Disclaimer- I don't own this show

Today had not gone as Scoops had planned it. He wanted to track Becky all afternoon, but she had somehow managed to slip out of school without his knowing. By the time he heard word of the city's superhero, it was too late to draw any connection between her and Becky.

But he didn't give up. If tracking Becky wouldn't work, then tracking WordGirl would.

But due to the rain, Scoops was slowed down and thus too late to catch the action of the fight between WordGirl and Chuck. All he saw was WordGirl leaving the store and heading toward the park.

Getting sick of being wet, Scoops decided to drop the case for the day and head home.

Sloshing through the front door, Scoops dropped his wet belongings in the foyer before heading into the living room. He made himself as comfortable as possible on the sofa before turning on the television and flipping through the channels. There was nothing on that really tweaked his interest; his mind was more focused on WordGirl. If he was unable to follow her, how could he ever prove she was Becky?

After a few moments Scroops' father entered the room to close the curtains. He never really enjoyed rainy days, and having to see the wet outdoors only agitated him.

Mr. Ming faced his son to watch him stare at the T.V. for a while.

"Well here's something you don't see everyday," The adult spoke gaining his son's attention. "The ace reporter is taking time off to watch . . ." Mr. Ming shot a quick glance at the screen before continuing. "The Squishy-Wishy Fishy Hour?"

Scoops blinked at the screen for a moment realizing how stupid he must have looked watching a preschooler's show. He quickly changed the channel.

"I wasn't really watching it," Scoops tried to laugh off the embarrassment.

"That's good to hear," Mr. Ming joined his son on the couch.

He somewhat watched the show with little amusement, but gave more of his attention to the boy beside him. It was obvious that Scoops wasn't taking time off from that paper of his, he was still very much thinking about it.

"So, why are you home so early?" Mr. Ming reached for the remote in his son's hand and turned down the volume of the T.V.

"It's raining."

"Doesn't sound like something that would stop a promising news hound like you."

Scoops sighed before finally facing his father.

"I need to find WordGirl's secret identity before anyone else does, I'm just having trouble keeping up with her."

"Well, WordGirl is a special girl."

"So what does it take to catch this girl?"

"That's the question on every young man's mind, Todd." Mr. Ming's laughter was stifled by his son's raised eye brow. "Never mind."

The two sat in silence for several seconds before the adult spoke again.

"You know, this would be a good time for you to interview me."

At first Scoops wasn't sure what his dad was talking about, but then it hit him.

"Oh yeah, the homework assignment for school. Wait here." Scoops got off the couch and headed back into the foyer. He opened his book bag and reached for the assignment. His father on the other hand, looked at the television to see the program interrupted by Dr. Two-Brains' message.

Doubtlessly Scoops would want to go follow this story, and Mr. Ming frowned. Maybe he should talk to his son about this little obsession of his.

"Here it is dad. All the classes are doing it and I'm hoping to have the best in the entire fifth gra..." Scoops stopped as he saw the screen. There was the story he needed to catch WordGirl with. "Hey dad turn it up."

Scoops dropped his work on the floor and hastily jumped onto the couch. The father only responded to his son with a glare; a look Scoops seemed to miss.

As the doctor shared his evil plan on the air waves, Mr. Ming couldn't help but become more angered by his son's excitement in it.

"Dad, I think I know where he is." Scoops rose to his feet. "WordGirl will be there for sure."

The boy went to his bag and pulled out the slightly damp camera and the replacement note pad. If he could get there first, he'd be sure to find WordGirl and be able to track her travels after the fight. Maybe he could even get close enough to mark her somehow. If he lost WordGirl after the fight, Becky would still have the mark at school the next day.

Perfect!

As Scoops stood to exit the front door, he felt his father's hand rest on his shoulder.

"It's still raining son."

Hard stare.

"I know dad . . , but if I can just. . ."

"I think it would be best if you came in for the night."

Scoops knew these were just the concerned words of a worried parent, but that didn't provide much comfort when his story was happening without him.

