A/N: Yes, I know I'm late, but I have a medley of excuses this time, ranging from homicidal teachers to a flooded basement (Google weather in Chicago about two weeks ago to see what I'm talking about) and a mysterious, unexplainable fractured foot that I tried walking off for a week that made me very irritable in the interim. …It's been a weird month. And now I have AP exams fast approaching along with Semester finals and SAT subject tests and an ACT test and I haven't started studying for anything yet and…I'm gonna die. So. I figured it would be better to stay up until midnight to get this out now instead of having you all wait until God-knows-when. As such, some of this is not edited as well as it could be and if anyone wants me to fix anything, just say so and it will be done.

News on upcoming stories can be found in the second A/N at the bottom of this shockingly long, incredibly uncooperative chapter.

Thanks to Molly Grace 16, Candlestic (thanks for the support- really needed it!), Halloween Witch, Angelus Draco, and Luna246 for your reviews and kind words! You guys are the reason I'm up this late to get this out!

And to Ooi Shi Yi- this story is part of a series. The first one, And Then There Were Seven, though it is not my best work, may clear some things up for you.

It was only after everyone arrived at HQ that they could talk. Harriet, upon catching sight of her oldest son, immediately flew into a frenzy, mixing worry over her son's condition (despite the fact that only his clothes suffered any damage) and nagging him about leaving, using his powers, and ruining his outfit. It took some coaxing, but eventually the rest of the family got her to calm down enough to be quiet and take a seat in the living room. Despite being hypnotized, she still insisted on being as far away from the two coyotes as possible. Rip, on the other hand, wanted to be nowhere near his parents.

"Okay," Ralph began unsurely once everything had settled, anxiously fidgeting and not meeting anyone's eyes. "Where-should-I-start?"

"Maybe we should go first," Ace suggested, sitting down on the arm of the couch next to Ralph. Giving the Runners the full story would immediately clear some things up, and hopefully relieve some of the obvious strain on their familial relationship. "As you know, we've been dealin' with dese two mice- who we originally thought was one criminal- who've been stealin' from all sorts of places. One has super speed, and da other has a gun, can slow things down, and, most importantly, can...what did you call it, Tech?"

"Suggestion," Tech supplied from where he was leaning against the TV. "Think of it as hypnosis. All he has to do is look at you and you're in trouble. The only indicators of being affected are acting out of the ordinary and yellowed eyes, which Rev tells us you had and, by the look of it, Mrs. Runner still does." All turned to Harriet, who was obediently staying quiet, but she couldn't help but nervously shift around at the close scrutiny. She did indeed still have very yellowed eyes; Ralph wondered how he hadn't noticed it earlier, and Rip briefly regretted not thinking more of it. "It can also be very difficult to snap someone out of," Tech concluded, looking to Rev to figure out how he fixed Ralph.

"By-the-sound-of-it-I-snapped-you-out-of-it-by-blo wing-up-at-you-like-I-did," Rev stated, looking uncomfortable with the mention of his out-of-line behavior but, unlike his dad, not apologetic in the least. He probably could have handled that situation in the living room better, but it ended well, and he had been in the right, so he had no regrets.

Rip, standing apart from his relatives, wore an unreadable expression as he took in all this new information.

Ralph nodded as though in agreement, drawing his own parallels between the general facts and his own knowledge. "That-sounds-about-right," he began once he was sure the Loonatics had nothing more to add. "A-few-weeks-ago-about-the-time-Rev-got-hurt,-they -broke-into-our-house-and-Rip-had-to-work-late-tha t-night-going-over-some-things-on-a-project-with-s ome-Japanese-associates-so-it-was-just-me-and-Harr iet." Across the room, Rip, though still not looking at his father, silently nodded in affirmation. "We're-Runners-and-we-didn't-have-time-to-react-it -happened-so-fast-there-was-a-flash-the-one-mous-s aid…said…I'm-sorry-I-don't-really-remember-somethi ng-to-do-with-Rev-I-assume-but-then-I-just-lost-co ntrol-of-myself-it-was-like-watching-life-from-a-t elevision-screen-and-then-Rev-hit-the-reset-button -when-he-got-mad-and-now…yeah," Ralph finished, despondently glancing between each member of his family, unable to convey the situation through words.

