A/N:

People, thanks again for the awesome review, suggestions and messages, but there is jsust one things I'd like to say:

If I don't use one of the characters catchphrases or quirks or something, it DOESN'T mean I've forgotten them. If I used every single one of a characters traits in one go then I would run out of material fast and it would seem forced. So no I didn't forget the 'Pondering' thing between Pinky and the Brain and I haven't forgotten any of the other characters saying, I just put them in when the time seems right.

Sorry if that sounded moody, lol, but it was just to let you know that I haven't forgotten things, I'm just saving things for the right time. XD

Oh my head! It felt like it was melting from the inside and my brain was unattached, sloshing around uselessly. A throbbing pain on my temple made me groan and shift uncomfortably. Where was I? What happened? It hurt, but I tried to remember what had happened before the blackout. Right, uh… Running, we were running. Okay, helpful, not! Labs, mice that were toons and… running. Wow I was doing well. I sluggishly pushed myself up, keeping my eyes closed so stop making myself becoming even dizzier. I blindly fumbled at the pulsating bump on my head that made me wince in pain. Yeah I was going to be feeling that for a while…

"Here's a tip; trees don't tend to move out of the way for people."

I blinked my eyes open and saw the familiar half-lidded eyes and sly smirk sitting next to me, "I'll make a note of that…"

I froze as I suddenly clicked who I was talking to. Yakko took an amused look at me before I involuntarily threw myself forward and wrapped my arms around his neck in a tight hug. I couldn't believe he was here! Wherever here was, but I didn't care. If he was here then Dot and Wakko were here too. I slowly felt his arm around me and patted me lightly on the back.

"Don't worry, I don't need to breathe." He rasped.

I loosened my grip but held on all the same, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean what I said before; I was just trying to… I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"

He broke away so that I could see him roll his eyes, "Give me a break, you're looking at someone who lived in a movie studio for years! I know all the tricks of the trade; and you need to work on your acting skills, kiddo." He arched his brow, "Oh yeah, no more of the kiddo thing; got it."

Surprisingly I found myself laughing, "Oh go ahead, you never listen to me anyway."

"Riiiiight…" he smirked, giving me thumbs up and a wink.

"Hey, what are we, canned meat?" another voice snapped.

I found myself being caged into a group hug with two other wonderfully familiar toons. Dot and Wakko had their arms locked around my neck and delivered one of their signature Warner kisses on my cheeks. I returned the embrace and couldn't help but grin. Dot tilted my head downwards to look at my wound.

"Whoa, that's impressive!" she announced, "It's gonna take more than make up to cover that thing, honey."

"Faboo!" Wakko muttered, giving the bump a gentle tap before pulling out his mallet, "I can get rid if that!"

I paled and shrank away, "You're not hitting me with that thing!"

"But it'll knock the bump right back down." Wakko insisted, "I've done this a ton of times!"

"And five of those have been a success!" his brother announced, "Relax, it's another toon speciality!"

"And you couldn't have done this when I was unconscious?" I muttered nervously.

"But that would have been rude." Yakko said with pretence coyness.

"Suck it up, kid!" Dot urged, "It doesn't hurt!"

"Okay, fine, go for it!"

The words surprised me; maybe it was the concussion. But they were toons after all so there was a slim change of them hurting me. Plus I figured they wouldn't offer if it was going to damage me. So why not? I clenched my eyes shut and prepared for impact. There was a grunt as Wakko hoisted the mallet above his head and swung it downwards. My throat made a muffled, strangled cry as I expected pain, darkness, anything that was going to be bad really. But it turned out that toon mallets just feel like being smacked heavily with a dense pillow. I felt the impact and was left a little dazed, but it wasn't so much pain as just forceful.

"Whoops, missed." Wakko said sheepishly.

"Hand it to an expert, kids these days they don't know their mallets from their kneecaps." Another voice snapped.