"Dad, this is my only chance to get this one-of-a-kind story."

Mr. Ming, against his better judgment, released his hold on his son to receive a smile in return.

"I'll be careful and I promise not to get to close to the action."

Oh how many times had he heard that.

Mr. Ming gave Scoops a weak smile and watched his kid head out the door. How could he stand in the way of "getting the real scoop." He wanted to support his son, but at the same time . . . he wasn't certain he should. Nothing bad ever happened in this city. Nothing life threatening anyway. Perhaps he was being overprotective.

Mr. Ming couldn't fight the fact that his son was well on his way to being the best at what he did. And yet, there was a nagging feeling that he needed to find a new hobby for his son.

"Maybe I should get him a dog."

o

WordGirl had wasted no time in getting to the country club. She was going to catch Dr. Two-Brains for sure.

The country club was inconveniently placed alongside a lake with a deck reaching over the waters. The doors out to the deck would have made a great point of entrée, since they were in the back of the building, but the storm was flooding the deck turning it into a raging river of pain.

WordGirl sighed as she landed in the abandoned parking lot of the club. The only vehicle present was the doctor's beat-up old van. WordGirl approached the van with caution to assure its vacancy.

There was no one inside and the hood of the vehicle was cold, indicating that the van had been empty for quite some time. Therefore the doctor must have been planning to stay at the club after his newscast.

WordGirl half wished she had listened to the whole speech. The doctor might have revealed more of his evil intent and ergo she wouldn't be making wild guesses as to his next move.

Oh well, one could not mull over the past if they wished to enhance their future, right?

The rain had lightened up now, but was still present enough to cause the heroine slight discomfort.

WordGirl brushed back a patch of matted hair from her eyes and slowly made her way to the country club's entrance. There was an overhang to the lobby wide enough for cars to pull up and drop off passengers. WordGirl welcomed the shield from the rain and took the cover as a chance to assess the buildings outside again. The best way in, still remained the front door.

WordGirl remained close to the wall hoping to be unseen as she extended her hand and lightly pushed the door. At first it remained stiffly in position, but a stronger push knocked the oversized metal door from its smaller frame. It was surprisingly unlocked.

Why would Two-Brains neglect to lock the door? WordGirl couldn't help but feel this might be a possible trap. No criminal was dumb enough to leave the door to his new hideout unlocked.

Maybe a sneak attack would be better than a dramatic bust in with witty phrase. This way WordGirl might be able to gain the upper hand on Two-Brains. She forced the door closed behind her to lower suspicion.

WordGirl entered the dark lobby combing the area with her eyes. The club was very clean inside and had all the fineries of a rich society's gathering hall. It was no wonder the upper crust of the city meet here all throughout the summer.

There was a hall door that led into a large reception area; a perfect place to set up a super-villain hide out.

WordGirl went to the opening and again placed her back against the wall. She slowly peered around the corner to see what lay beyond the lobby.

But when she looked, there was nothing but an empty room. Sure there were a few tables, chairs, and discarded party favors, but there were no ray guns, menacing chalk boards or even a crumb of cheese on the floor. How was Two-Brains escaping her?!

It was then WordGirl heard a loud clang.

Just beyond the hall were the doors into the kitchen. In theory, the kitchen would be large enough for a staff of seven cooks and three large cooking grills . . . and maybe the doctor's new lair.

The noise sounded like it might have come from the kitchen.

"Then that's the place to start."

WordGirl approached the door with the upmost care; doing her best not to make a sound. After tonight, she would be able to rest easy. Two-Brains would be behind bars and maybe she would be able to deal with the more pressing matters of her family leaving for the summer.

As WordGirl was about to touch it, the swinging door opened.

Her cover would be blown.

Dr. Two-Brains exited the kitchen with his two henchmen in tow. He had indiscreetly depleted the clubs cheese reserves and was now coming into the main hall to execute his plan.

"Hurry up boys, WordGirl should be here any minute."

