"I don't want to go to school! I want to stay home and play!"

"Poppy, you've got to go, and you can play when you get home." I was struggling to keep my tone calm as the minutes ticked by.

"But school's boring and takes forever! Please!" Poppy brightened as if she had an idea and then started to cough, "I'm sick! See!" she coughed again.

"Okay, if you're too sick to go to school then you're too sick to play, aren't you?" I challenged.

She huffed and folded her arms in defeat, "I'm not sick…"

"I didn't think you were. Now finish your breakfast before Wakko gets his hands on it."

Instantly she started shovelling her cereal into her mouth. Flynn rolled his eyes at her and continued with his own breakfast. Sure, the three… whatever they were, had earned some brownie points with that stunt they pulled yesterday. However; he was still thinking about when he'd first met them. We had had a pretty long talk last night about it and it really shocked me with what he said to me. The Warner's made him feel guilty, he said… As much as he was ashamed to admit it, even to himself, he kind of believed that I was insane at one point; he insisted that it still didn't give other people the right to think so but that's just how he felt. Now here they were, in the flesh, or ink, or whatever they were made of. So, what did that make him? From the second they showed up, Flynn had felt like he'd stabbed me in the back. That's why he had been so angry at the sight of them, because now he had someone else to blame other than himself. Yet, it still hadn't made him feel better.

But now; the toons were proving to be not only pretty handy with getting back at annoying idiots, but they seemed forgiving too. In fact he was slowly getting to like them, maybe not as much as Dot seemed to like him; but there was a small likeness there. Flynn rarely opened up to me, he could always handle himself, but last night when he'd told me all this; it was like speaking to a different person. I presumed that this was a good thing, but I'd have to wait and see to be sure.

The Warner's watched as the morning routine had gotten hectic. Poppy had been inhaling her food so quickly that she had gotten hiccups; I was foaming at the mouth where I was half brushing my teeth and half pushing my hair into a bun for work. Flynn had finished his breakfast and was now complaining that he'd lost his rucksack. Oh no we were running so late! If we didn't leave in ten minutes then I'd have another lecture about responsibility and timing from those stuck up teachers at the school.

"Are we missing something?" Dot asked, casually glancing up from a magazine she'd been reading.

I cleared the table and started hopping as I tried to shove one of my shoes on, "Uh… I'm taking Flynn and Poppy to school and then I've got to go to work and…"

Before I'd even finished telling them they'd slumped against each other and started snoring. I rolled my eyes and carried on with forcing Poppy's wavy hair into a braid while she was stuffing her books into her bag. Then she rushed upstairs to finish getting her things together. Flynn was… somewhere out of sight…

"That sounds boring!" Wakko moaned.

"Yeah, uuuuuuhhhhh-I think we'll pass." Yakko added.

"Well, that's good because you can't go anyway." I said, flinching at their looks of confusion, "No offence, it's just I need this job and they need to go to school and you…" I couldn't find a nice way of putting it.

"So we just have to wait around in boredom until you guys come home?" Dot asked.

They were suddenly cowered in the corner, a dark shadow looming over them. They shivered as if an icy wind was cutting into them. Yakko held his siblings close in a jittery huddle.

"That's right, don't worry about us, it'll be just like those cold and lonely nights back in the tower." He said through chattering teeth, "Alone, cut off from the outside world, slowly going mad with isolation… did I mention we were alone?"

I clapped my hands harshly, snapping them back into normal lighting, "Alright, drama-queens!" I scowled as they tilted their heads forward to reveal golden crowns, "I never said you had to stay here all day. We'll all be home by half three so until then you can pretty much do whatever."

They looked at me in mild shock; Wakko looked at his siblings for guidance before returning to me, "You're trusting us?"

That panicked me a little, "Yes… Well, you've gone ten years without getting caught or causing too much trouble, so why shouldn't you be allowed out?" I smirked at them, "Besides, I'm not being paid to keep you locked up."

"You're not being paid." Yakko pointed out, arching his brow.

"Exactly." I looked at my watch and flushing, "Okay, now we're late. Poppy! Flynn! We've got to go!"

"Here." Yakko offered me a megaphone, "I don't think they heard you in China."

Just to have a hint of satisfaction, I took it from him and used it to call my siblings again; nearly deafening myself. Wow that was loud! I was sure that the windows had actually started to vibrate! The Warner's glanced at one another with amused expressions, bulky and padded headsets over their ears. My siblings came running down the stairs, fully prepared for school, but their eyes wind in confusion, Flynn was tugging his ear trying to rid himself of a ringing numbness. I wiggled my jaw and my hearing popped uncomfortably back into place.

"What was that?" Flynn cried, having to shout to hear himself properly.

