mean."

"Oh- they aren't dating each other," she corrected, "the three of them are dating Red Leader, it's like a harem situation."

"Sheesh," he didn't know how else to respond. The more he learned about them, the weirder things became. He never took Red Leader to be the public celebrity gossip type. Edd wondered how he never came to find out any of these things himself. Though, admittedly he had stayed out of that societal circle jerk his entire adulthood. And for good reason I guess, what a fuckin' nightmare. But why would Red Leader want to live that way? Wouldn't he, as a political figure, want to stay out of the way of the harsh spotlight of TV talk show drama? It's probably all a political play at the end of the day, huh, he concluded. But where does Ali fit into all this? She equally wasn't the type to want to be involved in such a scandal. And it didn't seem fair that she was mocked for being private when in person she's the first to defend her situation. It made Edd concerned for her, what really was going on in her relationship? He had a thought, but he tucked it away into a back corner of his mind, was it really such a good idea to give her back to the army? "So this news story I saw that made me think of asking you- it said that something happened. Do you know anything about that? To be honest I didn't read it." Admittedly, he didn't read it because this mysterious article didn't exist. He just wanted to see if she knew what might have happened when she returned to the army's clutches.

"Hm, well, yeah kind of. It's pretty confusing right now though." She narrowed her eyes ahead, trying to piece the story together in a way that made sense. "I'm sure you've heard about the raid on the Keyhole?"

"Oh- uh, yeah. Barely though," he prevented himself from sweating, I wonder how much you've heard.

"Well there was a rumor going around that someone was abducted by the terrorists. Hayley made a post hinting that it was someone she knew, so it might have been Alison. I assume that article you saw was under that theory. But nothing has been confirmed, it could have been anyone. She hasn't been active on social media but to be fair she rarely is anyway."

"Oh wow, I hope she's okay if that's the case. I'm sure she's fine though…" Edd trailed off.

"Oh I'm sure she is. But wouldn't it be more interesting if it were someone more important?"

"Your dad sure does have a lot of stories," Robin commented suddenly, trying to keep up the conversation. She and Amy were sticking close together through the neighbourhood. Tati had gotten too excited, and scampered off a couple of houses ahead, Roy keeping an eye on her. Amy felt more comfortable being alone with her, they were only a few months apart in age, so having a peer made the awkwardness ebb slowly away.

"Yeah, because he's older than the dinosaurs," Amy muttered in response. "I'm sure he has a story about the foundation of mankind!" She rolled her eyes, unamused by her father's constant need to look relatable to her.

"Well I think it's cool," Robin pointed out, her brown bob of hair cascading softly down her shoulder as she tilted her head. "I like the ones where he mentions my dad, I never knew he was such a rebel when he was younger."

"Really?" Amy raised an eyebrow at her, utterly confused. "That's practically all I hear about! 'Matt and I got in a bike accident when we were nine!' 'One time Uncle Matt fed the class hamster a flaming hot chip and it looked like he had blood on his mouth!' blah blah blah," she imitated his voice in a mocking tone.

"That's crazy! I never knew any of that! My dad never really talks about his childhood, unless we ask." Amy noticed that Robin was overly polite and reserved in her movements. Unlike her siblings, she kept her limbs tight to her body and expressed herself mostly with her face rather than her hands. She found that quite odd, but not necessarily a bad thing either.

Curious now, Amy wanted to know more about the difference between their dads, "why do you think that is? Him not saying much about his childhood I mean."

She looked up at the stars, as if she herself was wondering the same thing, "I'm not sure." She beamed brightly as the door in front of them opened to reveal another happy mother ready to give out sugary treats for them. She gladly accepted a few chocolate pieces and added them to her growing collection. As soon as they turned away, she added, "I think it's because he isn't proud of his childhood."

Amy blinked at her, thinking that comment was rather ominous and came out of nowhere. I guess it's my fault for asking, she murmured silently to herself. She was unsure whether or not to stimulate her to continue that subject, or to leave it alone. It sounded personal, and probably something she shouldn't know about. But Robin went out of her way to say it, so surely that means she would want to speak more on it? "What do you mean? Why wouldn't he be happy about it?"

"Well, you would know, since your dad talks about it a lot." Robin kept looking ahead of her.

"About what? I'm not sure what you mean."

"About being friends with Red Leader. I think that's why he doesn't like talking about it." The name visibly upset Robin, and Amy wasn't sure why. She may not express things well with her body language, but her eyes darkened the more she spoke, and Amy felt like she could see the thoughts swirling behind her gaze. Amy didn't know a lot about her leader, and the title was only mentioned rarely in her household. Her mother prefered to keep politics away from the dinner table, so the only time she heard about political events was either from school or boring chatter among adults at family gatherings. That being said, she was aware of her father's long history with the figure. Sometimes she found it hard to believe, but at the same time she didn't find it too surprising that they were schoolmates. I mean, even so, who cares? So what if they grew up together, why is that something to be ashamed of? Whenever her dad mentioned him in stories, it was never in a negative light, so why would Robin's dad take issue with the fact that they used to be friends? Does she know something I don't?