Unknown to the doctor, WordGirl had already arrived and was now taking refuge under a nearby table cover by an elaborately decorated cloth.

WordGirl kneeled down in the darkened space provided her and focused her attention on the villain. But, to WordGirl's surprise, she wasn't the only one using the table's hiding potential.

The superhero heard a quiet 'ah-hem' come from behind her.

"Scoops?" WordGirl whispered slightly taken aback by his presence.

The reporter shrugged with a smile; not really having a reason to be there except to get her secret identity. WordGirl didn't get a chance to question him as the villains began speaking.

"Boss," The henchmen followed Two-Brains over to the window. "What are we suppose to do when WordGirl arrives?"

Two-Brains pealed back a corner of the curtain to watch the skies.

"I want you to do nothing but stand there and look tough." Two-Brains had a look of confidence on his face.

There was no way his plan could fail. This time WordGirl would be the source of his cheese, and with her super speed, he wouldn't even have to wait as long to receive it. This was his best plan ever.

WordGirl faced Scoops and placed a finger to her lips as a reminder to keep quiet. She then lifted a piece of the table cloth to look out at the doctor. She needed to know more about his plan so she could stop him. More importantly, she needed to know why he had been traveling throughout the city.

Scoops watched WordGirl for a moment. He had already heard most of the doctor's plan. Pretty good actually, but that was beside the point of his being there. He was hoping to track WordGirl, and there she was, within ten inches of him. If he couldn't draw a connection now, he'd never be able to.

He couldn't really see her in the dark though. There was only enough light to make out shapes and sizes, not really color of eyes, nervous twitches or defining facial expressions.

It was then he remembered he had brought his editing tools. Scoops reached into his pocket and pulled out some safety scissors. As an ace reporter, one could never be over prepared. One little snip now could be tomorrow's news clip.

WordGirl could hear the scissors close and she could have sworn she felt something pull her hair. Oh no he didn't.

WordGirl let go of the table cloth and felt the afflicted area. Scoops had cut three inches off of her hair.

"Scoops why did you do that?!" WordGirl wheeled around and snatched the arm holding the scissors. "That was completely uncalled for!"

Scoops shrugged and smiled again. Tomorrow, if Becky came to school with a new hair cut then he'd know for sure she was WordGirl.

WordGirl knew what was going on. There was only one reason for Scoops to do something like that. But before either of them could think about their next move, the table cloth was ripped off as Two-Brains and his henchmen surrounded the couple.

"What have we here? WordGirl, and in a tacky new uniform too."

WordGirl let out an aggravated sigh. This was not working out how she had envisioned it. Oh well.

WordGirl leap out from under the table and hovered just left of the doctor's current position.

"Give it up Two-Brains," She pointed an accusing finger at the mad scientist. "I'm locking you away in the cage…"

Somewhere a pipe was broken.

"That's your best insult?" Dr. Two-Brains faced the girl.

"Well, I wanted to say something witty relating to you being a mouse locked in a cage; the cage being prison."

"And that's what you came up with?" Scoops added still crouched under the table.

"You know, whatever," WordGirl placed a hand on her forehead; that was a bad pun. She really needed to practice some good punch lines.

"Well while we're still on speaking terms," Dr. Two-Brains said pulling out a small cheese-shaped remote. "I'd like you to know that right now I have the power to destroy the city bridge if you don't do as I demand. Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Dr. Two-Brains wildly flung his arms to the side as he let out his laughter. WordGirl simply eyed the remote and wondered if there was a way to force it from him. It was also at this moment Scoops decided to take a few pictures for the paper. Even though this wasn't initially what he came for, having the story of Two-Brains would still be good for tomorrow's paper.

Two-Brains attempted to make a dramatic pose out of suspending his forefinger over the detonation button, but the flashes of the camera became a bit too distracting.

"Do you mind?" Two-Brains barked at the reporter. "I'm trying to accomplish an evil dream here. Henchmen! Lock this boy in the kitchen."

The doctor's assistants hurried to grab Scoops from under the table and began dragging the fighting boy to the doors.

