A/N: Hi, all! I know, I know, it's been a while since I've updated, and you could all come and hunt me down for that, but, alternatively, you could all thank me for spending so long on this epic chapter? I wrote a little further then this, but I wasn't too happy with it, so I'm ending this chapter where it ends as opposed to a little longer, but we'll see how we go, hey? Anyway, I hope you guys all enjoy this installment of "The Next Generation" update!
-ScottishLaura

It felt only moments later that Leo opened his eyes again. Raven and Nero were sitting up, holding Alina's hand again. Leo smiled.
"She woke up, last night!" Nero smiled sadly, but shook his head.
"Leo, she's in an induced coma. She won't wake up for a few days." Leo shook his head.
"No. She promised! She said she'd wake up in the morning." Leo started sobbing quietly. He reached for Alina's hand, and he gently began stroking it.
"You promised, Alina." He whispered. "You promised me." He put his head on the edge of the bed, and continued sobbing. A while later, when the room had fallen silent again, Leo heard movement. He looked up to see Alina's head moving again. He smiled. He reached across and poked his dad.
"See, she promised. She promised she'd wake up." A few minutes later, Raven was awake and watching her too. Moments later, Alina's eyes began to open. Leo smiled.
"I told you she woke up, and she promised. She never breaks her promises." Leo smiled. Raven leant forwards slightly, gently stroking Alina's hand. The girl was slowly opening her eyes, her eyelids flittering. Almost as if on cue, Alina's head rolled slightly, she took a deep breath, and she opened her eyes. Raven let out a sigh of relief, as did Nero. Leo just stayed sitting there, watching her.
"Alina." Raven breathed a sigh of relief, and wrapped her up in a hug. Nero watched, and then when Raven moved back, he wrapped her up in a hug. Leo didn't move to hug her, and he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He knew immediately that it was guilt. He looked down to his feet. A few moments later, he realised someone was calling his name. He looked up.
"Do you want some breakfast, Leo?" He just nodded, and then continued staring at his feet. Nero stood up and left the room.
"I'll be back soon," he called out. Raven was quietly talking to Alina, and Leo was still sitting, staring at his feet. A few minutes later, a Doctor came in and asked for Raven and Leo to step outside briefly so that he could check up on Alina. Raven grudgingly stood, and Leo slowly followed. Outside, Raven began asking Leo about his name.
"Why did you drop Roman?" Leo shrugged.
"It was weird, and people were getting into the habit of confusing me with Leo." Raven looked confused. "You know, that toy lion I used to drag everywhere?" Raven nodded.
"Fair enough." Leo smiled.
"Where've you been, mum? We haven't seen you for ages, and you only come back when Alina's in hospital?" Raven sighed.
"Leo, I wish more then anything that I could come back home with you guys, but I can't. I'm in the middle of something really important." Leo sighed.
"The middle? So what, you're not coming back again until we're like, 17 or something?" Raven sighed.
"That's not- Well y- but not-" Leo sighed.
"Don't worry about it. I didn't expect a straight answer after all these years, anyway." He walked off down the hall, but stopped after about 10 metres. He leant against the wall, and folded his arms, stubbornly refusing to look at his mum. Nero walked down the hall moments later, containers of food in his arms. He shifted it all to one arm as he walked past Leo, and then offered his hand. Leo looked up and took it, plodding back to Alina's room next to Nero. Raven sighed as she walked in. The Doctor had wanted a word with the family, but Leo didn't want to listen, so he curled up into a ball and tried to sleep a little bit. The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by someone.
"Leo? Leo, come on, honey, time to go home." Leo frowned.
"What? Already?" A strong but gentle arm pulled him to his feet.
"Come on, Leo. We're going home now." Leo groaned.
"No, I wanna sleep."
"You can sleep in the car. Come on."
"Where's Alina?"
"She's coming with us. Don't worry. We're all going home now, you can sleep in your bed soon." Leo finally opened his eyes slightly, and peered up at Nero.
"Dad?" Nero looked to his son.
"Yes, Leo?"
"When we get home, I have to tell you something. It's important." Nero nodded.
"OK. When we get home and you've had a proper sleep, you can tell me. OK?" Leo nodded. Alina was now standing up next to her bed. Her arm was still in a sling, and the gauze over the scratches covering her ribs had been replaced. Raven was standing at the door talking to a Doctor, and Nero had just moved to help Alina. When she walked past Leo, he smiled.
"I'm sorry," Leo mouthed.
"I know. I forgive you." She mouthed back. Leo smiled.

The next morning when Leo had woken up, Alina was still fast asleep in her room. Raven had already left, which upset Leo a little bit, but he just had to be glad that he had seen her again. Nero was sitting at the table with a mug of coffee sitting in front of him, newspaper in hand. Leo clambered up onto the seat next to him.
"Morning, Leo. Did you sleep OK?" Leo simply nodded.
"Hey dad?" Leo asked, looking up to Nero, straight into his eye. "You know how I wanted to tell you something last night?" Nero nodded, but didn't say anything, so Leo continued. "It's about Alina. You know how the school thinks that it was severe bullying or something as the reason Alina was bashed?" Nero raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Well, it is. But they're my friends. It's been happening for ages, but they got violent the other day. I wanted to stand up to them, but I didn't know how." Leo began sobbing quietly. Nero slid his chair back slightly, and looked Leo in the eyes.
