The Rose and Her Thorns
Later that evening...
"I can't believe the nerve of these people!"
Sunni's enraged outburst came out around a mouthful of Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. They all sat in the gargantuan living room, curled up in their pajamas with a bowl of their favorite ice cream in their lap(Harley was especially pleased that there had been six different flavors of the stuff in the freezer). The 60" plasma screen was secured on the wall above the fireplace, displaying a news woman as she promptly recounted the story of the Riddler's stint in Gotham Regional Medical Center.
"It seems that the missing children have been living with the three supervillains for over two weeks before the incident, slowly being brainwashed into thinking that the criminals were part of their family. There have even been reports that the recently escaped pack of wolves has been with the children, following the oldest like she was a part of the group. Police are currently searching the former hideout of Poison Ivy, but there is no trace to be found of the children or the escaped psychotics. We'll have more news for you later on in the evening."
A small splutter came from Ivy as she tried to talk around her mouthful of Chunky Monkey. Her face was flushed as she gripped her bowl tightly, glaring at the offending anchorwoman venomously. "I'll kill her. I'll rip out her throat with my bare hands. Brainwashing!"
Next to her, Harley nudged her best friend before the curses started flying. Child or no, you've never truly heard someone curse if you hadn't heard a swear come from the mouth of Poison Ivy. "Red, you're gonna scare the boys."
Instant regret filled Ivy to the core as she looked at her boys. They were spread out on the floor, blankets and pillows aplenty on the beautiful polished walnut. Wide blue and brown eyes stared up at her, concern and apprehension filling them to the brim. Only Sunni seemed to be un-affected by the sudden outburst, her attention still glued to the flatscreen and her ice cream.
"I'm sorry boys. It's just really irritating that she'd even suggest that I'd brainwash you."
From the plush loveseat spoke Jonathan, cradeling a small bowl of Triple Caramel Chunk as he sat next to Miles. "It's not like you've not brainwashed people before. They're just going off the assumption that the kids are just normal hostages to you."
If looks could kill, the ice-cold stare Ivy sent at Scarecrow would be reason enough to start his funeral. But for his part, Jonathan was playing it cool. Something told him that as long as he was near the kids, his internal organs would remain intact.
Intelligent enough to see the Scarecrow's iminent death, Sunni leapt up and stood between the two, motioning for Eddie to wrap an arm around her Mom. Calmly, the Riddler obliged, squeezing the woman he now knew to be his girl gently.
Taking a deep breath, the teen put her nerd face on, trying to come up with a way to solve this particular dilemma. "Okay. So we know that you guys take care of us. They're just idjits and think that we're with you against our will. They know where the old house is, but they probably wouldn't expect us to come here."
A confused "huh" came from Eli as he turned his now-purple head towards his older sister. Chocolate Therapy coated the skin around his mouth as he favored Sunni with a rather blank expression.
"Let me elaborate. This is one of the most crime-free parts of Gotham city. The community we are currently residing in is a high security one, complete with nosy neighbors. But Dad was always sure to let the neighbors know that whatever he did was none of their buisness. He could've commited axe-murders in here, complete with screaming and blood-splattered windows and nobody would've called the cops!"
Harley whistled from her upside-down position on the chair-and-a-half. "Woah. And I thought Mistah' J had influence."
"My point is; no one would expect us to be here while you have plenty of hideouts scattered throughout Gotham. They probably think we're in Robinson Park or some place of that nature."
Leaping up from the floor, eyes twitching from a sugar-high, Gabe multiplied and hugged his older sister with a veritable mob of blond twiness. "You're a genius. I knew you were a genius before, I just never told you that. Am I talking fast? I can't tell. Wow that was really good ice cream! Can I please have some more?"
In fact, Gabe was talking fast. He had just finished his third bowl of S'mores, claiming that it was awesome beyond anyone's comprehension. Now the sugar rush was starting to affect him. Needless to say, the boy was cut off from the ice cream for the rest of the night.
"Yes you are talking fast. Now shut up."
Frowning, Ivy spoke to the teen while giving Howard a tiny bite of her Chunky Monkey. "Sunni, be nice to your brother."
"Yes Mom."
The family sat in silence for a moment, everyone digesting both the information Sunni had just given them and the copious amount of ice cream they had ingested. Surprisingly, it was Eli who spoke first, his voice steely with determination. "If they come here, they're gonna have to take me in a body bag. I'm NOT gonna leave Mom and Ed and Harl."
All the kids jumped in, agreeing hardily with the nine year old's statement. Warmth spread through Ivy's heart as she heard this. It felt good to know that something would stay at least somewhat constant in her crazy life. Their love only made her want to keep them safe more. Howard started to yawn, cooeing and snuggling into his mom as she sat down her bowl to hold him. Delicate green fingers stroked his silky blond hair as the baby drifted off to sleep, the sound of Ivy's breathing helping him along into the Land of Nod.
"Guys, we'll talk about this in the morning. It's bedtime."
For some reason, the kids agreed, trodding off to their bedrooms without a complaint. Bowls of half-eaten ice cream were cleaned out and put into the dishwasher before they left because Ivy wouldn't let them sleep if they didn't. But then Camden stopped.
Turning, his voice was quiet and small as he said, "Can I let the wolves in? I can't sleep without Snow and Ziva."
Before the green villainess by her side could answer, Harley spoke up. "'A course ya' can sport! I know how ya' feel."
With a grin, Camden ran up and gave all of them hugs before running off to the back door and flinging it open. allowing a flurry of fur and fang to fly into the mansion. They raced up to the bedrooms, two or three wolves each taking residence in a certain room.