It was in this moment of distraction that WordGirl made her move. All she needed to do was grab the remote. But Two-Brains was one step ahead of his advisory. He turned his attention back to WordGirl and dodged her grasp.

"One more trick like that and you'll be racing to the bay to rescue sinking cars."

WordGirl stopped her assault and landed. How had he wired the bridge and she not see it? She and Captain Huggyface had searched every inch of that bridge; there were no explosives. But did she really want to risk calling the doctor's bluff?

Scoops, on the other hand, was tossed unceremoniously into the cooking area. The hard flood gave the reporter a nice size bruise. Scoops rubbed the afflicted area as he sat up and looked at the door. Despite the clouded windows, Scoops could still see the tallest of the henchmen leaning against the doors. He was stuck.

"She's gonna find out he's just lying!" It wasn't that great of a comeback, but at least he had said something.

He was never going to get the story now. Perhaps he should have told WordGirl that Two-Brains was bluffing. He hadn't rigged the bridge to explode; he didn't even know where to get explosives. Two-Brains was just tricking her into getting the city's cheese for him. Oh well, if WordGirl robbed the city it would still make for a good story. No matter who won, it would make a good headline.

Scoops got to his feet to investigate the room he was in, but no sooner had he rose he had fallen back down.

He felt incredibly lightheaded which, considering he fell on his backside and not his head, didn't make much sense. Slowly a headache was beginning to form. It was now Scoops realized the pain was being triggered by a smell in the air. So the reporter, very slowly, got on his hands and knees and followed his nose.

Scoops was led over to the gas stove in the back corner of the kitchen. Could it be leaking gas?! No, the stove was off.

Scoops crawled around the stove and looked behind the machine to witness the severed pipe.

WordGirl on the other hand, was locked in a bitter negotiation.

"So you want all the cheese in the city in exchange for that remote?"

"That's correct WordGirl, and I want You to deliver it to me."

Two-Brains was proud of his accomplishment. The distress painted on WordGirl's face was reward enough, but of course it wasn't all he was going to get. Even if she could detect some fowl play in his scheme, WordGirl wasn't brave enough to risk motorists' lives. Why didn't he think of this years ago?

"So what's it going to be WordGirl?" He said with a grin. "The cheese, or the city."

WordGirl closed her eyes to think. She was certain she had checked the bridge from the suspension cables to the painted lines on the road; she never saw a bomb. But then again, she was tired at the time. Perhaps she missed something. Yet the real question was whether she was going to gamble with peoples lives. . . or was the question whether Two-Brains was demented enough to do something like this?

"You're bluffing Two-Brains." WordGirl glared at the man with a grin equal to his own. "You maybe crazy, but your not that heartless."

She had to hold the appearance that she was completely convinced that he was lying, otherwise this plan wouldn't work. Even as he held the remote up, WordGirl had to keep her ground; she took a daring pose.

"We'll let's just see about that." Two-Brains likewise had to keep face. He knew he couldn't actually press the button, for then the truth would be reviled, but he had to make it seem like he was in control of the city's fate. But what could he use as a distraction?

It was then the doctor was provided with the answer.

"Do you smell something?"

WordGirl was confused about her enemy's comment as she watched him begin smelling the air.

"Uh, are you trying to stall for time?" WordGirl relaxed her stance.

At first Two-Brains was, but that smell was beginning to get stronger.

"No, I'm serious," he said turning to his now lightheaded henchmen. "Get away from that door."

"Now that you mention it," WordGirl took a deep breath. There was something in the air.

"It's gas." Both WordGirl and Two-Brains voiced.

WordGirl rushed for the doors and threw them open as Dr. Two-Brains went to help his men get out of the building.

The super girl held her breath as she scanned the kitchen for Scoops. The reporter had his head hanging out of a small window placed over the counter.

WordGirl came alongside Scoops.

"Come on we have to get out of here." WordGirl pulled on Scoops' arm only to find his head was stuck.