No one else spoke after Ralph's story, but there was still a lot left to be said. The air was still tense around the Runners, and it was making the Loonatics feel awkward. All that was left- apart from fixing Harriet- was for the family to finish sorting itself out. It was no place for the Loonatics to be, and all present in the room- save Harriet, who was still oblivious to all that was going on- recognized that.

"...Well," Ace began, straightening up from his position leaning against a table and heading for the door, "if no one will mind my leavin', I still gotta call Zadavia and catch her up."

Lexi was quick to follow. "I'd better go with him, or he'll never get himself patched up."

"I'd better go dig the first aid kits out of the lab, then," Tech declared, trailing after the rabbits.

And so it went until only the four Runners were left in the room. The tension could have been cut with a butter knife, and the whole family was quieter than it had ever been; Rip was still radiating bitterness in his little corner across the room, and Rev didn't want to be the first to break the silence. Ralph, meanwhile, was hesitant to talk. He remembered how livid Rev had been with him not hours ago, and he couldn't remember his optimistic and hyperactive son ever being so mad at anyone, let alone family. He was absolutely terrified that any attempt to meet his eldest son's eyes would be met with the same furious look of frustration and venom. Rip probably wouldn't be much better; this was the second time he'd received this type of treatment from them, after all, and the younger Runner had always been more openly expressive than his brother when he wasn't happy with something- or someone. Ralph could practically sense him brooding in the far corner.

The extended silence, however, proved to be just as painful as the talking. Keeping his gaze firmly on the floor left him with little semblance of what the atmosphere was like; all he could see was his sons' feet, and that only told him that no one was moving. Unable to take it anymore, Ralph slowly shifted his gaze upwards, ready to hide back in the floor at a moment's notice.

Just as he suspected, Rip hadn't moved at all from his earlier position, but his unhappy ruminations were directed out the 134th floor window next to him instead of at his father. Ralph could stand that- for a while, at least. Rev, on the other hand, surprised him. There was no sadness, no questioning, no hate in that unwavering gaze, only something Ralph hadn't dared hope to find; understanding. He could only stare for a few moments, shocked expression firmly in place, before his common sense reminded him that he should maybe do something.

Slowly standing up, ignoring his wife's flabbergasted expression, Ralph slowly made his way over to his eldest son. In his corner, Rip tensed at the movement, but Rev only slightly straightened, remaining relaxed and open. He stopped just before reaching him, not knowing how comfortable his older son would have felt with contact yet.

"Rev…" Ralph began, pausing frequently and speaking slowly, trying to find the right words for what he wanted to say. He didn't want anything to come across as an excuse, after all, nor did he want to make the situation any worse by saying the wrong thing. "I just… I'm sorry, son. I know we've had this argument before…though it wasn't nearly as bad last time…and I know you know I presented some of the same arguments regarding your job now as I did then. It may have seemed like I was saying things I really felt… I just want you to know that that isn't true. There are certain things I don't fully agree with, but…so long as you're happy where you are, I don't care. I would never try to get in the way of something that you've proven many times over makes you happy. And what you said earlier about who really cares…if these guys here really mean so much to you, then you and they have my full support." Here he paused for a second, before finishing with, "Even if a couple of them are coyotes."

At the end of his speech, Rev could clearly see that his father was still tense as well as fairly uncomfortable; he still couldn't meet Rev's eyes for too long. That all melted away when Rev's soft, understanding smile grew, showing his acceptance of his father's apology. "Pa-it-means-a-lot-to-hear-you-say-that-and-I-don' t-doubt-what-you-said-happened-and-I'm-not-mad-bec ause-it-wasn't-your-fault-and-I-know-you-better-I- would-never-think-you-or-Ma-would-act-like-this-es pecially-after-the-Robo-Amigo-incident-unless-I-sa w-it-myself-and-now-I'll-need-to-take-hypnosis-int o-account-but-the-bottom-line-is-I'm-okay-if-you-a re-because-I-know-that-no-one-here-is-at-fault-for -anything-that's-happened-and-" Ralph simply couldn't hold in in anymore at that point. Taking the two steps required to reach his son, he wrapped Rev up in a strong hug, actually lifting him up off the ground a bit. Rev returned the sentiment as best he could from his squashed position, both enjoying the moment for a while until the irked Harriet intentionally coughed loudly, catching their attention enough for them to release.

