She's waiting. -Joe

Lilah got up, holding the box with one hand and making to her Mazda. She got in, starting the engine to see someone in the back. "Not now, Storm Shadow."

"How long?"

"I only started sharing about a day ago." Lilah wasn't going to not tell him. "I've been talking to Joe for a while." Lilah waited for him to talk, to ask another question to make her out as a traitor. "Look, I don't expect you to understand-"

"Do they know about your parents?" Lilah froze, looking at him in utter surprise. "It lessened the pain when I focused on your voice. Getting burns like that isn't easy." He tried a smile at her, but Lilah barely noticed the stray tear at remembering that awful time. He reached forward, then thought better of it. Lilah faced the front. "What about the child is so important that you don't want me to know."

Lilah stared at the wheel. "I'm not going to be open, Storm Shadow. I'm trying to go meet someone important to me. Important enough that I'm leaving without the Joes knowing. So go tell them for me, will ya?" He didn't move. "Storm..." Lilah shook her head, taking a bite from her pizza. "At least I got pizza. It'll work as peace offering if I don't eat the whole damn thing."

Lilah knew she wouldn't. Eating that one piece was hard enough as she drove to Joe's house. When her sister was set on seeing someone or doing something, she'd be damned if she didn't see someone or do something. Lilah was the same way as long as it didn't involve cleaning, which her sister could even stand. Lilah sometimes wondered how they were related because of that. The last time Lilah cleaned the cabin had been months ago, and it was her sister who did the cleaning.

She pulled to a stop in front of Joe's house, her heart beating hard. She didn't want to mask her emotions, so she didn't. She looked back at Storm Shadow. "Stay or go, I don't care. Just don't take my car." She got up, taking the keys with her. The slamming of a door alerted her to Storm Shadow's following. Lilah knocked on the door twice. "Lilah's here." It didn't have the same pop or energy as it did before, filled with nerves and a frailness to Lilah that Storm Shadow had never seen. Even when Joan died, Lilah was a fighting mess.

She stepped through the threshold, and he followed. Lilah was relying on him for support in case something happened. Lilah came into the living room to see a dyed blonde with green eyes that they shared, and the same nose. Her sister had been in the middle of a sentence when Lilah came in, so her mouth was open as she put down her water slowly. "Hey, sissy." It came out far shakier than Lilah would have liked, but it worked regardless. "I'd almost forgotten what you looked like, Hillary."

Hillary Myuu was across the room before another word came out of Lilah's mouth, and she held onto her sister for dear life. Lilah felt tears coming over her, reaching back for Storm Shadow. When Hillary hugged you, it could mean different things. Either you fucked up real bad, or you fucked up so bad that she wasn't mad. It meant she fucked up real bad, because a moment later, Hillary slapped her. "Where the hell were you, Annabelle Zaltana! I couldn't even get your fingerprints from the police department! No pictures, no dental records, nothing existed about you in the digital database!"

Lilah looked up at her sister who was a bit taller than her. "I was going around. I picked up Spanish, so I went to the Spanish speaking countries for a while. Went to France, Italy, made a few stops in Japan and China-"

"I wasn't being literal, you idiot." Hillary leaned back. "Bubba! Come here!" More flutters in Lilah's stomach ensued as her brother poked his head out of the bathroom, steam billowing out. "Second thought, please get dressed. I changed your diapers." Lilah couldn't help the grin as she marched her way across the living room to the bathroom. She didn't care if her brother was in a towel. He didn't either, because he accepted her into his arms easily.

"I have to be dreaming," Hibiki Myuu whispered in her ear. He had the same green eyes too, a trait all of them seemed to receive. "I just... My big sister is here. My big sister who was so, so... sophisticated. Since when did you wear jeans in public?"

"Since when were you so big?" He grinned at her. "Oh, pretty confident there, huh? I bet one of my tits is bigger than your penis. Even then, I'm sure one of these boys can beat you. They have to be bigger than a grape."