"I think I'm stuck." He replied softly. "I was to open back door. I think something's out front of door blocking it. I wanted to get you attention but man in front of doors woul' be mad."

Scoops was rambling . . . incoherently; not a good sign for someone who had been inhaling nocuous fumes. Worse was the fact that Scoops was trapped in a building that could go up in flames at any moment.

Becky panicked at that thought.

She couldn't just yank him from the wall; that could seriously hurt him, nor could she punch out the wall; the brinks could rub against each other making a spark. In fact, almost any type of heavy friction could cause a spark . . . including Two-Brains forcing open the front door.

Leaving Scoops behind, WordGirl flew from the kitchen and out to the criminals. They had yet to leave the building as the gas was slowing them down.

This was another superpower WordGirl enjoyed having. She could hold her breath for a long, long, long time, allowing her to travel through space, explore underwater, and withstand fumes. But even she would eventually need to breath. It was never good to withhold air from one's self; note why she never held her breath around bad smells.

"Doctor, we can't open the door . . ."

"I know," the doctor strained to speak. "I examined the door, it's wired."

Wired? What did he mean by that?

"The moment we open that door this place will go up like a Roman Candle."

WordGirl looked at the entrance hall and then back at Dr. Two-Brains. It was obvious that someone had planned this and it was clear Dr. Two-Brains knew nothing about it. But that would mean someone was waiting to see the place blow-up; they must have had more then one way to detonate the club.

"There has to be another way out of here."

Scoops had mentioned a back door. WordGirl remembered she had seen one on her way in by the deck. Due to the water, there was no way a spark could be made by forcing it open.

"Doctor, I need you to follow me back into the kitchen, there should be a safe exit there."

WordGirl helped Dr. Two-Brains and his men back to the kitchen. With one good kick WordGirl managed to open the door to the deck.

Luckily the winds and rains had lightened up a bit and allowed the doctor and his men to step out on the deck safely without being pushed off.

The three men coughed a bit as they regained their bearings. WordGirl tried to remain calm, but her nerves were getting the best of her. She looked over at the small kitchen window.

Scoops' face had become a pale red from his failed efforts to free himself. He had apparently received enough clean air to regain his senses. WordGirl came up to him.

"Are you certain you're stuck?"

"Do you think I'm standing here for the view." Scoops started pulling back again.

"Why did you stick your head out that little window? Isn't there a vent somewhere in there?"

"I wasn't thinking okay; can we focus on getting me out now!"

Becky sighed. She wasn't really sure how to get his head out of there. She remembered the time TJ got his head stuck in the stair railing. Her father had used a combo of butter, baby oil, and soap to try and free the little nuisance. Unfortunately her father ended up having to call someone to cut the rails around his head. There wasn't enough time to do that now; the butter would have to work.

WordGirl flew back inside and around the kitchen. She grabbed olive and vegetable oil, dish soap and butter.

"Hope this works."

WordGirl spread her slippery concoction all over the back of Scoops' head and then did the same for the front of him.

"Careful not to get it in my eyes, WordGirl." Scoops spat as a stream of oil ran down the side of his face.

"Sorry, but we need to hurry."

The scene of Scoops' head finally breaking free from the window was watched in great disdain. Adler had been watching the building since he had sent Curtis to fill it with gas.

"Idiot was supposed to make sure she blew herself up." Adler crossed his arms and glared at the club from his safe position across the lake. He then smiled. "Good thing I don't leave everything up to him." Adler reached for a remote of his own.

WordGirl escorted Scoops out onto the deck where Dr. Two-Brains and his men were regaining coherence. From here she would be able to fly everyone to safety.

WordGirl didn't get that chance. Despite the complaints of the men around her and the whistle of the stormy wind, WordGirl was deaf to all sounds but the one of a small click. Somehow, there had been a spark.

There was hardly any time to think about what she had heard, let alone act upon it as a fiery ball of heat pushed towards her. WordGirl grabbed the four people around her and drove them into the lake.