We all glanced over to the doorway and my jaw just about hit the floor. An elderly grey squirrel toon with a green hat, a flower poking out of it, stood in the doorway. She looked irritable at the situation and didn't offer any form of introduction. She marched over and snatched the mallet from Wakko and lined up her shot. Thanks to Wakko's miss-aim, she had to hit me twice. It had the same effect on me and the double dosage of it made me sway slightly. That's it, it didn't make you feel pain; it just made you really dizzy. I shuddered at the thought of what would happen if it had been a human mallet… My hand rushed to my head and although the internal headache was still there, the lump had gone. The squirrel tossed the weapon back to its owner and she stared down at me expectantly.

"You're quite the troublemaker aren't you." She stated, not really a question, "Fancy a career change?"

I didn't know how to answer that, but Yakko took over, "Talia, Slappy; Slappy, Talia. See kiddo, I said you'd like her, you have the same charming way of greeting people."

Slappy arched an eyebrow, "What did you use?"

"Baseball bat…" I muttered sheepishly.

"Amateur, yet classic." She waved her hands dismissively, "By the way, the vermin filled us in on your little escapade. You know your brother reminds me of a taller yet very young Tom Cruise?"

Tom Cruise huh? And by vermin I guessed she meant Pinky and Brain. Wait, where was my brother, and Poppy? If she knew them, then they must be safe but I'd rather see that for myself. However the squirrel looked irritable so I figured I'd save the questions for later. I presumed this was her house considering photos of her with a smaller squirrel were placed here and there.

"Thanks for, you know, letting us stay here." I said, a little embarrassed for being dragged in her home out cold.

"Ah forget it; the best kind of guest is an unconscious one anyway." She huffed at the sound of a sound of a doorbell, "Somebody shoot me; if we get anymore people in here it'll be cheap sitcom! Well, I guess I should re-set the sales call traps anyway." She shrugged and picked up what looked like a bomb from the wardrobe before vanishing from sight.

I figured that I kind of liked her, she seemed to have a good sense of humour on her, but I waited for her to leave before turning back to the Warner's, "She seems… hospitable."

The chuckled at my choice of words. Dot nodded, "That's Slappy all right!"

"She knows all the tricks in the book." Wakko added, lifting his arms for emphasis before dropping them and looking curiously at me, "By the way; what were you running from before you tried to break the tree with your head?"

Slowly things were starting to come back to me, "Guards, I think, after we broke out…" suddenly, the panic that I'd been repressing flooded through me, "Where are Poppy and Flynn? Are they okay? What happened to them, are they hurt?"

Something slapped over my mouth to silence me and I was a little annoyed to see that it was a zipper. I tried to pull it off but it was stuck tight and there was no way of getting it off. Dot rolled her eyes and looked pretty pleased with herself.

Yakko started to help me to my feet and lead me to the window, "They're fine; they're out with Skippy, Slappy's nephew. You need to relax more, kiddo!"

I peeked out of the window and followed her gaze. By the look of the view, and the nature of the previous company, I was inside a tree of sorts. Apart from brown walls, the inside looked like an average bedroom. But on the outside it looked like we were in the middle of a heavily wooded area. Down on the ground near the trunk of the tree were a cluster of figures running and laughing. I could see Poppy shrieking with giggles as a small, brown, fuzzy creature that looked like another squirrel, presumably Skippy, chased after her before tapping her and sprinting off in another direction to be chased himself. Flynn was standing not far off, throwing a stick with all his might for Runt to follow; Rita simply sitting at my brothers' feet and grooming herself. Very faintly were two little white figures, one jumping in cheer and the other scribbling on paper with great concentration. It all looked so, peaceful and… happy.

"Mmmmm-hmmmm-hmmmm-mmm?" I mumbled. I couldn't speak because of the zipper.

"Awe! We loves you too!" they chorused mockingly.

I narrowed my eyes and pointed at my mouth eagerly, Dot ripped the zipper off which made me hiss in pain. "How long was I unconscious for?" I repeated.

"We brought you here yesterday." She revealed a watch which told me it was nearly noon, "Now that's what I call beauty sleep!"

