Chapter 14

Our mission with the team

We got our next mission a few weeks later. Lok and the team wanted us to look at something they found. Lok said that they couldn't bring it to us. They insisted we were needed. They, however, underestimated the power of an anxious preteen. Right now, she was using her raw magical power to cling to the doorway.

"Ruby, let go!" I growled.

"No!" She cried.

"You have to go with us!" I tried to pull her off the frame.

"I don't WANNA!" She shouted and suddenly my hands were burned, frozen, and all the other unpleasant things you can think of.

"Ah!" I hissed and let go of her.

"Monty, maybe we should-" Tersly worried.

"Everfight. No, Tersly. This is part of being a Seeker. Working with others. Just give me a minute." I huffed. That was a lot to take.

"Daddy?" Ruby loosened her grip to check on me. I snatched her up without hesitating.

"Could you get her bag?" I asked, trying to keep a hold of her.

"Noooo!" Ruby wailed.

"You're going to be fine, Ruby-girl. Why are you putting up a fight now?" I swayed back and forth to try to calm her down.

"… The lady looks scary." She murmured.

"Zhalia? She's a bit rough, but she's not going to hurt you." I frowned.

"Ruby, you'll be with us the whole time." Tersly reassured her.

"What if the bad Seekers come?" She asked.

"You have powers now and Titans too. You can defend yourself." I told her.

"Hmm." She hugged me, uncertain of her abilities.

"I know it's scary. But remember when we first met? You wanted out of that hospital so bad even though there were scary people in the world. You're a brave girl." I reminded her.

"I guess." She mumbled.

"You went to the dinner with us. That took courage." Tersly petted her hair.

"Yeah?" She looked at him.

"Yeah." He smiled.

Ruby behaved until it was time to get on the plane. She did not like the plane. Our last mission was nearby. I had to put her to sleep to get her on. She pouted when she woke up. I comforted her. The team were a bunch of strangers and she was wary of strangers. We got to our destination and met up the team.

Lok greeted us warmly, "Hi, Montehue, Tersly. Is that Ruby? Hi."

She hid her face and hugged me, "We haven't gotten to talking to people yet."

"Oh." Lok frowned.

"Why didn't you leave her at home?" Sophie asked.

"She's 11." I said, rubbing her back.

"I never thought you of all people would have a daughter so soon." Zhalia told me.

"I never thought anyone like you would work with kids." I retorted. It just wasn't the same.

"Where's the artifact?" I asked.

"At the safe house." Lok replied.

"When are we leaving?" Tersly asked quietly.

"We're just waiting for someone to get their stuff." Zhalia yelled toward a closed door.

"I got the message." Dante came out with his coat on and carrying a backpack.

"Dante!" Ruby ran up to him and hugged him.

"Hi, Ruby. I guess your dad's here, huh?" He chuckled, looking at me.

"Yeah!" She nodded. He led her back to me, but she didn't want to leave.

"Come 'ere, Ruby." I tried to take her back, but she wouldn't.

"Nu huh." She clung to Dante.

"Rubes…" I frowned.

"Monty, she just met me. Let her be." Dante smiled, ruffling her hair. I could see the stars in her eyes growing.

"How could my own daughter leave me?" I moaned. She reached out for me to hold her hand, "I see how it is. You like the new guy more." I gave her my hand.

"I love you." She smiled at me.

"Yeah?" I felt the corners of my lips turn upward.

"Yeah!" She chirped.

"I think my teeth are rotting, that's so sweet." Zhalia snarked.

"That's what Dante said too." I remembered. She raised her eyebrow at him. He smiled at her.

We left soon after that. Ruby followed Dante until Sophie got too close her and scared her back to me, "She didn't mean it, Ru. You're fine."

"Home." She mumbled.

"I know you want to go home, but we're not done here." I said, carrying her now.

"Home." She insisted.

"Ruby, we're right here." Tersly said softly. She reached out to hold his fingers. He let her. I noticed Dante was smiling like he saw something cute. He looked me in the eyes and mouthed, "Cute family, Montehue. So precious." I snorted. Ruby was confused, but she was happy Dante waved to her. Tersly was forgotten for the moment and he let his hand fall back to his side.

We got to the place where the artifact was. Tersly was excited. My daughter wanted down. I put her on the ground. She went to Dante. I frowned as he smiled gently and took her hand.

"Monty, don't be jealous. Dante can't replace you." Tersly lightly reminded me.

"But she's my daughter." I whined.

"And she loves you." He smiled.

"Daddy!" Ruby called. She was wearing Dante's coat. It was way too big for her.