Of course, things weren't fully cleared up yet, his wife's issue aside, Ralph acknowledged as he turned to face his younger son, seemingly still pensively staring out the window, but Ralph didn't miss how he'd been watching out of the corner of his eye, quickly looking away when his father turned to him. However, his gaze had softened somewhat since Ralph last checked; he sincerely hoped he had a chance to make things right. Rip could hold grudges; it had taken forever for him to become fully open and comfortable around his parents after the Robo Amigo incident.

Separating from Rev (who was quickly set upon by Harriet, trying to 'right the situation',) Ralph approached Rip more cautiously than he had done with Rev. The younger Runner's attention immediately shifted from the window to his dad, but he, just like his brother, had no acidity to his look; however, he was not nearly as open as Rev was, either. Few were ever as open as Rev, really, but Rip was typically fairly closed off. All in all, Ralph had very little idea as to where he stood with his youngest son.

"Rip," Ralph began, taking even more time than with Rev to carefully choose his words, "I'm not going to give you excuses- not that I have any to give…and I'm not going to try to pass this off like it's nothing; that won't fix anything. This is the second time now I've treated you like you aren't important…and no matter the situation, that is inexcusable. Just because we were focused on keeping Rev away from Acmetropolis doesn't mean we should have ignored you…because no matter how we may act that suggests the contrary, you are important to us Rip, no more and no less than Rev is. Your mom and I don't have favorites; we never have, and we never will, because your mom and I love you both too much to be able to ever choose between you. After all this, I'll be sure that this doesn't happen again…though that may not mean much to you… I'm so, deeply sorry for how I acted, and I…just want to know if we're okay."

Rip silently took this all in, letting a pregnant pause stretch between them. Ralph was worried that Rip wouldn't forgive him for the repeat performance, but the youngest of the Runners was more perceptive than most gave him credit for; he'd spent most of his time staring out the window analyzing all of the new information and making his own conclusions and decisions. He understood what the two thieving mice had wanted to achieve by manipulating his parents; all they had wanted was to get Rev out of the picture. Therefore, they would have told Ma and Pa to make Rev the focus. Rip wasn't the one causing the problem, therefore, it would have been easy to push him to the backs of their minds while they dealt with Rev. Granted, a focus on Rev was what had caused the first problem, but this time was different. Despite what he said, both Ma and Pa did have a good excuse this time around, and Rip recognized that. Things would still be a bit rocky for a while but…he figured he wouldn't have to ship off to Detroit any time soon.

"Yeah, sure, we're good," Rip replied, keeping a fairly neutral expression and sounding about as apathetic as ever. However, the fact that Rip didn't immediately blow him off or answer with a sentence that had the word 'whatever' in it spoke volumes to Ralph, who knew his son well enough to pick up on the high level of acceptance in that short sentence and immediately wrap his youngest up in a fierce hug, which Rip warmly if not awkwardly returned.

Their moment ended a bit prematurely when Harriet's voice became loud enough to catch their attention. Poor Rev was being literally backed into a corner by his entranced, livid mother, still berating him for ruining his nice business clothes and leaving so suddenly that they had to rush out and skip dinner to go fetch him. Rip badly hid a snort at his brother's situation, while Ralph quickly rushed off to regain control of his wife.

"And now," Rip concluded, "we have to deal with this."

xoxoxoxox

Rev ran around HQ, gathering everyone up and bringing them back to the living room to figure out their methods on how to fix his mom. Ace ushered everyone into the adjoining kitchen so as not to tip off Harriet that they were going to be surprising her; however, she wasn't too keen on being left behind, nor leaving her son alone with the group she was trying to keep him away from, and continually tried to follow them or eavesdrop. Tech and Sive, therefore, placed themselves on the living room side of the doorway, where they could deter the errant Runner while still being able to listen to the conversation in the kitchen. Harriet seemed content enough to sit on the couch- on the other end of the room.

