Author's Note: Man has it been a while! Sorry for the long wait - this story has been on hiatus for over a year now, but I think I finally have an idea of what's going on. It may be slow going for a while, but I'm back nonetheless, and hoping for a good run!

For anyone who's read this story up to this point before - I'm going to suggest that you go back and re-read up to here, as I have re-written all three chapters prior. The story has remained the exact same, but I updated with better writing and little additions here and there, so it's certainly worth refreshing. And now, that said - here's chapter four!

Lemme know what you think!

He stalked across the carpet, eyeing his prey – the small green butterfly that had been evading him for at least five minutes now. His puffy white tail flicked back and forth as he crept closer … closer … closer … and he pounced! The butterfly jumped out of the way just in time and dangled in the air right in front of his face. He pawed at it, claws out, but it was too high, so he soon gave up and instead curled up on the floor, frustration showing in his blue eyes.

Awnii laughed and scooped the kitten up into her arms, "You almost got it that time Blue!"

The toy clattered to the floor as she cuddled the squirming creature, finally letting it go when her mother walked into the room.

"Don't torture my kitten, Awnii." The traces of a smile lingered on Rachelle's face.

"Sorry Mom."

Blue seized the opportunity to run away to the kitchen, searching for his sister, Sara. Rachelle took a seat on the sofa, across from where Awnii was lying on the floor.

"You all ready for school?" Rachelle watched her daughter sit up, an unreadable expression on her tired face.

"Yup," Awnii smiled, "All set. We're going to meet Jynks at her house on the way to school… if that's alright with you." The last part was added in a rush, due to the strange look Rachelle had given her.

"That's fine."

Awnii beamed, "Thanks, Mom!" She hopped up and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck. Rachelle returned the hug, smiling herself.

"Now, can you go and wake up your brother for me?"

"…Can I pour a cup of water on his head?"

"If it'll get him up."

"Yes!" Awnii's fist pumped the air, and she raced off to the kitchen, nearly running into Garfield on his way into the sitting room. "Sorry, Dad."

He nodded, and headed over to Rachelle's side, sitting down beside her.

She looked up, "Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"In a minute," he nodded, "We need to figure out what we're doing about this whole school thing."

"For now, nothing."

"Nothing?" Garfield looked shocked, "But…"

"We need to talk to Rick and the others first," Rachelle placed a hand on his arm, "and then we can figure out where to go from there."

Garfield nodded again, "Yeah," he said slowly, "You're probably right…" he stood up, "But I'm not calling him!"

Rachelle rolled her eyes,

"Oh don't worry," she said sarcastically, "I'll be sure to take care of anything mature that needs to be done. You go and play with your animals."

"Thanks, I will." He leaned over and gave his wife a kiss, and then turned and left, "See you tonight, babe!"

Rachelle enjoyed a minute or two of silence, before the house erupted.

"Mom!"' Kiran came charging into the room, his hair wet and an angry look on his face, "Awnii poured water all over me while I was sleeping!"

"I know." Rachelle stood up.

"You know?" Kiran looked at her in disbelief, "But… she… I…" he growled, "I'm gonna get you for this Awnii!" he charged back down the hall, and Rachelle heard a scream as Kiran reached his sister's hiding place. The next thing she knew, they were racing each other around the house, flinging water in every direction. Garfield's terrier, Doom, was chasing around after them, his tail wagging and tongue flapping, and both kids were laughing.

Rachelle let them have their fun, but only for a few minutes – they had to get going to school soon.

"Alright, alright!" She held up a hand, and Kiran and Awnii paused.

"Aw, c'mon, Mom!" Kiran held out his arms, "I was just about to get her!"

"Oh, sure you were!" Awnii rolled her eyes, and Kiran splashed a cup of water in her face. Her mouth fell open as the water dripped down her wavy brown hair.

"Mom!" she cried, pointing a finger at him, "Did you see that?"

Rachelle nodded, "Yes. Any other questions?"

Kiran laughed, and Awnii made a face.

"It was fair revenge," Kiran argued, "You woke me up!"

"You had to get up eventually!"

"Well you could've done it nicely!"

"What fun is that?"

"I dunno… but still!"

"But still what?"

"You don't dump a bucket of water on my face!"

"It was a cup!"

"It's the same thing!"

They went on like this for a while, but when Rachelle told them to get to school, they complied, throwing insults back and forth the whole way down the road. Aisha, confused, followed behind them quietly, wondering why on earth her siblings were so weird.

"You chased me through the house with a cup of water!"

"You chased me back!"

"Yeah, but you started it!"

"No, you did! You poured water on my face!"

"Well, yeah… but it was so much fun!"

"I know!"

They met up with the Stone kids halfway between their houses, and walked the rest of the way to school together.

Meanwhile (drastic scene change here), somewhere deep beneath the earth in a place unknown to man, sinister things were happening. The sound of gears clanging against each other sounded in the still chamber, and the youth could hear nothing but the sound of his own breathing. He was wearing no shirt, and the hard metal table felt cold against his bare skin. He lifted his head to look around the room, which appeared to him empty, and then began struggling against the metal strips holding his arms and legs in place. His breathing soon became labored with the effort, and he was getting nowhere.

"Nice try." He jumped as a man entered the room, "But you aren't going anywhere." He walked slowly over to a metal desk – the only other thing occupying the small room. He began searching around inside, and the boy tried again to break free, though he knew it was useless.