"Aw, that's just precious." Zhalia rolled her eyes.

"You're just mad because it's not your kid." I said as took some pictures. She didn't have anything for that. I think she wanted to have Dante's babies. Like most women he meets, but Zhalia was a good match for him. She actually cared about him, not his looks or whatever else he has going for himself. It was a growing list.

After that, we went to look at the troublesome thing. Ruby stayed close to me. Tersly too, but he was excited. Dante led us to a box. It had Titans on it, but they were acting like fairytale monsters. Each panel had a boarder with icons in the corners.

"What's so special about it?" Ruby asked.

"For one, it has Titans on it. It seems like the artist had access to many kinds of Titans and chose the pretty or monster-y ones. Two, we can't get it open. That key hole is fake. We were wondering if you knew any ways they might've hidden stuff." Zhalia looked at me.

"Nothing like this." I said.

"Hmm." She frowned. Ruby hid her face again.

"No, Ruby…" I looked at her. She peeked upward slowly. I sighed and rubbed her back.

"She thinks you're scary." Tersly told Zhalia.

"This isn't the first time this has happened." Zhalia shrugged.

"Do you know how to stop it?" He asked.

"I'm not normally with little kids that long." She said.

"Did you try Springer?" I asked.

"He started scratching at the box so I had to stop him." Lok smiled uneasily.

"I got nothing." I shrugged and tried to put my hand back on Ruby's shoulder, but she was gone. My eyes scanned the room and she was touching the box. With her bare hands! "Ruby!"

"What?" She looked at me while she poked at an icon. The box clicked and the lid was released.

"Don't touch the artifact like that! We want it to stay pretty." I picked her up.

"What did you do?" Dante asked.

"The pony looked different." She pointed to the front panel. The Kelpie was at a lake, but it wasn't interacting with anything. It was just kinda trotting along.

"What icons did you press?" Zhalia asked.

"All of the pony ones." She pointed again.

"She means in what order." I clarified. She tried to get down again. I looked at Dante.

"It should be ok." Dante told me.

"No touching." I set her down.

She hovered her finger over the top left icon first, "One," then she went to the one on the right, "Two," She went to the bottom left, "Three," And then she went to the bottom right one, "Four."

"How do you know?" Sophie asked.

"I get it! The legs, right?" Lok smiled.

"Yeah." She nodded and decided she had enough for today.

"You did great, Rubes." I kissed her head.

"Home?" She asked.

"No, we have to see what's in the box now. Tersly, my arms are full." I looked at him.

"Yes, sir." He put some gloves on and opened the box fully.

It had figurines of the Titans on the box and few others. Just figurines. I was hoping for something cooler, but I suppose the box did warn us that it would be artistic. It was a unique find though. Ruby was getting bored and a little crowded so I took her outside. I looked for something for her to do. Ruby played with her magic, making not quite a Boltflare, but not a fireball. She dropped it and it fizzed out on the tile floor.

"Careful, Ruby-girl. That could've burned something." I warned.

"I'm bored." She whined.

"I know," I found the training room, "Go play on the strange equipment."

"Ok." She went to the rope and pulled it back before riding it.

"It's just like Lok at home." Dante had found us.

"Hey." I looked at him.

"They're not going to be happy you're letting her play on that." Dante told me.

"If this can't handle one of the most destructive forces on Earth, then they need better equipment." I said.

"Who's the most destructive?" Dante asked.

"Your kids." I smiled. He glared at me.

"You're so stubborn, you could break down a wall and insist it was damaged before you got to it." Dante quipped.

"Daddy!" Ruby called. She didn't look like herself at all. She looked like that Ladybug hero she liked.

"Ruby?" Dante asked.

"I'm Ladybug!" She swung on the rope.

"Montehue." Dante didn't take his eyes off her.

"It was Guggenhiem's idea!" I told him.

"I need to make a call." He left.

"Dad, Dad, did you see me? I was Ladybug!" Ruby went up to me, now normal.

"I saw." I smiled.

Ters came in and asked why Dante was upset with Guggenhiem. I covered Ruby's ears. She didn't need to know yet. I explained what happened and Tersly nodded. Ruby was wiggling now. I let her out of my grasp and she went to my husband. He smiled a little and hugged her.

"I heard someone knows Thoughtspectre." Zhalia had snuck up on us.

"Oh, yeah, I taught Ruby it." I said, trying to get my daughter to stop hiding behind Tersly.

"… You taught her?" She repeated.