It was slow going for a while. Lexi did most of the explaining to Ralph, Rev, and Rip on the various methods to snap someone out of the trance, Tech adding in his two cents from the doorway every so often. Everyone else was multitasking scheming with the Runners and trading off first aid kits for their minor injuries. The Runners did most of the scheming anyway, though; none of the Loonatics knew Harriet well enough to know what would shock her. The idea of Tech and Sive scaring her popped up, but both coyotes agreed that they couldn't pull of the ravenous man-eater act. Pain was immediately thrown out as well, which left the old standbys of doing or saying something shocking.

Tech was only partially listening in on the conversation in the kitchen; he had very little to offer, and would probably not be able to do much by way of helping fix Harriet. Sive, sitting against the wall on the other side of the door, had his attention at the moment. She had changed into a tank top earlier to be able to get to some of her injuries, and all that was left to deal with was the messy looking cut on her shoulder from the jackhammer attack. Tech winced with her as she applied an alcohol swab to the injury.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Hm?" Sive looked up from her work, noticing where he was looking before turning back to her shoulder. "Oh, yeah. It looks worse than it is. It's not too deep; I've just let it sit too long, and now my fur's all messy."

Tech nodded in understanding, feeling better knowing that he didn't hurt her too badly. "Yeah, having a fur coat has its disadvantages."

Sive snorted, expertly tossing the bloody swab into a nearby trashcan. "Like you'd know. When you get hurt, it lasts, what, ten seconds?"

Tech looked himself over, noticing the rips in his uniform and the distinct absence of wounds. He shrugged in response. "It typically lasts a few minutes, actually, so long as it's a minor injury, more if it's serious."

Sive rolled her eyes at his technical response, not that he could see it while she was looking through the kit for some gauze and tape. "The trick is to avoid getting hurt in the first place, which I'm usually much better at doing." Tech agreed, noticing all of the not-quite-clean spots on her light colored fur all along her arms. Nothing looked serious, but it was still his fault that it had happened.

"Yeah…Sorry about…all that, by the way," he said sheepishly, preparing a few excuses.

Sive didn't even look up at him. "Tech, it wasn't your fault, no harm done, and if I have to pull you out of a guilt trip, I'm going to smack you upside the head."

Tech snorted at the very Sive-esque response, instantly feeling better about the whole thing. He didn't think she'd actually be mad at him, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel bad; seeing that she wasn't seriously hurt helped. Even the hit to her shoulder, now that she'd cleaned it up a bit, looked better as she applied the bandage.

"And that takes care of all that," Sive concluded, beginning to put all of the medical supplies around her back into the kit. She paused as Rip walked out of the kitchen, face neutral as he approached his mom.

"Attempt number one," Tech muttered, watching Rip's progress as he stopped in front of Harriet. All she did was lean a bit so she could watch the kitchen door around him, looking for her other son, not really paying attention to Rip.

He was quick and decisive, not hesitating at all and not giving any intro to what he next said, making it all the more shocking. "Mom, I'm doing drugs."

"That's-nice-honey," she said quickly, not paying any attention and just brushing him off like what he just said was nothing.

Rip, unfazed and seemingly expecting that result, turned and walked back into the kitchen with a sour look. Sive and Tech could hear an angry hiss of "I told you it wouldn't work!" after he reentered the kitchen.

"I'm not sure whether to be depressed or amused by that," Sive concluded a few moments later, once they were sure no second attempt would immediately follow the first. Harriet's reaction (or lack thereof) was humorous, but the fact that she was still giving Rip the short end of the stick very effectively killed the humor.

"I know what you mean," Tech agreed, looking from Harriet back to Sive. Now that the younger coyote was fully facing him, he caught sight of something he'd missed earlier. "You missed one," he said, drawing a line across his cheek where she still had a good deal of red staining her fur.

