This is just under 2k words. 'Cause, y'know. School. Anyway, I've been thinking, perhaps I should change the update time for this story from Thursday (Australian est) to Monday, so I get a full day before that to make up for all my procrastination. What do you guys think? This might result in the next chapter being updated a few days late... It all depends on how well I do next week.

Sheila had never been so terrified in her life. Every possible bad outcome that could occur rushed through her mind. Her phone rang again; her boss, or someone else at work wondering why she'd left so suddenly. She ignored it, focusing on the road, determined to get to the hospital as soon as possible.

It had been Simmons who'd called her; he and Kaikaina had been on the far side from the car that hit them, while Grif and Donut...

Stop. You're panicking. All that will do is lead to you crashing, and then you can do nothing to help him. A few deep breaths and she was mainly in control, the slight shaking of her hands the only tell to her stress and worry. All her work as a psychologist had given her great skill with calming herself down.

She arrived at the hospital, willing everything to go faster- parking, the receptionist, even the lift. She could not get to Donut's side quickly enough, but when the nurse announced her son was a door away, her haste vanished. Simmons hadn't given much information, his exact text (Sheila had memorised it during the drive) was 'Grif + Donut hurt in car crash. Me and Sister fine. We're at hospital.' Perhaps Simmons had purposely left out Donut's sate. Maybe he was dying.

Again, panicking. Stop it. With a brief air of determination Sheila marched through the door, not allowing her speed to change as she scanned the ward. Simmons waved at her, grimly sitting beside the two hospital beds on which lay Grif and Donut.

"Oh god." Her tone, oddly enough, was relief. Every horrible image of Donut mortally wounded or disfigured vanished. He was certainly injured- bandages coated most of his right side, and his right leg looked like it was broken, but there were no injuries on his head, and everything looked like it would heal eventually.

"Donut, I-" Of course, Sheila knew that she should finish that sentence, tell him so utterly sorry she was, how she was there for him and loved him and wished she could have protected him. The thoughts refused to become words, sticking in her throat. She sunk into a seat beside Donut, wanting to clutch his hand yet not wanting to hurt him. Tears dripped from her eyes. Sheila let them fall, not exactly sure if they were tears of relief, sadness or just stress. All of them, most likely.

Simmons couldn't help it- he was jealous of Sheila. Her first priority was Donut, who had fared notably better than Grif.

The doctor who had informed Simmons of what was wrong with Grif had been very blunt. Simmons had written down the list; like he'd ever forget. Grif had a fractured forearm, had lost three teeth, a broken nose, friction burns across his shoulder. The right side of his face had been coated in glass, and half his ear had to be stiched together. Though the doctor claimed the chances of brain damage were low, Grif had still hit his head hard, and they would not know for sure until he woke, which could take days. What if he becomes like Caboose?

Sister had left the room in search of a shop, claiming that chocolate calmed her down. He had asked her to get him some, and now was left alone –Sheila was too immersed with her own fears- with nothing to do but stare at Grif and fear.

I'd give most- hell, I'd give my entire body to keep you alive. Maybe then he could become a robot, like he had dreamed as a kid.

A grim smile touched his face. Grif would have laughed.

[Linebreak]

"Uhh..." Doc stared blankly at the wall, trying to work out how this could be a prank.

"Well?" Omega's voice seemed dull, though that was probably the phone's fault.

"Y-you want to go on a date with me?"

"Pretty much. Anyway, it's clear you don't want to. Sigma pressured me into this- sorry for wasting your time." Ok, definitely dull- and cold. Doc's stomach twisted; he had hurt Omega.

"No, wait! I would definitely like to go out with you." See, not that hard. Doc grinned, glad that he had –for once- gained the courage to say how he felt.

"Cool! Um... what do you want to do?"

Omega seemed as unfamiliar with dating as he was. "A movie, maybe?"

"Sure. When?"

Doc was pretty sure right now would seem slightly desperate. "Er… Up to you. I'm free pretty much all the time."

Doc heard bits of conversation, including Sigma's voice and a male voice he wasn't too familiar with. His brother? "How about tomorrow night? I can't drive though; we'll have to meet there."

"That's fine." Everything was fine right now. Doc had had a crush on Omega since his sister had forced him to school with purple hair roughly a year ago. He looked so adorable with it, though his furious expression frightened him slightly. Which was why Doc hadn't dared speak to him until he and Sigma had walked up to his table.

"Fucking cockbite! You killed me!"

"Tucker-" Caboose looked over at Tucker, who was glaring back. Sheila had told him that blaming Tucker was mean. She also said that even though Tucker was mean, being mean back still wasn't nice. "I'm sorry Church."

Church gave him a smile, which made his heart flutter with excitement. Of course, Caboose didn't notice how Church had been torn between yelling at the moron and trying to be nice to him. "Another game?"

