Sorry this is late. There were midterms and I am dead.

Pamela deposited us at a dinner table, that was set up above the rest. I didn't like the idea of being on a platform. The thought of being the centre of attention made me itch. I didn't want all eyes on me. Bad things happened when I was singled out. We were the only table elevated and I quickly tried to count the numerous tables that were splayed out around the large room. Too many people. In a saving grace, though, Sam and I weren't the only chairs set up at our table. Sam was probably ridiculously relieved that she wouldn't have to spend a few more hours all alone with me.

Pamela pratted along, "Dinner's getting started and everyone else is coming in to get seated in just a moment. I just didn't want the two of you to get lost in the shuffle."

That would also suck. I didn't want to be suffocated in by a bunch of people anyway. Pamela patted my shoulder again and I couldn't help but pull a face this time. She didn't seem to notice, though, which was a good thing.

"Just make yourselves comfortable. Everyone else will be in shortly." Pamela gave Sam a pat on the arm and then she was gone.

Sam and I were alone. Well, as alone as we could be when there was a flood of people in the room outside and a few beginning to trickle in the room with us. Sam was doing everything she could, so it fucking seemed, to not look at me at all – playing with her dress and then her forks and then her own fingers – while I could do nothing but stare at her, trying to figure out just how she'd done her hairs, even though it really didn't matter to me at all. Finally, Sam did look at me, and even though she was wearing make-up, I could see the blush along her cheeks and I wondered why she was looking at me like that.

"Hi," she said again. It was almost like I couldn't remember to speak to her at all.

Sam took a deep breath. "So, um, how's home been?"

"I keep forgetting I can eat," I confessed. My parents made sure to remind me to eat but I kept forgetting that I didn't need someone to feed me and then I'd wander into the kitchen and stare at things, marvelling at the choices. I thought of something else to confess in her, something that I was sure my family had noticed but no one had said. "And, sometimes, I'll sit in the same spot for hours because I keep thinking if I move too far, I'll hurt you."

It was also why I hadn't been using my powers as much as I had before we'd been captured. I was trying to ease myself back into it and get used to it but I felt, now, that I needed something to kickstart me into doing it.

Sam nodded at my words, looking like she understood. She did understand. "Leslie and Tara have been keeping me really busy. Mother too; Dad, when he's not working. They're trying to keep me from doing things like that."

Leslie and Tara. I knew the names and I thought of the false photographs we'd been offered. I smiled, glad she had them.

"Tuck and Jazz are around a lot, though they start acting like a couple and then it gets kind of strange."

We were still trying to find a way to keep all three of us in the same room.

"They're cute!" Sam exclaimed and I wasn't surprised she thought so.

"She's not your sister. He's not your best friend. I mean, it's strange."

Sam squinted at me, it was like she was reading me. "But you think it's a good strange."

And, so, she was. "They're happy. And that's what matters. Though I'm not saying I don't give them shit for their relationship, because I do and it's so easy to make them blush."

It was fun. It made Sam laugh and then her smile fell away and she brought up something that was the fucking opposite of fun.

"They discovered Vlad's missing."

I dismissed it, trying out my bravado again, if only to keep her at ease. Tucker had been using his tech to keep an eye on the situation for us. I admitted to her, "They've been talking about it on the down-low for a day or two now. They don't suspect anything, and they certainly don't think it's connected with us. Well, I guess I shouldn't say that. They think our kidnapper might have done something to him since we were found on his property. But they don't suspect him of being our kidnapper and they don't suspect that I locked his half-ghost ass in a thermos, along with my clone, because, well … that's just crazy."

"And how do you know this?"

I shouldn't have been surprised she'd asked. I said, "Uh, Tuck and I set up police scanners when we were, like, sixteen or something." Aw, shit, should I say the next part? It slipped out, but she didn't seem to hear.

"Huh?"

"Mayor Sanchez still really likes me." And then I was blushing too, mostly because the conversation had been so awkward. He'd called, after I'd been found and after they were starting to realize no one had heard from Vlad for a while. I'd snuck in a couple questions. Mayor Sanchez was a little airheaded – a good man, admittedly, but easily distracted, and I was sure that he didn't even remember I asked.

"Oh." Sam played with her fingers again and blurted, "Someone told me Paullina's in school now, but that she's coming back for something."

I shrugged. No one had told me about Paullina's life since our break-up and I had never asked. "No idea. I cut all ties with her. I didn't, don't, need her in my life. She represented a side of me that isn't really me and I never want to feel any connection with the person I was when I was with her again."

Sam couldn't look at me and I wondered if she hated to hear me talk about Paullina. Maybe I was just picking at old wounds. Was that better or worse than picking at fresh ones?

"You know, I'm really happy to hear you say that."

What the fuck did she mean by that? Before I could open my mouth to ask, the trickle of people coming into the dining room turned into a full-on tsunami and I was distracted again, trying to stare at every face. Our table started to fill, Tucker and Jazz appearing along the side of one of the table and Tuck lifting Jazz into her chair and hiding away the wheelchair. The girl that I remembered to be Tara came up but, if I remembered right, the baby she was holding wasn't her baby. There was a blonde that I only vaguely recognized. Leslie. It was Leslie's baby. But fuck me if I remembered the baby's name. The tiny thing was pointing around, making owl sounds.