Amy was starting to feel awkward again. She worried that the conversation had gone south, and she dug into a place she wasn't meant to. She decided it would be best to talk about something else. She looked around for some sort of lead and a small voice caught her attention. Up ahead, Tati was just stepping down from someone's porch as the back of her dress got caught between two wooden boards making up the edge. Before she could trip, Roy spotted the incoming disaster and grabbed her back. He crouched to her rescue and set her free, her thanks coming in delighted squeals that her knight has saved the princess yet again. Amy envied that relationship. "You and your siblings seem so close. I wish I had that."

Robin's voice didn't give any clues as to whether or not changing the subject was the right thing to do, "oh? No way, I think being an only child is much better. You get more privacy, you don't need to babysit, and you get all your parents' attention to yourself."

Amy scoffed at the last point, "yeah, right." She looked away, "the only attention I get from my dad is telling me dinner is ready. He doesn't care about me at all, he didn't even know I signed up for dance until he saw me leave with my bag!"

"You do dance?"

"Yeah…" Amy groaned, disappointed that was the only part she decided to pick up on.

"I'm in dance too! I have since I could walk." Amy felt inferior under the weight of her accomplishment. It's like she's better than me in literally every single way. How is that even possible?

"Oh wow, that's cool…I assume you're pretty good at it then," she said through gritted teeth, trying to keep up a smile.

"I guess so, it's just the thing I've always done. All of us have a 'thing', you know? Tati's is her whole princess obsession, mine is dancing, Roy's is music, and Demeter liked video games."

"Demeter, who's that?"

Robin caught herself and tensed, then eased. She looked at the ground, "she's my older sister, she's no longer with us though."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Amy frowned, acutely aware of how sensitive the subject probably was to her. After a moment, she realized maybe her life wasn't so perfect after all. She remembered her reaction to Red Leader, and noticed her responses were similar. There was grief when talking about her sister, but there was something else too, fear. Maybe the two are connected, she let her mind wander, but that's not really my business is it? "Well, I'm sure she was really cool. All of you guys seem really cool!"

"Thank you," Robin perked up a little as she said it, and gave Amy a soft smile. For once, she finally encouraged a change in subject herself and held up one of the night's prizes, "the benefit of trick-or-treating in my neighbourhood- full sized chocolate bars!"

"Hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Amy held out an open hand, inviting her to high-five.

Robin didn't understand at first but then slapped her hand in triumph. "My dads don't let me swear like that." Her sentence became muffled as she unwrapped a candy and plopped it in her mouth.

"Eh, mine doesn't either, but don't tell him I said that!" Amy harshly whispered. Finally feeling comfortable around her, she let anything on the mind be subject to speak on. "Oh! I forgot to tell you, I heard about your dad and that car accident. I hope he's doing alright. I hope you weren't offended I didn't go say hi when we were at your house."

Robin shook her head, "not at all! And thank you, he's doing fine now. It was kind of scary when we were in hospital visiting him though. He seems to be a lot happier at home at least."

"Good, I'm glad," they flashed friendly smiles to each other. "What happened anyway? If you don't mind me asking." At this point, the girls were more interested in talking to each other than participating in the holiday. They skipped a few houses in favor of catching up to the rest of the group, although the adults still strayed behind.

"No, I don't mind. Apparently, what we were told at least, was that he was coming up on an intersection when another car pulled out ahead without stopping on the opposite side of him. I think it's called a T-bone? But can I tell you a secret?" She leaned in close.

"Sure, go ahead," Amy tried not to sound excited to hear one.

"I don't really believe that!" Amy gasped dramatically as Robin nodded. "It doesn't make any sense to me, none of his injuries seem to line up, I mean, how did he get a hole in his shoulder-?"

"That's enough." In their gossip, both of them failed to notice Roy behind them. He glared at his sister in disapproval, "don't reveal our personal information like that. It's none of her business."

Taken aback by his blatant rudeness, Robin lowered her brow and scrunched his nose at him, "oh, what do you know! Go away, I'm trying to talk to Amy in peace!" He snorted and brushed past them, scurrying after Tatianna. "Ugh, ignore him," she apologized as soon as he was out of earshot, "he's always kind of annoying. But especially when he became the oldest he started being so overprotective for no reason. I mean, I know they were close, but so are we! So I don't know why he's being such a jerk all the time."

"He and Demeter were close?" Amy asked.

"Yeah," she nodded, "and ever since she left he's been obsessed over it. Like I get it, I love my sister too, but at least I try to keep things positive…"

"I'm sure he's just looking out for you, like I said before, I wish I had an older brother that was protective of me." When she felt the sentiment settle, Amy turned and pointed to her parents that were hardly trying to catch up while they laughed together. "Speaking of staying positive, look at that."

"What about it? Do they usually not get along?" She followed her finger and observed them too. It looked like Edd was in the middle of telling a story.

"No, not at all. They barely ever speak to each other, let alone whatever the frick I'm looking at right now!"

"Well I guess that's a good thing, isn't it? Or is that bad?"