"I've been out for a whole day!" I gasped, "Wait, you brought us here?" Images of three shapes moving me flickered in my head, they must have carried me after I passed out, "Thanks…"

The brothers leaned on my shoulders playfully, "The pleasure was ours."

Dot and I rolled our eyes. Normally I would be slightly creeped out or al least disapproving of that comment, but I was so glad everyone was okay and that the Warner's forgave me that I didn't care. Sure they said that they knew what I was doing and why I said those things, but it still meant a lot to me. And the fact that my siblings were safe and actually happy just made things better. But there was still that little nagging feeling at the back of my neck that told me that it wasn't going to last long. R.J was still out for us, and a little too close. Although we seemed safe here, we were still technically on studio grounds and he owned those grounds. Shut up, Talia, remember what happened the last time you looked a gift horse in the mouth, just be grateful that everyone's okay!

The Warner's must have picked up my need to want to see my siblings and started pulling me towards the door. We rushed down the stairs and out of the front door. The sun blinded me and made me a little dizzy again. My head still wasn't completely settled but it would be worth it. I blinked the pain away and gasped as I was tackled to the ground by a beige blur that started licking my face affectionately. There was a sound of a bell that you would hear in wrestling matches and the Yakko hit the ground three times.

"Three counts, and she's out! Round goes to Runt!"

"She's awake, yup definitely, definitely awake." Runt announced as I brushed him back discreetly by scratching behind his ears.

Poppy was distracted from her game to jump on me while I was down and hug me, "You're okay!"

"Talia!" Flynn rushed over, "It was my fault wasn't it? I didn't know things were going to turn out that bad, really, I'm sorry!"

I knew he meant that it was his fault setting the alarm off. But there was no need, I didn't blame anyone because it was going to have to happen at some point. I was actually proud of him for taking charge and trying to get us out as fast as he could. Lately, he'd been doing this a lot, taking charge and doing what he thought was best for his family. He was growing up, and it scared me a little.

My eyes arched suspiciously as he tried to apologise again, "What? You were the one who put that branch in my way?"

He tilted his head, "Uh, no."

"Never mind then." I grinned.

We were all crowded around a diner table and eating what Slappy called 'Walnut fig-dough Surprise'. A thick mound of grey-brown goo that I could decide if it tasted nutty or nauseating but I didn't dare ask what the surprise was and even if I did I don't think I would have been put off by it. Thinking about it, I hadn't actually eaten anything for ages. The last time I ate was Friday afternoon before I found out about the kidnap, then I arrived at the studio Saturday and was knocked out for a day and it was Sunday now; so I hadn't eaten all weekend! Right now my appetite was close to matching Wakko's. Close, but not quite, give me a month without food and we'll see. It was probably the strangest meal of my life, not the food but the company. Altogether there were three humans, two mice, two squirrels, a cat, a dog and three who-knows-what sitting down for meal… Why do I get the feeling that we'd become the opening line for a joke? I was just thankful that Slappy had made to much food, by the end of it Wakko and I were dividing the leftovers with great precision.

And it turned out that little Skippy was a pretty sweet kid too. He and Poppy seemed to be getting along really well, that was probably because he seemed about her age, maybe a little older but not that much. We didn't speak much during the meal, however it was clarified that Flynn had taken it upon himself to explain who the new CEO was and how Dr. S and Nurse were involved. Again, I felt proud of him, the little man of the house now it seemed. I kind of wished that we could stay like this, it just seemed so much like a… well, a home. That is, until a new, sultry voice echoed from the doorway.

"Sorry I'm late; long time no see."

"Helloooo Mink-Nurse!" Yakko and Wakko chorused, their food forgotten,

Mink what? I watched as the boys jaws hit the floor with a thud and their tongues unravelled across the table at impossible length. Their black eyes bugged out into scarlet hearts and their ears were spinning like propellers. I'd seen them flirting before and I'd seen them admire people, in their own way, but this was something new all together. I looked up at the 'lucky' person and had to admit, she was stunning. She was a toon, an anthropomorphic mink with thick yellow hair that hung in waves down her back. Her tail was also made from thick blond locks and from the front made her hair look like it reached down to the floor. Her fur was snowy white and she wore a very tight and short red, off the shoulder dress that complemented her figure to full extent. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flynn with his eyes wide and he was blushing slightly. She looked a little bored at the greeting she received, but still smirked suggestively all the same.