Tucker shrugged, beginning another Halo Capture the Flag match. "Have you heard from Carolina?"

"Nope," Church sounded upset. Caboose thought he should hug him, but Church would probably get mad at him. "She hasn't been home since yesterday."

"York would tell you if she was hurt. He's not that much of an asshole."

"You'd be surprised," Church grolwed.

"Why would Tucker be surprised? Are you planning a party for him? Oh! A birthday party?"

Both Tucker and Church glared at Caboose. "Shut up," muttered Church.

"You're an idiot," Tucker announced.

"Sorry Church," Caboose murmured, trying to focus on the game and not hitting Church. It was hard, seeing this round they were on seperate teams and Caboose didn't want to loose. Then again, he didn't want Church to loose either.

Caboose hated being on different teams with Church.

"Knock knock"

"Shut up Wyoming."

"Come on South, knock knock!"

South simply glared at her partner, furious at York for assigning her with Wyoming of all incredibly annoying people. What furthered her irritation was the dullness of their job- just stand by this fucking building in the middle of the night until some sketchy people show up, then follow them. She couldn't even interrogate them! Her direct orders were see where they go then leave. Weren't they supposed to be fighting the fucktards? "What does York have against me? Ever missi-"

"Perhaps it'd be wise for you not to speak so much? It is really annoying."

South blinked as Wyoming interrupted her. His voice was odd, and it wasn't often he spoke back to her. "Oh fuck you. I'm annoying?"

Wyoming walked towards her silently. South was a little bit freaked out by how weird he was suddenly acting. "What are you-"

"Tex described one of the Insurrection as female and blonde, yes? And all Insurrection have a red symbol tattoed on them?"

"Are you seriously acting this weird to tell me something I already know?"

Wyoming rolled his eyes and walked off, his british accent floating back; "What you don't know is said blonde girl just walked around the corner."

"Oh fuck!" Cried South, jogging to catch up with him.

"Subtlety is clearly not your strong point."

South wanted to swear at him, but didn't want to risk failing the mission. Instead she moved forward fifty metres with her middle finger raised behind her back.

"Class isn't either," Wyoming whispered.

The two continued to trail the female gang member, South ahead as most people (i.e. those that didn't know Tex) would be less alarmed by a female following them than a male. Of course, this woman had known Tex, and was a dangerous woman herself, so the strategy probably wouldn't help much. Still, it had a chance of helping, and though South and Wyoming weren't the worst at steath, they could still do with help.

South had never realised how far one could go without meeting anyone. Either this woman was making a map of every alley and side street in Austin, or she really didn't want to be noticed. Her wariness did nothing to ease South's nerves towards being caught, though she hadn't noticed her nor Wyoming yet.

The woman eventually stopped at an apartment entrance. South attempted to sneak closer, unable to see clearly. Some guy exited the building and began talking to the woman. South noted a mohawk. She tried to creep closer to eavesdrop on them, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Just watch, then leave, remember? We've found their meeting place, now we go." Wyoming muttered in her ear.

"Come on. They are right there."

"No," Wyoming said faltering. He meant to say it with confidence, but the unexpected cocking of a gun that is pointed at one's head will make said person's voice falter.

"Told you I was followed." The female Insurrection member stepped forward with mohawk guy. The gun was held by a third man, whos left arm was made of metal.

"Knock em out. We'll question them inside."

South looked up at robot-guy. He grinned and stepped forward. I bet being punched by a metal hand really hurts. She wasn't wrong.

Sigma was estatic. And for once, Delta was almost sure she wasn't faking it. Maybe she is recovering, he thought, as she planned and pestered Omega into getting excited for his date.

"Will you two please shut up?" Gamma was, for once, home. Since he graduated highschool last year, the oldest O'Malley was rarely seen, usually working or at college or wherever else he could be that wasn't hurt. Delta undersood, trying to forget the life they lead was Gamma's way of coping. He had even tried to change his name to Gary, but that was hard to do without the courts noting his siblings had no parental supervision. As much as Gamma hated this life, he didn't want to screw over the rest of them.

"Sorry Gamma," Sigma squeaked. She hushed Omega when he tried to be loud just to spite his older brother. She's nervous of him because he looks and sounds like father. This was something Delta already knew. While Gamma was studying law, Delta's interest was in psychology. It was through helping Sigma and raising Theta that he had gained the interest, and though Delta found it hard to grasp people's emotions, the idea of working out how people thought and felt intruiged him.

If only I knew all the stuff I know now back then.

I'm hinting way too much on the Sigma thing, aren't I. It's just... I've already planned the reveal scene, and it includes things I haven't even begun to add. Ugh, I'm regretting being lazy and sticking the weekend in now. I'm still on Saturday!