A sigh escaped Ivy's throat as she stood from the couch, still cradleing Howard as she stepped lightly out of the living room. Following her example, Harley scooped up Miles and Hayden with a perky smile. It didn't take as long as she thought it would to reach the nursery, but when the clown reached the large room, Ivy was still holding onto Howard. The red-head just stared down at her little boy, a loving smile plastered to her face.
"Hey Red. Don'tcha think that ya'd better put him down?"
Ivy jerked her head up, staring at Harley with wide and slightly scared eyes. Then she smiled once again and nodded. Once all of the little boys were placed in their cribs, the villainesses said their goodbyes and parted ways. Down the hallway Ivy went, coming to Sunni's room so she could say goodnight. The teenage girl was passed out in large dark-purple bed, Fang and Thalia curled up on either side of her. Tip-toeing carefully, the auburn haired villainess placed a gentle kiss on the sleeping teen's forehead.
Then came the twins. Eli and Gabe's room looked kind of like one of Two-Face's layers. One side was a light blue color, neat and pristine as Gabe himself was. The other side was...well, it absolutely screamed Eli's personality. It was bright red, with clothes and various other unidentifiable objects. But the twins weren't looking around their multiple-personality room. Both were snoring, cuddling against Lyall and Steel. Older and grayer, Steel fit perfectly with the rough and tumble side of the room.
Blond, tousled hair popped up in Gabe's bed. "Momma? What'r you doin'?"
"I came to say goodnight."
A sleepy smile. "Goodnight Mom."
"Goodnight. Sweet dreams."
With that, Ivy went on to see Camden. The little boy was already snoring, arms wrapped around Ziva. With a light kiss to his temple, the mother went off to see Jasper. Once again, despite all the late-night sugar, the little three year old was out cold. Snow was with him, curled up like a pillow and snoring softly as the world went by around them. Slightly wary of waking up the little white wolf, Ivy didn't stop to kiss Jasper, but she did whisper goodnight to him.
Yawning, the villainess looked at the clock, surprised to find that it was already almost ten o' clock at night. Entering the master, Ivy dressed robotically, not even bothering to look up at the bed. Ever so carefully, Ivy had to maneuver around Akin as he slumbered on the floor. Tired and still slightly irritated with the media, she slipped under the silk sheets. But her eyes flew open when she brushed against someone's skin. That someone was already snoring, chest rising and falling rhythmically as they slept.
It was Eddie. Incredibly, the man had managed to swipe some pajamas from the dresser, get changed, and fall asleep in the time it took her to say goodnight to all of the kids. What's more was, he was one of those people that looked absolutely adorable once they drifted off to Dream Land. Almost of it's own accord, a hand came out and started to stroke loose hairs away from his face. He was really pretty once he relaxed.
Part of Ivy knew that this was probably wrong, but another part of her just wanted to snuggle with him. Shrugging to herself, the villainess let the cuddly part of her heart take over, pressing herself against Eddie's side with a purr. He was warm and smelled of Triple Caramel Chunk ice cream. Inadvertently, an arm wrapped itself around Ivy's shoulders and drew the woman even closer to her. It felt really great to have someone to snuggle with.
Soon, she began to drift off, muttering something about getting used to snuggling as sleep overtook her.
The next morning~ December 14th
Sunni awoke the next morning, an annoying buzzing and ringing sound jarring her awake.
What the hell is that, Fang?
No Momma, I don't wanna eat the moose.
Fang!
The huge wolf jolted awake, eyes wide as he processed everything in a second. What? Who? Where?
You said something about your mother and moose meat.
Somehow, the alpha male managed to look embarrased as his mate awoke laughing. It was a bad memory. I'd prefer we didn't talk about it.
Alright Mr. Moose. We won't talk about it. How's about we talk about that annoying sound that's coming from outside?
Stretching and hopping to the floor, the trio rushed over to the window. What they saw made Sunni more angry than she could ever remember being. There were media vans, trucks, and various members of the paparrazi outside. All of the men and women had flashing cameras, shouting in annoyingly high voices for the members of the family to come out.
How in the name of Jesus Christ Almighty did they manage to find her and her family? Apparently, Harley and Jonathan thought the same thing, as both of the adults had been woken up by the sounds of the megaphones.
"Child, I thought you said that this place was perfectly safe?"
NOW, the teen was irate, almost comically so in her Mickey Mouse pajama bottoms and tank top. "I don't know how! No one should know that we've come back here! The neighbors are too afraid to rat on us, so I don't know how the hell everyone knows that we're here! So don't blame this crap on me Spooky!"
"Hey! Less fighty. More worky. How are we going to get them to leave?"
Sunni shrugged at the harlequin's question. "Staying inside the house is the only answer I can think of."
"Yeah. Those idiots better hope that they don't wake up Red or the babies. They'll be picking cactus needles out of their butts for the next five years!"
Yo! I'll tell you what I want! What I really really want!
So tell me what you want! What you really really want!
I want...REVIEWS!
I love all the tips and love that I've recieved! Thank you litra for pointing out the media thing. I hadn't even thought about that until you mentioned it! And I would like to shout out to AvenJackel, Smile-Evily, and Hidden by Shadow for following my re-write for so long! I love you all so much!
Now I want to cry!...And now I want to eat Cosmic Brownies. So, keep reading and I'm sure that Smile-Evily will pleasantly surprised. *grin* You know what I'm talkin' about dude!
With love and chocolately goodness,
BlackRosePoetry