Effortlessly their bodies flung over the rail and into the rough waters below. The sound of the explosion behind her was like nothing she had ever heard before. It was so loud and frightening that it took everything within her not to panic. It took even more strength to wrestle with the air deprived persons she was carrying.

She had grabbed the henchmen's collars in one hand and Scoops' and Dr. Two-Brains' in the other. Scoops seemed to be struggling the most being he had a smaller lung capacity. It did seem a bit unfair forcing a group of people who had just been inhaling gas to hold their breath without warning, but it was the only thing she could think of to save their lives.

The water around the group began to get warm. WordGirl did her best to swim away from the heated water, but without the use of her hands it was futile.

Adler continued to watch the explosion. It was at that moment that Curtis entered the room of the lake house they had "borrowed."

"See," Curtis laughed as he came beside Adler. "No more country club and I can assure you WordGirl was in it."

"Can you really." Adler already knew the answer but posed the question for Curtis' sake.

"Of course, she was fighting with the mouse man and stupid was there too."

The flames of the explosion subsided. Adler never removed his eyes from it.

"She wasn't inside that building."

"What?!"

"You're beginning to really displease me Curtis."

"I promise you I did everything you told me to. She was in there Adler, I heard her voice and the reporter kid was there." Curtis frightfully explained; his partner not moved by his emotional response. "Besides, you said the explosion wouldn't have killed her anyway. We couldn't have obtained our goal this way even if it were successful."

"I don't want her dead yet, Curtis," Adler's lip quivered as he restrained his anger. "That eruption would have been strong enough to knockout our little hero of steel so the reporter, who was Not suppose to be in the building, could make account of her identity." Adler's restraint could last no longer. "We Could Have Caught Her! She was right within our grasp, and you messed it up!"

Adler seemed to choke on the last few words of his statement. His anger was getting the best of him. Adler coughed for a moment.

"I, I'm sorry," Curtis frowned with some concern for Adler. "Next time I'll make sure she's. . ."

"Next Time," Cough. "Next time I'll be blowing you up with her!" Adler took hold of Curtis' jacket collar and shook him as he spoke. "What I want you to do is go down there and track that horrid girl home!"

As Adler unsettled his partner's jacket, the remaining school files fell from Curtis' inner pocket. The contents of the files spilled out onto the floor, mixing names and pictures.

One picture caught Adler's attention.

Adler released his hold and went quickly to the picture. Curtis rubbed the rim of his neck as he watched his partner stare unbelievingly at the photo.

Curtis couldn't read the expression now fixated on Adler's face. It might have been one of shock or quite possibly fear, but whatever it was, Curtis knew it was going to spell trouble for him.

"What is it Adler?" Curtis approached with caution.

Adler gazed up at his partner concealing the picture from him. Curtis could never remember a time seeing Adler as he was now. Horror and rage had consumed the man, controlling his every movement; from the blinking of an eye to a nervous twitch.

"I want you," the words seemed to shake Adler's being. "To lay off catching WordGirl."

Curtis couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"She's the whole reason we're out here. You can't become king without her Adler."

"It won't matter if I don't take care of someone else first." This was uttered so delicately it was almost not audible.

Adler rose to his feet staring into the eyes of Curtis before speaking.

"Is that reporter boy still bugged?"

"Wha, we're talking about WordGi. . . ."

"Can you still track him?! I'm not asking about WordGirl!"

"Yes," Curtis took a step back hoping to avoid Adler's wrath. "When we met him I placed the microbe on his hat; if he keeps that with him I can track him."

"The next time he's alone, grab him."

Adler made his way to leave the room, but was stopped by Curtis' next words.

"We . . . we can't do that."

Adler slowly turned to his partner. He didn't speak, yet it was apparent he was unsatisfied with that answer.

"What I mean to say," Curtis continued. "Is that the High Law doesn't permit us having a lot of contact with Mother Earth. We've already gone too far in talking with the boy and . . ."

Adler's stomach-turning smirk silenced Curtis.