"No no, it's definitely good...I think. I just don't know what to make of it. Who are you guys and what have you done to my parents?" Amy was joking, but she still firmly believed in the point she was trying to make. Regardless, she was equally happy and surprised to see it.

She caught her father's eye and he made a comment to Stacy before making his way over to them. Amy thought it was funny how slow he moved, practically a fossil. "Hey cowgirl! How are you two getting on? Getting ready to wrap things up?" For the first time, Amy noticed that the long line of houses was coming quickly to an end. The dead end in front of her carried off into a manicured forest and the sun was well put away beyond the horizon. The moving shapes of Roy and Tati were barely visible when they exited the glow of the streetlights. The littlest one skipped to regroup with them, hands free after handing off her stash to her brother.

Giddy from the hard work of collecting sugary sweets all night, she bounced over to Stacy and tugged on the bottom of her shirt, "you'll never guess how much I got! I bet it weighs a million!"

Amy saw Robin shift from the corner of her vision. Turning to face her, she saw that she was looking directly at her. "I guess this is it then, huh? You're going home after this?"

"Oh, yeah...I guess so," she blushed thinking about how Robin enjoyed spending time with her that much. "Dad, where are we going now?" Amy gagged at how his eyes sparkled seeing them sad to depart.

Broken from his amazement, he addressed the whole group to answer, "we're going to stop by Matt's to drop you guys off, then we're gonna have to head home, alright hun?" He looked at Amy for approval. She nodded indifferently at the plan, a yawn overtaking her. She hadn't even noticed how much her feet had been aching.

"And then a big ghost popped out, but it was really just a guy!" Tati had just finished her wild retelling of the night when Edd reentered the room. He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and took in the commotion.

"That sounds so scary, were you brave? Did he scare you?" Though weak, Matt was gladly listening to the story and content to catch up with all that happened. She sat up on the bed with him, her biggest catches of the night splayed out on the sheets for him to see. Dan sat close by in an armchair, equally eager to see how well Edd and Stacy were able to keep up with their kids. Roy was quietly keeping to himself as he was categorizing his candy by type on the coffee table. Meanwhile Robin and Amy were swapping favorites and splitting up their shared pool evenly. He couldn't have been more thrilled to see them get along.

Momentarily however, Edd pulled his daughter aside, "hey honey bear, are you almost ready to go? It's getting late and you know how your mom gets when she's tired." He approached the concept gently so as to not rush her.

She shifted her feet indecisively, "actually...I was wondering if I could stay over tonight? With Robin…"

Edd's heart practically skipped a beat. Was that genuine longing in her face just then? The cuteness overload overtook him completely, "you want to stay the night at Uncle Matt's house? Of course!" He stopped himself suddenly as he remembered something, "oh, but it was our weekend to celebrate your birthday, wasn't it?" She also must have forgotten, because the reminder made her face twist with indecision. Deciding for her, he dropped down to her eye level and spoke quietly to her, "that's alright. You go and have fun with your new friend, we can have fun together another time. I'll go talk to her dads and ask if it's okay, okay?"

"Mhm…" immediately Edd regretted reminding her of their birthday weekend, because her mood shifted lower than he had anticipated. He just hoped she wouldn't be thinking about it for the rest of the night.

Edd went over and crouched at Matt's side, drawing his attention away from the pink glittering princess still raving in front of him. "You're never going to guess what!" Matt tilted his head. "A little someone just asked if she could have a sleepover! Yes, no? Come on man, I've been waiting for this her whole life! No pressure though."

Matt chuckled at him, then the raspiness in his throat caused it to descend into a coughing fit. Shaking it off, he answered kindly, "you got it, Edd. Leave it to us to host the girls. I got a whole shelf of movies they can choose from, as long as you're okay with ice cream later."

"Thanks, man," Edd put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed to show how much it meant to him. Finally, just this once, things were actually looking up.

The ride home was boring. Stacy didn't speak much to him, and both of them were ready for sleep. I could jump roofs of buildings, run for my life, and win a few gun fights- but I can't walk for a few hours without almost passing out. He sighed to himself, his eyelids drooping. Stacy had just left in her own car that was parked in his driveway. As he pulled open the screen door, he took a moment to listen to the calm of the night. The town curfew was lifted for the holiday, but people still ended up going inside for good by now. Some lights were still on, and down the street he heard the faint beat of music, but from where he was it was peaceful. The crickets' orchestra and the croaking of frogs laid out a blanket of calm on the neighbourhood. Edd soaked it all in, things really went well.

He collapsed on his own bed, his legs practically giving out under him. This was the first real moment he got to unwind after everything that's happened. Now that he was finally alone, all of the stress poked at him from the back of his mind. There was only so much about his position that he could push away temporarily- it always came back at some point. Sure, the kids are safe and happy and Stacy didn't bitch at him. But was everything really fine? Tom had to give up his apartment in fear he'd be tracked down. At the moment, he was hiding out at the order base with boxes of his stuff in his office. Matt wasn't doing much better.

Moonlight filtered through the tree outside his window and then through the blinds that shielded him. Still, a beam of light hit his face and he stared at the bright glow of the moon in the sky. Things were calm for now, but there was no denying that things could only get worse from here.