"Oh, really?" She tried tracing the same line as Tech did, searching for the small cut she had gotten earlier, but wasn't having much luck. It was obvious that she wouldn't be able to do much to it without a mirror, regardless of whether or not she managed to find it.

"Here, let me help you with that," he said, moving over to sit on the other side of her so as not to block the door. It was a small cut that didn't require a bandage, but it did need to be cleaned so it wouldn't get infected. Gently shifting her fur around to be able to look at the wound itself, he could see that it was short but wide, and a bruise looked to be forming around it.

"That looks like it's going to bruise," he informed her as he reopened the kit. "What did that? A hammer?"

"I'm pretty sure it was a wrench, actually," she mused, "and yet there were a lot of tools flying and I can't remember exactly which ones hit where."

While Tech was still rifling through the kit, Sive avidly watched as Ralph walked out of the kitchen, appearing nervous and almost as uncomfortable as he had before clearing things up with his kids.

"Uh, Harriet?" he started uncertainly, slowly, as though choosing his words carefully. It was enough to catch his wife's attention. He then proceeded to rocked through the rest of his speech. "HoneyI'vebeenthinkingforawhileandit'sbeenstarting tobothermeandIreallythinkweshouldmaybegetadivorce. "

That last word caught the coyotes' attentions, and they both immediately snapped their heads towards that conversation. Harriet, having the fast Runner mind, had been able to follow her husband's quick words, and was just starting to look perturbed, but Ralph beat her to it. "Hahahanevermindhoneythatwasjustajokeseealittlepra nknoharmdonerightloveyoubye!" Ralph then may have beat his older son's speed record jetting out of that room.

"…That went well," Sive concluded sarcastically after Ralph had cleared out. Harriet, though momentarily bothered, was still entranced based on her eye color.

Tech snorted in acknowledgement, picking up one of the swabs he had prepared and turning back to Sive. "Hold still," he told her, leaning in so he could see what he was doing. He focused on getting as much of the blood as he could out of her fur first before moving to disinfect it. Sive naturally flinched at the contact with the alcohol.

"Sorry," she squeaked in response to his unamused expression. He merely cupped her opposite cheek to ensure she wouldn't move before repeating his earlier action, moving even closer to further ensure she wouldn't jump. It took only a moment to disinfect the wound, but it took him a relatively much longer amount of time to realize just how much Sive had tensed up, and even longer to realize why. But even he was only so dense, eventually realizing that they were much closer than socially acceptable, and moved quickly to recoil and stammer numerous apologies, knowing that Sive wasn't really one for close contact.

He didn't get a single word out of his mouth. Green eyes met blue, and it was like everything stopped. Both coyotes froze, discomforts forgotten, seemingly entranced by each other, as though noticing something that was lost on them before. Neither noticed Lexi walk in to attempt something else, walking out just as quickly as she came in (and barely containing a squee of delight); to them, nothing existed but the other. This went on longer than either realized- until Duck spontaneously appeared on the other end of the room, screaming in Harriet's face in an attempt to scare her.

Sive and Tech both jumped, both barely containing shouts of surprise (and, in Sive's case, a bolt of energy,) as they turned to the source of the noise. Duck was in some obscene position standing on a table, while Harriet apathetically looked on.

"If-you're-trying-to-scare-me-you're-going-to-have -to-do-better-than-that," she stated matter-of-factly. "I-raised-two-troublesome-boys-and-while-neither-c an-teleport-I've-still-seen-just-about-everything. "

The grumbling Duck frustratedly swept back into the kitchen, not noticing the two furiously blushing coyotes, both looking at anything but each other and neither wanting to say anything nor knowing what to say. This continued through two more attempts consisting of Rev trying to say that he vehemently hated his mother (which ended much like Ralph's attempt,) and Ace saying that Rev was coming back to the team no matter what, which served to infuriate her more than surprise her. They were only saved from the awkward silence a little later when Rip popped his head through the door.

"Hey, Sive!" he called, looking as eager as any of the Loonatics had ever seen him. "Can I borrow you for a minute?"