"Boys…" Dot huffed, rolling her eyes at Poppy who giggled and waved her hand before their eyes, failing to span them from the trance.

Her eyes trailed over to me and she shrugged nonchalantly, "Men, no control…"

"Well I wouldn't exactly call them men per-say." I answered, holding a hand out to her, "I'm Talia, and this is my brother and sister, Flynn and Poppy."

She sashayed over to me took it for a split second, I noticed her tail smoothed softly around Pinky and Brain as she past them, "Minerva. So, sleeping beauty awakens, who'd you have to kiss?" At the last word she flashed Flynn a wink, making him dart his eyes at the table.

I really wasn't sure how to answer that and I was even less sure if I liked her or not. She seemed a little self-centered and from the way she reacted to the boys; egotistical. It was also like she expected people to react that way and it was just becoming a chore. But she was outspoken which was a trait I'd come to admire over the past few weeks. Well, I'd just met her so it wasn't fair for me to judge her, but it was also something that I couldn't help. From my lack of answer, she flicked her hair and resumed looking at the boys with amused pity. But to be honest, I was more in awe at Flynn, he was ten for gods sake and… Okay, I wasn't even going to go there…

"Well looked what the cat dragged in; no offence Rita." Slappy muttered.

"Don't sweat it…" Rita purred, narrowing her eyes as she blatantly did take offence.

"Cat, where's the cat?" Runt demanded before remembering that his food was still unfinished.

Slappy took in the sight, she smacked her hand to her forehead, "Geez Minerva, could you only afford half the dress?" she started turning the boys tails like a crank, winding their tongues back into their mouths, "Do you know how long it is to get drool out of the woodwork?"

"About three days." Minerva retorted matter-of-factly before smoothing her dress down, "And this is a one of a kind."

"I'm sure it was before you cut it in half, now it's two of a kind."

Slappy sniffed and she gathered the plates and took them into the kitchen. I bit my lip not to laugh. Yes, I decided, Slappy was okay in my books. This Minerva on the other hand had yet to be determined. The boys had blinked out of their awe-struck state and were now leaping up to stand before her. Flynn stayed put and was busying himself helping to carry plates out to the kitchen, much to Dot's annoyance. Wakko had his tongue lolling out like a puppy while Yakko was trying to regain his 'charming' persona, personally if I were him I'd be under the table searching for my lost dignity.

"I don't blame you for being late; you must have been busy moving into my dreams." He purred.

Wakko sighed dreamily, "Ever thought about a time-share?"

Both brothers took one of her hands each and leant in to place a kiss. But, she edged her hands together and crossed them, intercepting their path so they ended up kissing each other. The pulled back in disgust and started scrubbing their mouths. Hmm… okay, she was slowly earning my respect now.

"So this R.J seems like a real yutz;" she announced, taking a seat at the table, "when did he take over?"

Brain answered, having been in the studio grounds for longer, "About four years, although how he took over Plotz is currently unknown. As is the current location of Plotz."

"Oh Brain do you remember when he was a little diddy boy? Oh that was a fun Christmas! Zort!"

"Wait, you knew R.J before?" I asked.

"Ah that was back when we messed around with Plotz for some Christmas entertainment." Slappy scoffed.

"We wanted him to stop being such a grump so we did the whole 'Christmas Carol' treatment on him," Dot shrugged, "Kinda cliché but that's what you get with the budget around here."

"At least you were apart of it." Minerva sighed, making the boys sigh with her, "No one ever wanted me around… too suggestive they say, where do they even get that?" she flicked her hair ironically, "I was always cut short."

Dot looked at the minks outfit and scoffed, "That's not the only thing cut short."