"Leo?" Leo looked up, tears still filing his eyes. "I realised you probably had something to do with this, but I just wanted you to say it yourself." Leo opened his mouth to talk.
"I didn't actually do anything, Dad, I just watched." Nero shook his head.
"Leo, a bystander is just as bad as a bully, OK?" Leo nodded. "Now, I know you're sorry for this, and I know Alina knows you are, but, I'm still going to punish you, OK?" Leo nodded.
"I'm sorry, Dad." He leant into his dad, and rested his head on his chest, sobbing quietly. Nero wrapped his arms around his adopted son, and gently rubbed his back until the sobbing had fallen quiet. During this minor commotion, Alina had woken up. Nero heard her sit up and cough, then she fell silent.
"Leo, do you want to come and see how Alina is?" Leo nodded, and stood up. He wiped his eyes dry with the end of his sleeve. Nero offered his hand to Leo who took it, and walked along next to his dad into Alina's room. She was sitting up against her bed frame, reading a book. Nero knocked on the door, and Alina looked up.
"Hey dad. Hey Leo. What's up?" Nero smiled.
"We were just checking up on you. Are you OK?" Alina nodded.
"Yeah. Just sore." Nero nodded. Leo smiled, and let go of his dad's hand. He raced across the room and jumped onto the edge of Alina's bed, causing it to creak.
"Watcha reading?" Alina smiled.
"Harry Potter." Leo smiled.
"Haven't you read that already." Alina smiled.
"Only a few times." Leo smiled. Nero had silently backed out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving Leo and Alina alone. He pressed an ear to the door and heard the pair's gentle laughing. He smiled and, and walked back over to the newspaper and the now cold coffee. He began reading an article on the fifth page.
"Unidentified Woman Found Dead." Nero frowned and continued reading. A woman had been found dead in an alleyway just out of town. Nero frowned again, and reached for the phone. He quickly dialed a number, and listened to the dial tone.
"Hello?"
"Diabolus, I need some help."
"What can I do for you, Max?"
"Can you come over and watch the kids for me for a few hours? There's something out of town that I need to take care of." Diabolus Darkdoom nodded.
"Sure, Max. I'll be over in a few minutes. Is it OK if I bring Nigel along? I was halfway through tutoring him." Nero nodded.
"Sure, that's fine. I just need someone around to keep an eye on Alina, mainly." Diabolus nodded.
"OK. I'll be over soon."
"Thanks again, Diabolus." Nero put down the phone and put the newspaper down. Nero sighed, and stood up. He walked back to Alina's room. Leo and Alina were now silently reading the same book, Leo reading over Alina's shoulder. Nero walked over to them, and sat down on the edge of the bed. The twins looked up.
"Alina, Leo, I need to go out for a while, but Uncle Darkdoom and Nigel are coming over for a while, OK?" They nodded.
"Where are you going, daddy?" Leo asked, still reading over Alina's shoulder.
"Just out of town for a while. I'll be back this afternoon." A car door slammed outside. "That must be Uncle Darkdoom." Another slam. "And Nigel." Leo looked up.
"Nigel's here?" Nero nodded. Leo smiled.
"Yay!" Nero smiled, and left the pair reading. He walked to the front door. Diabolus was raising a hand to knock.
"Good day, Diabolus, Nigel." Nigel smiled.
"Hello, Max." Nero opened the door. "Haven't been here in a while," Diabolus grinned. Nigel stepped inside too, heaving a backpack over his shoulder.
"I see your father's got you studying hard then, Nigel." Nigel smiled shyly.
"No harder then at H.I.V.E.," Nigel remarked. Nero smiled.
"You've been teaching him some comebacks, Diabolus." Diabolus grinned.
"Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. How's Alina going, by the way?" Nero shrugged.
"She's OK. I'm not happy with Leo, but at least she'll recover soon." Diabolus nodded.
"Well, you best be off, then, get your "thing" over and done with, then get back to your kids." Nero smiled.
"Just give me a minute." Nero turned, and walked back into Alina's room. He sat down on the corner of the bed, and the twins looked back up to Nero again.
"I'm going now, guys." Leo frowned.
"Aw, but Dad," Nero leant over and picked him up, pulling him above his head; letting his legs dangle a few feet above the ground. "Put me down!" Leo giggled. Nero slowly let him drop, before suddenly letting go of him. Leo screamed before Nero caught him. Alina giggled, and Nero sat Leo down again. He leant over to Alina and hugged her tight, carefully avoiding her arm. He then stood up and turned to leave
"Bye dad!" Leo called. Alina called after him.
"Have fun!" Nero turned around and grinned at them.
"You two behave for Uncle Darkdoom and Nigel, OK?"
"We won't, Dad." The three of them grinned, and Nero turned and left the room.
"Thanks again, Diabolus." Diabolus waved him off.
"No problems. Now, hurry up and leave already!" Nero smiled, and turned and left. He got in the car, turned on the engine and drove off.