All three toons pointed at me with their most innocent of expressions, halo's appearing over their heads. Out of instinct, I childishly hid the megaphone behind my back, but I looked up at the sound of Poppy giggling, seeing a flashing arrow above my head reading: 'She did it!'

"Snitch…" I muttered before turning back to my two charges, "Right, we're running late, say goodbye and get in the car, hurry up!"

The urgency was starting to build up again, there wasn't much time left and I just wanted to have a smooth start to the week. Yeah, because it had all gone so smoothly so far, hadn't it? Thank god for sarcasm or else I'd be screwed. Flynn stomped back down the stairs and looked at the three. He didn't really give a goodbye, just a wave of acknowledgement and a twitch of a smile before heading out of the door. Poppy however, bounded over and wrapped her arms around each of them individually. She lingered when she reached Dot last and looked at her hopefully.

"You're going to be here when I get back aren't you?"

The three looked at me, to which I nodded. Dot tickled her under the chin and winked, "It takes a lot to get rid us, kid. Now remember what I told you about adults?"

"They're suckers for cute eyes and pouty lips." Poppy quoted.

"And don't forget it." She nodded in approval, "And if you get it right you can get away with anything."

"Mwah! Goodnight everybody!"

"Okay!" I interrupted, not knowing if I should laugh or scowl at the eldest, "We're running late! Oh, and guys…" I stopped at the doorway to see the toons looking expectantly at me, "… Don't blow up the house."

The pretended to look offended, but gave me an honourable salute while placing their hands over their hearts just the same, Yakko shrugged, "Looks like we'll have to find another way to keep busy today…"

With that, I shut the door, strapped Poppy in the booster seat and started driving to drop them off at school. All along the way, I'd highlighted how point that the Warner's had to be kept secret and by the time I'd dropped them off and started heading to work, they'd agreed. To me, it seemed obvious why. Sure, the Warner's were real and clearly more than capable of handling themselves in the world, but it was more the fact that I didn't want my siblings telling people that cartoons were real and having the same ridicule I did. Plus, now that we could actually prove that they were real, it seemed more dangerous. If people did find out about them, what would happen? The stereotypical answers like testing and experiments came to mind, and then there was that tower that they had been contained in… I shuddered; it was too horrible to think about. Wait, why was I so panicky? Technically they weren't my responsibility, and they could handle themselves. Eyes on the road, Talia; eyes on the road.

*Flynn's POV*

"Get away from her, Scott." I warned.

I watched as the moron turned away from my little sister who was cowering nervously against a tree trunk on the far side of the schoolyard. I'd watched as he started throwing stones at her, making her run for cover, and now he thought he could scare her like this? I didn't think so.

"Hey there Flynn," he greeted like I was his best friend, "I was just telling your sis about that little disagreement we'd had, I was going to give her a demonstration."

"You think you're tough picking on a first grader?" I snarled, "Now get away from her."

He sneered and turned back to face Poppy, but she was gone. I couldn't see her, but I was relieved that she'd escaped. Maybe she'd gone to tell a teacher, or run back to her friends. She was safe, that's what mattered. Now, it was just me and him. He started laughing. Just shut up. I'm not playing around anymore. I wasn't playing around before either come to think of it. Just shut up and leave me and my family alone. I was just itching to march over and smack that sneer right off his face! Go on, just try it. I dare you. You've isolated me at the edge of the schoolyard, you've made sure we were hidden from teachers by the trees; you've planned out this very well. So go ahead and make you move you coward!

"So your sister had a mental freak out at my brother yesterday," he mocked, tapping his head to signal a loose screw, "She's not right in the head! Your dad though, he must have been the sane one to get out when he did."

I'd heard all this before; he was running out of insults. That didn't make me feel better, it just made me more annoyed that I'd have to listen to it all again. But, this time it was tougher to swallow. Now I knew for sure that what he was saying was a lie, but there was still nothing I could do about it! It was getting harder and harder to keep my mouth shut, I had to chew my lips to keep quiet, but that was only opening my cut again. I looked weak, and he loved it. I wanted to hit them so much and tell them how wrong they were, but I couldn't.

"You gonna hit me? You gonna spaz out like everyone else in your family?" he asked cruelly, shoving me, "You scared? You're either psycho or scared, pick one!" he shoved me again, sending my back slamming against a tree.

When he sneered and tried to push me a third time, I threw my arm upwards to block his. Out of reflex, his fist swung in a right hook and collided with my jaw. I winced, but returned with a kick in the shin, then as he instinctively ducked his head down in pain, my knee shot upwards to get at his nose. My aim was off however and got his cheek instead, but it was still a decent hit. Just as I was about to take advantage of his staggering backwards, there was a sound of a timeout bell clanging and then something clamped around my arms and tugged at the back of my shirt, hoisting me off my feet and up into the branches above. I felt the bark under me as I was seated down and flinched at the three pairs of familiar black and shiny eyes looking at me. And another pair of familiar eyes… Poppy was smiling softly, but still looking downwards in worry at the bully.