"It was difficult at first, but I learned the basics. I'm not as good as you though. I don't think anyone could be. There we go, aren't you happier with me?" I asked Ruby and she nodded. She was getting overtired and stressed from all the people time she had.

"So, that means you can use it too." The blue haired woman concluded.

"It's still a bit tricky, but yeah," I scooped Rubes up, "She's getting tired now. We should go."

"Alright. I'll let Dante know." She watched us leave and we went back to the hotel. I had thought it was going to be a more work intensive trip. But since art isn't our strong suit, we would have a few days in Venice.

Ruby watched TV and ate her cheese puffs. I worked on my laptop until I got a call. It was from Zhalia.

"Hello?" I asked.

"How long are you staying in Venice?" She inquired.

"Um, a few days." I answered.

"I don't think that's long enough to train you." She frowned.

"Train me?" I repeated.

"You said you weren't good with Thoughtspectre." Zhalia reminded me.

"Yeah…" I trailed off.

"So, I'm going to teach you how to use it. And then you can teach Ruby." She explained.

"Is Dante willing to babysit?" Ruby looked at me.

"Dante! Are you babysitting Ruby while I train Montehue?" Zhalia yelled.

"I guess I am now." He sighed, in the background.

"He said yes." Zhalia reported.

"How long do you think it'll take?" I asked.

"Um, let's start tomorrow and I'll gauge it from there." She thought.

"Ok." I nodded.

"See you then." Zhalia hung up.

"Dad?" Ruby asked.

"Dante's going to watch you for a bit while I train with Zhalia." I explained.

"Why?" She licked her fingers free of cheese dust.

"She's going to teach me how to use Thoughtspectre better." I saw Tersly snicker at my misfortune.

"Ok." Ruby was satisfied.

Tersly's POV

Monty and I laid in our room after Ruby was comfortable enough in her room. He ran his hand through my hair. I was relaxed and almost asleep. He kissed me on the lips and my eyes fluttered open.

"Monty?" I asked, sleepily.

"Who knew true love's kiss was real?" He smiled.

"You're the worst." I pecked his cheek.

"Mmm hmm." My partner mumbled as he started to kiss me again.

It was slow and passionate. I knew exactly how to get the reactions I liked, but he tried to make me work for it. His hands wandered and I felt myself get excited at his touch. Montehue knew me too well. But two can play at that game.

He broke the kiss, "Ters, we have to be quiet. Ok?"

"Yes, sir." I smirked.

"Luckily for you, I brought a few things to spice things up just in case we had the chance." He went to the suitcase. I smiled, happy he had thought ahead for once.

"You're the best." I said.

"We'll see if you say that in a few minutes." He purred, locking the door.

Tersly's POV End

Montehue's POV

"Monty, did you like what I did? I wasn't too sure about it so, um…" Tersly asked.

"At first, I didn't know what you were doing, but I figured it out. It was nice, but maybe not an every time thing." I said.

"Ok." He nodded.

"You did fine, Tersly. I enjoyed it." I kissed his neck.

"Ok, good." He snuggled closer to me.

"Daddy, I'm hungry! Where's dinner?" Ruby asked through the door.

"I'm coming, Sweetie. You stay here and rest." I kissed his nose and got dressed.

Ruby was waiting for me on her bed, "It's past dinner time! I want food." She flopped down and rolled around on the bed.

I looked the clock. It was very late, "I'm sorry, Ruby. I'll order something for you. What do you want?"

"I dunno." She said.

"Come look at the menu." I held out the room service pamphlet.

"Ugh, ahh!" She tried to use a power to grab it but fell off the bed. She recovered and got up.

"What am I going to do with you?" I smiled.

"What were you doing with Tersly? You took forever!" Ruby looked over the menu.

I blushed, "I, uh… We were having ad-adult time! We were having adult time."

"Ok, I want this." She showed me the menu. It was a sandwich.

"Alright then." I got the phone and ordered our dinner.

Tersly came out of our room, now dressed, "I'm a bit hungry too. What'd you get?"

"I hope you like sandwiches cause that's what I got." I kissed him on the cheek.

"Mushy!" Ruby cried.

"You hush up." I pulled her to me and kissed her cheek. Tersly kissed her other cheek.

"Bleh!" She made a face.

"We love you, too." Tersly smiled.

"Mine." She hugged us.

"Yes, we're your parents." I smiled.

We waited for our food. Ruby was hungry and wanted food now. It was my fault Ruby's dinner was late, but it came soon so she was happy. We ate and watched TV. I told Ruby her story and kissed her goodnight. I cuddled with Tersly before finally falling asleep.