"Well, in order to keep intergalactic balance, we'll kill the boy when we're done with him. Will that be okay with you?"

Curtis was filled with an uneasiness that bore itself on his face and amusing Adler. His smile deepened. Adler left the room leaving behind a very confused associate plagued with unanswerable questions and a fate undecided.

"I have to know what he's doing."

Curtis fell to the ground and began collecting the loose papers and pictures. He separated the file reports by the girl names and the boy names. He did the same for the pictures. There were the same number of female pictures as reports so Adler must have taken a picture of a boy. Sadly there was no way of matching the files to find the one that was missing. Any picture could go to any file.

But maybe one of the names would stand out to him.

Curtis started reading each child's report.

A boy named Ben, who was now 12, was the winner of the Curiosity Award for being the most ambitious student in the science lab. That didn't sound like someone Adler would be interested in.

Eli, age 11, had been suspended the last three days for climbing into a monkey cage on a school field trip to the zoo. Geoffrey, age 12, had constructed a labyrinth for his class' pet guinea pig and Sean, age 10, was being awarded for starting a recycling program on his school campus. So many students that didn't seem to be that important, even a student named Steven who had brought a pet hedgehog, Prickly-Angusworth Longfellow III, to school and lost it; a reward was still posted for its capture.

What could Adler have seen?

That answer became clear to Curtis when he flipped to the next report.

o

"Becky Botsford, you open this door right now."

Sally fought with the locked door handle.

"Becky, Open the door." She wasn't in the best of moods at this moment. "You know you're not supposed to lock doors in this house."

Sally took a step back and placed her hands on her hips. She needed to calm down; there was no reason to yell at her daughter through a locked door.

It was just so frustrating. Why was Becky acting like this? Sally couldn't understand. Becky seemed fine up until the vacation was announced, since then she was avoiding her family, lying about things and now disobeying house rules.

Maybe Becky was getting to that age. No, not her baby, not at eleven.

Sally knocked on the door gently.

"Becky I know you've been feeling down lately," Sally pressed her ear against the door in hopes of hearing her daughter but could only make out the soft chips of Bob. "This isn't going to fix the problem Becky."

The door remained locked.

"Becky if this is about me not letting you leave this afternoon. . ."

Sally wasn't sure what to say. It seemed she was offering her voice to the ears of the deaf; there was a wall between the language she spoke and that of her daughter's. Why did it feel like Becky was floating so far away when in fact there was little cause for alarm? A somber feeling surged into Sally as she now stared worryingly at the closed door between her and her child.

Should she get the bedroom key?

No, it would be best to just let Becky cool off from her anger; she'd come down when she was ready. Whatever the problem was, Sally knew forcing her way into Becky's affairs wouldn't help mend the gap between them.

"We're going to have dinner without you Becky. I'll put yours in the refrigerator. When you're ready to eat just come down."

Why was this so hard?

When Mrs. Botsford had come back downstairs, her husband and son had glued themselves to the TV screen again.

"I told you to turn that thing off TJ."

Mr. Tim Botsford looked up at his wife.

"Honey there was an explosion by the lake."

"What?" Sally joined the two in front of the television.

The news reporters had not arrived on the scene yet, but had received a call from a person nearby.

"The city's Yacht and Country Club has mysterious gone up in flames," The reporter spoke. "As of yet, no rescuers have arrived on the scene, but there is no reason to believe anyone was inside the building at the time. The explosion completely destroyed the club and it is believed that it may have been caused by the old gas stove in the club's kitchen. We'll give you more information as the situation develops. In other news, the mayor is still waiting for WordGirl's response to Dr. Two-Brains' threat . . ."

Sally rose and turned off the television.

"Mom," TJ whined as he jumped to his feet from the sofa. "I want to hear what happens."

"They don't know anything else about it TJ, now go sit up at the table."

Sally sent one more worried glance up the stairs before sitting with her family and explaining Becky's absents.

(A/N) Hope you enjoyed. Sorry to leave a cliffhanger, but you know how it is. Thanks for your patience and your reviews.