"Pinky!" Brain exclaimed suddenly, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

Pinky tapped his chin in thought, "I think so, Brain, but how would we get the flowers to agree?"

Runt nodded, "Good point, yup, definitely, definitely good point…"

Brain and Rita exchanged tired glances, the feline with a glint of hunger in her eyes but repressed it. Brain used his spoon to smack Pinky on the head before turning to the rest of us, "During that mind-game, Plotz became a security guard, a ploy on his worst fear. Who's to say that he isn't still under employment in the studio in a minor role?"

I felt like I was missing out on some big story here, but didn't want to make them explain it. I'd just have to ask one of them later. But the point was, they thought that the ex-CEO was still around. And not to sound ignorant, but how was that going to help? We needed to know what was happening with the current CEO, he was the psycho here, he was the focus. However, our thoughts were interrupted by a shrill doorbell.

"Somebody shoot me…" Slappy groaned as a doorbell rang again and again, she was only out of the room for five minutes before she called for us, "Hey sleeping beauty! You've got a friend asking for ya!"

I followed obediently, Dot forcing her brothers to trail after me, snapping them out of their love-struck trance. We'd already added a mink to the joke, so what's this going to be that'll make a punch line? A friend, I didn't know anyone around here any those I did I either wished I didn't or were already here. Slappy was standing in the doorway and moved aside when she noticed us arriving. The visitor was shaky and looked like it could have been stronger if it was in better health. It was male and seemed human; sandy brown hair and shaded brown eyes glinting with recognition. He smiled as if he was expecting me to be happy to see him. Oh I knew him alright; but he was by no means a friend. What the hell was he doing here? Anger pulsated through me. This guy had hurt me. His family had hurt mine. He sold us out. He scared my little sister. He was a lying, cowardly son of a –

"Battle stations, sibs!" Yakko announced.

"Back up needed, back up needed!" Dot cried, she and her brothers trying to hold me back as I tried to lunge.

"We canna take any more Cap'n!" Wakko cried.

Mackenzie just stood there looking as baffled as ever. I was fuming, "You backstabbing little waste of space!"

"I could learn to like her." Slappy simply nodded at the scene and then narrowed her eyes warningly at Mackenzie, "So I'm guessing you two are not old friends; I don't take kindly to liars, boy."

"Like hell is he a friend!" I spat, "He's the CEO's nephew, he's their little stooge!"

That seemed to annoy him, "I am not their stooge! I hate what they made me do; I came out here to see if you were okay after I helped you escape."

"You locked us up!" I cried, still trying to break free from the toons surprisingly strong grip.

"I put you in with toons who could help and I left the keys for you! Please, give me a break, Talia, you owe me one!"

The moment the words left his mouth, even he realised that he should have kept them inside. That little piece of shit! I owed him one? Was he serious? I owed him one? He instinctively took a step backwards at my glare that could have possibly been flaming. I was acutely aware that the Warner's had released me by this point. I glanced at them from the corner of my eye and they all made a motion with their arms as if to say 'go ahead'. As if I needed their consent. My anger pushed me forward, storming up to him. There was a glimmer of satisfaction at the dark bruise that still remained on his nose from my head-but and I wanted to give him a matching set for his chin. Before he could react, my fist swung upwards and delivered a strong right hook to his jaw, making him trip and tumble to the ground. My arm was throbbing from the harsh impact, but I didn't care. I stamped my left foot down on his wrist to stop him getting up and I slowly started to press my right over his throat. My eyes burned down on him and I pointed warningly, my voice nothing less than a snarl.

"I owe you nothing!"

A/N:

I still don't know if I like this Mackenzie or not. What's he doing there? Is it a trap? You'll have to wait and see XD

So nearly all of the characters are involved now, I kind of liked Minerva's entrance, I kind of made Talia sound a little jealous without meaning too, whoops XD Hope you liked it and I hope to hear from you guys soon XD Also, please take a gander at my Invader Zim stuff and if you like it, please take part in my poll for choosing a plot for an Invader Zim/Animaniacs crossover XD thank you!