"Everyone, this is Leslie," Sam began, sounding like the gracious host her mother had probably warned her to be."I know her from New Orleans and that's her son, Gavin. I don't know if you remember Tara – she went to Casper. Leslie, this is Danny. That's his sister Jazz and his best friend Tucker … and they're also dating."

"Tucker and Danny are dating or Jazz and Tucker are dating?"

"Oh!" Tucker exclaimed, reaching across the able. Automatically, I reached back. We'd been friends for too fucking long. "He's my honey pot."

"Ew." That was the best he could come up with? It was too east to make fun of. "What have I told you about those ridiculous pet names? If you insist on calling me things like 'honey pot', you're not getting any tonight."

Beside me, Sam was cracking up. That made me grin harder and I squeezed Tucker's hand as Jazz sighed.

"My boyfriend's in love with my brother. I guess it's off to Jerry Springer for us."

Tucker rolled his eyes at Jazz's words, letting go of me to reach for her.

"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!" Tara chanted, swinging Gavin's fist.

"My baby's not a prop."

Tara rolled her eyes and turned the baby around. I didn't like kids. They were ridiculously breakable.

"Aww, do you feel like a prop, baby? I think he feels like an actor. He's a little celebrity in his world."

"Do you feel like a celebrity, Gav?"

To my delight, the kid smacked Tucker against the face, making his owl noises again.

"Tucker," my best friend explained.

"Who?"

"Tucker."

I wondered how long they'd play their dumb games.

"I, uh, thinks he wants you to hold him," Tara said.

Great! Maybe Gavin would puke on Tuck too and something good would actually come out of the night.

"Aww. I guess I'll take him … if that's okay with you, Leslie?"

Leslie tossed her hands dramatically and I couldn't help but remember Paullina doing the same thing.

"Just under a year old and I already can't control him. What am I going to do for the next decade and a half?"

"Pray," Tara scoffed.

As I expected, Tucker and the baby were quick friends. I glanced at Sam to see that she was watching him, so I said, "Tuck's the baby whisperer."

"I can see that."

"He originally asked to be the 'babe whisperer' but something went terribly wrong."

She laughed. I'd made Sam laugh. It felt like a victory. I glanced up as Mom and Dad came up, looking for their seats.

"Jazz, honey, I'm so glad you're here."

As opposed to Siberia. Where I'd been.

"Uh, where else was I supposed to be?"

Mom took her seat next to me while Dad answered, "Nowhere. Your mother thought you were hiding in the crowd somewhere, lost to us."

"I wasn't worried!" Mom claimed, but I caught Jazz's eye and we both seemed to agree that it was a lie. "I just … didn't know where you'd gone."

Siberia had been hard on all of us.

"Just here!" Jazz said, trying to blow it off.

"Uh-huh," Mom said, and then she spotted the baby.

Sam wearily gave another set of introductions as Mom cooed at the baby. At the same time, Pamela and Jeremy came up.

"Well, it's time to eat!"

I like your fucking timing, Pamela, I thought.

The room filled with waiters, carrying tray after tray. I'd been to enough of these stupid things to know that there was going to be a speech while my food cooled in front of me and so I physically sat on my fingers to keep from sticking them in my food. Sam stole a vegetable off the top of her noodles and it made me grin.

"Tucker," Leslie called down the row of people, "if you could pass Gavin down the table, I'll put him in his highchair."

Tucker agreed and went to hand Gavin over, but it clung to him. "Uh, if you could explain the idea to your baby, that would be great."

Leslie had to physical get up and go get her kid but he started crying as soon as he was lifted from Tucker's lap. I bit down on my snickers. Kids loved Tucker. It was a weird but true fact.

"Come on, honey, it's time for dinner. You've got to let Tucker enjoy his food and you have to sit in your high chair while you eat." She sounded patient.

"Go on, we'll play later," Tucker promised and then he stopped crying immediately.

"That was cute," Jazz said idly.

Like they were cued, my parents went, "No ideas, young lady."

"Parents!" Jazz cried and I just laughed at Tuck's expression.

"We're too young to be grandparents," Mom said.

I went to add something about using condoms but then Leslie beat me to it, snorting and saying, "That's exactly what my parents said the day I found out about Gavin."

Which was so much better than what I was going to say.

"Not helping!" Sam said, but I didn't think anyone needed it.

"Well, that certainly settled my nerves," Dad said.

My sister was fucking blushing as she firmly said, "Nerves don't need settling. Let's talk about something else."

"It's time for my speech," Pamela said.

Thank God.

Pamela clinked her glass once and the whole room went silent.

"Welcome everyone! My husband and I, as well as Maddie and Jack Fenton, are so glad you could be with us tonight. After many months of false hopes and heartaches, we are pleased to announce that our children – Samantha and Daniel – have made it home to us, safe and sound. We are here to celebrate the reunification of our separate families, but are glad that we can enjoy the feeling together." Amid the soft clapping, Pamela said, "And now, dinner! I hope everyone enjoys it."

If there was one good thing about these stupid parties, it was always that they had good food. I grabbed my fork and dug in.

Yup, good fucking good.

So, on tumblr I'm: we are all of legend now (with dashes between every word). If you want to find my replies to anon reviews, add backslash tagged backslash anon dash replies. If you want to see anything I post about Superman or the Reflections Universe, go to my tumblr URL and add backslash tagged backslash reflections dash universe. Punctuation is spelled out due to Fanfiction's restrictions. If you're having any trouble accessing the tumblr content please send me a pm and I can format it for you in a different way.

~TLL~