"You're doing great, Slugger," Yakko commented, wearing a grey sweater that read 'coach'; he handed me a bottle of water, "Remember, keep on your toes and tire him out first, okay?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked; it came out harsher than intended.

"We were bored!" Wakko explained, "So we came to watch the show" he added pulling a bag of popcorn from under his cap.

Below, Scott was clutching his cheek and scanning the area for me. I couldn't help but breathe with relief and lean into the trunk Wakko shoved something in my mouth which I instantly spat out; it was a gum-shield. Dot waved pompoms in the air with one hand while holding up a sign reading 'Round 2'. I looked at the toons and arched my brow in confusion.

"You want me to fight him?" I asked.

Poppy tugged on Yakko's arm anxiously and shook her head in panic. She clearly didn't want to see a fight, and neither did I to be honest. In a blink of an eye they were back in their usual clothes, whoa how do they do that? Dot looked like she took offense to the question and held out her palms defensively.

"We don't want you to fight." She insisted, "But we figured you could use some back up anyway."

"I don't need your help." I retorted, feeling a little embarrassed, "But… thanks anyway, I guess."

Wakko offered me some popcorn, which I gingerly took a piece of and chewed it slowly, still watching Scott below. Yakko looked at me, contemplating his next move.

"You know, Slugger, we wait to be provoked personally before we bring out the big guns -"

"This is my big gun!" Wakko announced, pulling an abnormally large mallet out of the neck of his sweater.

Poppy blinked in awe, tugging at the collar of his jumper and peering inside, "What else do you keep in there?" she asked with innocent curiosity.

"Mwah! Goodnight everybody!" Yakko announced as if he couldn't resist it, but then he raised a hand to return to his original point, "So normally we'd wait before getting involved, but…" he winked, "I think we can make an exception here. Just don't try this at home, okay kids?"

I was half expecting Wakko to jump down and smash the kids' skull in with that mallet; however, he replaced it and looked expectantly at his sister. She pulled out a small white box and smiled devilishly. In a blink of an eye, she was wearing a wig of auburn hair and had changed the pink skirt into a denim dress exactly like Poppy's. She took a breath like an actress would before going on stage and slid gracefully down the tree trunk. Scott span around and glared at her, then he sneered and started to advance on her threateningly.

"So that's where you were hiding, looks like your hero brother has run away like a baby!"

I looked on in awe, "Can't he see it's not Poppy? Even with a wig and dress, you can still tell it's Dot."

Yakko nodded, "True, but you know on TV when the character puts on some phoney disguise and no one can tell the difference, but the audience is in on the joke?" I nodded to he carried on, "Same thing for toons."

"How else do you think we've snuck around for so long?" Wakko asked with a smile, his tongue lolling over his lip.

"I'd go down there myself but…" the eldest placed his hand to his head as if he was going to swoon, "Denim just isn't my colouring!"

I scoffed and returned to view what was going on below. Scott was still eyeing Dot like a hunter would stalk it's pray. Were her brothers seriously just going to watch and let her get smacked around? If they weren't going to do something, I was. I didn't let my sister get hurt, I didn't see why I should let theirs get hurt as a replacement. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Wakko holding a large metal object, an anvil I think they're called, over them, Yakko peeking through a pair of binoculars and muttering target directions. I paled, surely he wasn't…

Dot held out the box, "Say, do you want to meet my pet?"

Everything went so fast! In a swift movement, Wakko, still holding the anvil in one hand, covered Poppy's eyes with his cap while Dot flicked open the box and a large green creature with bared yellow teeth lunged outwards. The bully's eyes looked ready to pop right out of his head as he screamed, making the creature growl louder. Yakko swung his arm down in signal, making his brother drop the anvil which landed just behind Scott. Dot smacked the lid shut again and Scott jumped backwards in fear, tripping on the anvil and was sent into a tumbling backwards roll, sprawling on the ground. He tripped countless times as he sprinted away in terror back to the school building. Dot removed her disguise and rejoined us. Poppy finally managed to battle the cap off of her and was glaring around quizzically.

"What happened? What did I miss?" she asked.

I found that my sides were aching with laughter. I hadn't had a real laugh like this in ages and, well, it felt good. Part of me wanted to question why they'd come along to help in the first place, but the bigger part was just thankful that they did. I can take care of myself, but I'd never had someone do anything like that for me before. Talia put up a good fight and she was like a blade with her words, but she couldn't help me all the time. This was different but, hey, I could get used to it! The brothers shook hands at a job well done and then handed the gesture to their sister. She grinned in self-pride and flashed a wink at me. She tousled Poppy's hair and nodded.

"As I said, when you get the cuteness right, you can get away with anything."