Hibiki laughed, his dark hair getting in his eyes. "Oh, I missed you." Lilah smiled up at him. She knew Hibiki would take her back. He always did. Hell, she only talked with Hibiki like this. They could admit anything to each other. Then he caught someone just a bit past her, staring at them while Hillary circled him, poking the hilt of his katana.

"Yo, is this real?" she asked loudly, calling to Lilah. Lilah held up a finger, wanting to tell her not to do that before deciding to deal with little brother before he got in a fight with the big, bad ninja. Well, more like got his ass kicked by the big, bad ninja. "What about these?" Hillary was now fingering the shuriken.

"Hey, he's a friend," Lilah said to her brother. She pulled his face to hers. "He's a friend. A great friend who is going to help us get Aron back. He doesn't know though, so I have to pull him aside and bring him up to speed. Can you not be an overprotective prick long enough to let me do that?" Hibiki clenched his teeth, but held his tongue. He nodded once.

"Stormy, come over- Hillary, if you annoy him, I might just let him kill you. Leave the damn- Hillary!" Sometimes Lilah felt like the older sister. She grabbed Hillary and plopped her down on the couch, a finger in her face. "Don't touch pointy things! They penetrate deep, Hillary." They both laughed. "Seriously, don't piss him off. He'll kill me like a bug, boo."

"You're family is very colorful," Storm Shadow said when they were in the kitchen. Lilah grabbed another piece of pizza as her brother found it and brought it into the living room. "You all have the same green eyes."

"Yeah," Lilah said, pushing a stray curl behind her ear. "We sure do. It just doesn't seem right sometimes. We got the green eyes, but Lilah didn't have them. The first Lilah, not me... Long story. Anyway, before we go in there, you have to know something. When I was eighteen, I was violated. I gave birth nine months later to Aron Thomas Myuu, my son." Lilah took a deep breath. "Zartan has my son."

Storm Shadow seemed to look through her. "So that's what this is about. That's where all of your money goes." Lilah nodded. He looked down, and Lilah smiled. "I didn't think that you'd be a mother."

"I'm a mother. Not a mom. Hillary has been taking care of Aron, not me. She's the mom." There was an impatient noise. "Time's up. Let's go." Lilah began to walk away when Storm Shadow seized her elbow and drew her close. "Storm-"

"Don't worry about me," he said softly. "I heard you on the flight. Don't worry about me again." He let her go, and Lilah let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "Let's go." He was in the living room before Lilah's mind caught up with reality. Then she came stumbling into the living room, sitting on Hibiki's lap. She leaned back into him, grabbing his hand like she used to when they were children and reading his palm.

"So, how are we going to get Aron back?" Hillary asked.

Lilah raised a brow. "'We?' There is no 'we', sissy, because you can barely hold a gun. I say that Storm Shadow and I should go in. A two man operation, in and out real quick. Hibiki can be our back up if anything happens. You, Hillary, can be calm and stay here until Aron is back in your arms."

"False, sister," Hillary and Hibiki said at the same time. Hillary continued, "You have been absent from your son for eight years, Annabelle. You can't run from this-"

"Run?" Lilah sat up. "You think I'm running? Hillary, I'm a killer! Do you think I want my son to be like me?! Do you think that I want him to have to imagine all of these years with a sister that's dead, then wake up and find that they were fake? Better yet, do you want him to make a living off doing what I do? I fucking don't."

Hibiki slapped Lilah's thigh hard enough to make her feel bad for snapping at her sister. Hillary has tears at the corner of her eyes. Lilah sighed, going to her and pulling her into her arms. "I'm sorry, sis. I just can't be around yet." Lilah sighed. "You probably aren't even used to seeing me yet. I shouldn't scare you."

"I thought I was the older sister," Hillary said in a small voice. Lilah considered it for a moment before they both laughed. "Quick to anger, quick with words. I missed you."

"Who wouldn't?" Lilah grinned a cocky one. She heard her phone during and looked at the message. "Son of a flying monkey. Storm, I think they missed us. Proves my point... wait. Ah, hell! They're going to think we went back to Cobra!" Lilah moved her sister on the cheek and her brother's forehead before grabbing the ninja by the arm. "Let's go."