The man turned to face him, and though he was wearing a mask, the boy knew that he was an older man – late forties, perhaps early fifties, and he knew the sadistic look in his eyes without having to see them himself.

He had a vague feeling of having known this man, a long time ago, but everything was hazy, and he no longer knew what was fact and what was fantasy. The only thing real to him was this man. This man and…

The masked man leaned over him,

"Are you ready to try again?"

When Karen had arrived at her home twenty minutes ago, Rachelle had certainly not anticipated the awkwardness that arrived with her. She had been offered tea, which she had politely declined, and then Rachelle had lead her into the living room, where they were now sitting. There was a short silence then, and Rachelle wondered why she had even invited her old firend over – they hadn't talked in years (which was sad, really). They didn't have much to say, until finally Karen broke the silence.

"So, then," She sat stiffly against the couch, doing her best to act like she wasn't uncomfortable, "What were you thinking we should do about all this?"

Rachelle leaned into the cushions, having no trouble being comfortable in her own home, and doing her best to act like she didn't notice Karen's horrible acting, "Well, Garfield and I talked it over last night," she said slowly, "And we figure that the best response would be to do nothing at all."

"…nothing?"

"Exactly." Rachelle shifted her position, knocking an indignant Blue from her lap and onto the floor, "At this point it would only raise suspicion if we were to switch schools again, especially two days into the new year."

"True…" Karen frowned, "And we really can't tell them not to see each other anymore, can we?"

"Not really," Rachelle sipped her own mug of tea, "Really, it would be in everyone's best interests not to make a big deal of it. What's the worst that could happen?"

"They could discover our secret," Karen suggested, but Rachelle just shrugged.

"And how would that happen? Unless they were looking for it, they would never be able to figure it out. The government searched for years, remember? Not to mention the numerous villains who were after us."

"I suppose so," Rachelle's idea was making more and more sense to Karen, and she found herself growing more comfortable as they lapsed into their old way of speaking, "It does seem to be unlikely."

"Indeed." Rachelle smiled tiredly, "I think we should just let it be; nothing's going to happen, and if it does we can deal with it then."

"Sounds like a plan then," Karen agreed, only too happy to move away from the topic of their discovery, "But I'm still not telling Rick."

Rachelle laughed, "Funny," she said, "My husband said the exact same thing."

"Fifteen years later, and he still scares us," Karen laughed, "Poor guy."

"Mmm," Rachelle nodded, reaching down to stroke Blue, who was rubbing up against her leg, purring.

"Is that your kitten?" Karen leaned forward suddenly, crinkling her suit as she watched the interaction.

"Yes," Rachelle pulled Blue off the floor and onto the couch between them, "This is Blue. The other one should be around here somewhere…"

"You have two kittens?"

"And a dog, rabbit, hamster, snake, fish, budgie, guinea pig, and two turtles."

"…you're kidding."

"Karen, I married Beast Boy, what did you expect?" Rachelle laughed, "We might be getting a pig, too."

"A pig?" Karen laughed as well, "Oh my. I suppose my kids will be wanting a pet soon, in that case."

"You don't have any?"

"Nope – we don't have the time or energy." Karen shrugged, "Vic's away during the day, and I'm always back and forth… it wouldn't be fair to the pet, you know?"

"Mmm, I do," Rachelle stroked Blue's head, watching Karen carefully, "What is it that you two do again?"

"Hmm?" Karen looked up from where she had been staring, which seemed to have been at Blue as well, "Oh, well Victor is a high school teacher – he does tech stuff for the most part. He's the head of the department; which is pretty good but eats up a lot more time."

"Oh really?" Rachelle smiled, "I don't think I actually knew that – cool."

"Yup," Karen seemed pleased as she went on, "He's good at what he does, or so I'm told."

"And you?" Rachelle prompted, "Last I heard you were a lawyer of some sort…?"

"I'm a lawyer, yes," Karen laughed, "Defense attorney, if you want to get specific. I work from home most of the time – I get special treatment from the boss – but I have to go to court for cases and meet clients and whatnot."

"Okay," Rachelle nodded slowly, "Guess you couldn't stay away from the criminals could you?" She smiled, and Karen laughed.

"Guess not."

The conversation took a lighter turn then, and soon the two had lapsed back into the feel of their old days. They were friends again, and both realized quickly that they had been avoiding one another for far too long.

"It's been forever since I last talked to any of you!" Karen said suddenly, "I haven't had contact with my own team in years, not to mention the others."

"I'm just realizing the same thing," Rachelle said softly, "I don't even know where most of them are."

"Well, I know that most of my old team still live in Steel City," Karen said, thinking, "Vic and I moved up here years ago, and we just lost contact…"

"It's sad, really," Rachelle shook her head, "We should all get together again sometime."

"We should," Karen nodded, "The last time we all hung out was what, thirteen years ago?"

"At our wedding," Rachelle recalled, "That was it wasn't it? None of us even went to Alan's…"

"No, I don't think we did," Karen shook her head, "It must have been your wedding then. That's horrible."

"It is," Rachelle agreed, "We should definitely get together again sometime soon. Or, the six of us who live in Jump City anyhow. Nothing too big."

"Six?" Karen counted it off on her fingers, "That would be you and I, Vic and Garfield, Kori and Rick, right?"

"Yup," Rachelle nodded, "Unless anyone else has moved to town?"

"Not that I've heard,"

"All right then." Rachelle smiled, finishing off the last sip of her tea, "Sounds like a date."