Sive had no idea what he meant by 'borrowing' her, but nevertheless followed him back into the kitchen, leaving Tech to think about what had just transpired.

He was left without really knowing what to think. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before. He'd heard of it, some special 'click' happening between two people- in romance movies. Which were all folly, of course; there was no real logic behind the idea, no data that could be taken from it. After all, it had nothing to do with how he constantly wanted to keep her out of harm's way, or help her when she needed it, or got butterflies in his stomach when she stayed late with him in the lab…

Tech's musing was interrupted when Sive and Rip emerged from the kitchen, everyone else filing out and hanging around the doorway to watch. Whatever they had planned must have been good to gather that kind of an audience when no one had watched any of the previous attempts, but that was lost on the coyote as he took in Sive and Rip, walking with his arm around one of her shoulders, a smug grin on his face while she looked to be barely containing giggles.

Harriet looked up, her attention solely focused on the approaching coyote. Rip, once again, spoke without much leeway or introduction, stating his point simply and quickly, and it took a moment for its meaning to settle in.

"Mom, meet my new girlfriend!"

Pedestrians 134 floors below could have heard her scream of terror.

xoxoxoxox

It took longer to convince Harriet that Rip and Sive were, in fact, not dating than it took to explain what had happened to her. It took even longer for certain people, namely Rip, Rev, Sive, Lexi, Slam, and Duck, to stop laughing. Tech was still acting grumpy even longer than that, at which point Lexi playfully ribbed him about being jealous, which resulted in his grumpy attitude turning to shy stuttering.

However, like Ralph, Harriet felt immense guilt at how she'd treated her sons, and so the Loonatics once again filed out of the room to let them have their moment. In the meantime, Ace retrieved Rev's uniform from the storage locker he'd safely stowed it in while Tech called up Zadavia once more.

Once Rev did the rounds again, calling everyone to the living room, Zadavia materialized on the projector there to formally reinstate Rev as part of the team, with Ace symbolically returning the uniform which Rev was all too glad to change into after being stuck in his charred business clothes for a few hours. His family watched from the sidelines, proud of their son and brother. They all acknowledged that it was the happiest Rev had been in weeks.

Everything immediately clicked back into place. The Runners stayed for a quick pizza dinner before going home again, leaving Rev and the Loonatics to let things go back to normal. The typical level of volume returned to HQ with the return of Rev's usual ramblings, and the lab fell back into whack with Rev correcting Tech's usual little mistakes, though neither displaced Sive from her assumed position during Rev's absence. Most notably, with their usual speed element back, the team was back in balance on the battlefield, having a great streak after such a tough experience with the mice.

All in all, the team was whole again, and if anything, they were stronger than before. Losing one part had showed them just how much they relied on each other and how attuned to each other they were, and no one was too eager to mess that balance up once again. They all knew that the team was like family, and family was always a priority.

A/N: I know Harriet didn't play a huge role in this, but even in Family Business, I got the sense that Ralph was the one who was the main focus of the feud, while Harriet followed along, so I felt that he should be more central to this one as well. *shrug*

Woo, cheesey end! *shot* I had no idea how to wrap this up nicely, so have a premade, store bought bow!

Anywho, I don't even have the outline for my next story done yet. Not even close. So, I need to do that at some point, and with all of my schoolwork piled up all at once from now until the end of the year, that may not happen for a while. So, hope and pray for my return to happen sometime in June. And just a note; for anyone who has not read And Then There Were Seven yet, my first story in my series, my upcoming story will be completely lost on you. I recognize that ATTWS is not my best work (it was my first fic, give me a break!), and I fully intend to rewrite it when I have time (read: when I'm 65 and retired,) please note that I have improved significantly in my writing ability (or so I like to think… I look back at ATTWS and it makes me want to put my fist through my screen, and I'm too scared to look at Paradox,) so please do not let that deter you from any of my future works.

So, in closing… Let's hope that I see all of you wonderful readers agian in June!

Can I please have some reviews to tide me over until then?

EDIT: Thanks to Candlestic and Halloween Witch for pointing out a formatting error with the Runner's speech! I think I've found all the errant spaces, but if I missed one please point it out!