*Talia's POV*

Only fifteen minutes longer and then I was free. God I hated this job so much, all day just listening to people moaning at you and blaming you for things you have no control over… Huh, I should be used to that by now. I wondered if Flynn was okay, I should have spoken to his teachers or something this morning but there just wasn't enough time. What kind of sister was I if I couldn't even make time to give my brother protection against a bully? Well, I knew from experience that teachers rarely ever helped to stop an attack but what else could I do without physically being next to him all day? Oh great another call.

"Hello, Tilton Hotel, Talia Nolan speaking; how can I help you?" I said sweetly, whenever I was working, I used that awful woman's voice from the other day, it worked like a charm with the guests.

"Talia? Whoa you're everywhere!"

I shuddered and dropped the act, "Mackenzie? What do you want?"

He hesitated, "Oh, uh, my mom wanted to book a table in the hotel restaurant for tonight, around seven-thirty?"

I sighed and scanned the book before me, "There's an opening at seven, is that alright? How many people?"

"That's great, oh and uh, table for two."

"Your parents having a date-night or something?" I asked, openly mocking him.

"Uh… well, okay no it's not for my mom, well, it is sort of, uh…"

"Spit out the words, don't choke on them." I sighed.

"Well, it's kind of for me… and you."

I clenched the phone in anger, "Are you stalking me?"

"No! No, I was going to call around and ask, but I thought I'd make the reservations now just in case." He started stammering at my deliberate silence, "I didn't know you worked here and uh, well, it was kind of my moms idea so I didn't really lie! But, uh… I don't really want a date or anything, but my mom said it would be good to get out more, and she said you were available so… uh, well…"

That's right you little creep, squirm! Squirm like the maggot that you are! "Let me stop you before this gets embarrassing. I'll save you a booking fee and say no, and I'll throw in some friendly advice too. Stop hiding behind your moms skirt and grow a pair."

I slammed the phone down and crossed out the booking information. Who the hell did he think he was? He comes around to my house and hides behind his mother, then he tries to ask me out because his mother told him to and then he tries to make it sound inviting? Cowardly little –

"Hello, Tilton Hotel, Talia Nolan speaking; how can I help you?"

There was heavy breathing on the other end of the new call, "Miss. Nolan, it's been a long time, how are you?"

I didn't recognise the voice, and the way he addressed me was unnerving, "Who is this, sorry?"

"Oh, you don't know? Oh well, never mind, I'm not calling for a catch-up. I'm calling on business."

I swallowed, "Business?"

"Yes, would we be able talk face to face? Do you have a home address we could meet at?"

"I'm not comfortable giving out that information." I said, sounding braver than I thought, "Who is this and how did you get this number?"

A pause, "It's not important who I am, and this number was given by a contact; you're a very tricky person to track Miss. Nolan. But why not at least give a personal phone number? It's understandable to be cautious, but you see, I'm not a danger to you, but I do need what you have."

"A-and what do I have?"

A chuckle, "Tell me Talia, do you still like… cartoons?"

My blood turned to ice, but I had to remain calm, that question could mean anything, "Uh… I haven't watched cartoons since I was a kid."

"I think we both know that that's not what I mean."

On the hotels phone, there was a panic button that could trace the call to the source, and then link it to the police if necessary. I pushed it and waiting, but nothing came up, so there was nothing to send. But I had to be thankful, this guy had admitted that he had trouble finding me and didn't know my address or number, I was safe for now.

"I really don't know what you mean."

"Then let me give you some time to think on it. I'll speak to you tomorrow, Miss. Nolan. Same time. Have a pleasant evening."

The line went dead, unlike my heart which was racing double time! Who the hell was that and how could he have known? I instantly tried calling the house, ignoring the employee rule of no personal calls. The dial rang for ages. I cursed, if they were fighting over who got to answer the phone again I was going to scream! Just pick up the phone! No answer. It went to answering machine. Oh no, please tell me they're okay! Should I ring the school next to see if Flynn and Poppy were alright? Surely the school would have rang if otherwise? I looked at my watch. Finally I could leave! Just as I was about to get up, the phone rang again. I nervously picked it up.

"He-hello?"

"Talia? Hey, it's me again!"

"For gods sake, Mackenzie take a hint!" I flushed in rage before slamming the phone down.

A/N:

Oh, some stuff's going down now! I figured it was time to speed things along a bit and get into an actually plot instead of just constant banter. XD

Who was on the phone? How do they know? Why is Talia, a girl on loads of psychiatrist records and legal papers so hard to track? Will I stop asking pointless questions and get on with it? YES!

Thanks to 'frumouttamimind' for suggesting different POV's, it really adds more layers to the story, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed, favoured and put this on alert, it means so much to me! I'm pretty quick with updates so the next chapter will be up soon, thanks again and I can't wait to hear your thoughts XD