A/N:

To 'Doctor-Hamato': How to you know I'm NOT a Warner, lol, jk… or am I? Hehe XD

To 'Shannon23': One can only hope he takes that belt off, XD

To 'Incandescent': Thank you and I hope I didn't get you into trouble with you mom XD

Thanks again to everyone and I'm really glad the last chapter turned out good for you guys, this next one is a doozie hopefully! Read on and prosper!

Judging by the way my head was still pounding, I hadn't been out for that long. Pain… Had the secrets hurt me? Wait, where did that come from? The man told me. No but that man was evil, wasn't he? He helped me when I was lost and couldn't remember. No! He hurt me and the people I care about! People I care about? But I didn't know anyone like that, did I? And the secrets. The only secrets around here are the ones he's using against me! The internal battle was excruciating! Half of me was numb and telling me to stay until the man comes to help me; the other was burning in anger and was screaming to get up and fight. But which was one was real? I wasn't sure. But one thing was definite, I wasn't as numb as I was before.

I opened my eyes and flinched at the light. I was outside, when had that happened? The sun was bright but setting, bleeding the sky a rosy orange. But the view revealed nothing but building tops; was I on a roof? Maybe; yes, that's right. I looked down at the thin and crumpled object in my hand. It was paper, paper with a doodle on it. That's right, one of the secrets. I held it up to eye level and furrowed my brow in confusion. I knew this secret! She wouldn't hurt me! How did I know her? She was so familiar and the very sight of her situation infuriated me but I couldn't place why! My instinct was telling me to fight and protect her, but my mind was telling me to wait for the boss man. The doodle waved her arms frantically at me, desperate for attention. She ran to the corner of the page and tried to point over the edge, but she was too confined. Unsure to trust her, I looked up to follow her attempted gaze.

Oh, there was the man. He would help me now. No! No he wouldn't! It was R.J, he was evil and despicable, right? Maybe? But he helped me! But he hurt me! Agh! It felt like my head was going to implode! But, wait, what was he doing? There were two more of the secrets he warned me about. No they weren't secrets either they were – I didn't know but I felt like I knew them too. The eldest was slumped against the wall just a few feet from me, trying with difficulty to get to his feet while the smaller one was backing away from R.J. The CEO had him cornered, hands rigid like talons and prepared to swoop down. The boy; I'll call him a boy because I wasn't sure what else to say; the boy looked up with terrified jet eyes. His tripped onto his back and just as R.J raised a fist threateningly into the air, the trembling creature clenched his eyes shut and turned his head so that he didn't have to see the impending impact. Something glinted in the mans hand. Was that a blade? Why did he have that? Something burned in my mind, something that made my blood boil: "There are actually two ways. One: cut them deep enough to drain their ink before they can heal; and two: send them back through the machine and back onto the paper they came from… then burn it."

"Get away from him!" I screamed, suddenly at me feet and charging their way.

I slipped the frantic scribble into my pocket and collided head on into R.J's side, sending him to the floor and me along with him. My mind was screaming at me; this man saved you, this man warned you, this man was protecting you from secrets! However, my instincts were louder, fueled my burning hatred. I couldn't place exactly what this man had done, but I was certain he had done nothing but cause pain and fear and it was time to stop. I couldn't even be sure why I felt the need to protect the secret… but it felt right. I managed to struggle with R.J until he was flat on the ground, he glared up at me.

"What are you doing? I'm taking away the secrets, remember? Secrets hurt people!" he said through gritted teeth.

My mind was agreeing, but I couldn't understand it, "You hurt people! And you're not taking them anywhere!"

"You won't get answers without me; you won't get anywhere without me!"

"I'd better start looking for a map then, hadn't I?"

"Looks like we'll have to arrange another trip to the Waiting Room." He growled, "We need to get you back under control."

Panic surged through me at the name. That's where secrets came from. No, no more secrets, that's what he wants you to think! But what's real? I didn't know, but for some reason I knew that he wasn't going to tell me. There was no solid reason behind it, but every fiber in my being told me that he needed to be stopped. Quite calmly, the blade in his hand turned around to aim at me, digging slightly into my neck.

"Or maybe I should just drain you while I'm at it?"

I trembled as I spoke, forcing the words out of me, "Go to hell!"

Anger flamed in his eyes and he slashed the blade at me. I leant away from him just in time and swung my fist into his jaw. I clawed at the knife which he held into like it was glued into his palm. While I was distracted with this impossible task, he grabbed a handful of my hair, pulled me backwards. I kicked reflexively and thankfully kicked the blade away from us.

"Why run?" I forced through gritted teeth, "Why do all this and then run?"

I hit the ground with such force that the air was knocked from me. He leered, "Who's running? This was just my way of getting the toons together; my real work is elsewhere."

I didn't understand what that meant. Toons? I didn't even know what his work was, my mind was on fire from lack on memories. He did this to me. There was no way in hell he was doing it to anyone else. He left me to try and swipe up the knife. I desperately clutched at his ankles. He stumbled. I took advantage and tried to twist him around and he fell to the ground once more. Pain shot through me as he stamped his foot into my stomach. He grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me into the gravel. Out of instinct I pushed him over which resulted in us turning over and over, the jagged stones cutting into us painfully. In the blurred mass of sky and ground, I noticed the ground was getting less frequent. Then it clicked. We were on a roof. And the roof was running out fast. R.J noticed this too. But too late…

"Talia!" a duo of voices yelled in the distance.

My stomach flipped sickeningly as we started to fall. R.J had his eyes burning in rage as he shoved me away from him. My shoulder scraped against the blurred brickwork, sending slicing agony through my skin. The ground was rushing to meet us. This was it. My eyes clenched shut as a scream tore through my throat. I just wished I'd managed to remember something before this… A name, a place. Anything… No, I did remember something. My name. Talia. Whoever or whatever those two secret-no not secrets, boys… Whoever those boys were, they had given me back my name. My name was Talia, and I had done the right thing. My name was Talia and I had done the right thing before I died.

A vice-like grip tightened around my arms and forced them to loop around something soft before releasing me. Out of reflex, I held on to whatever I'd been laced around, but refused to open my eyes, shrill whimpers escaping uncontrollably. It was probably R.J taking one last shot. He wanted to finish me off before he met his end. Good for him, I thought bitterly, good for him to make one last attempt… me, I can't even open my eyes… In a split second, the air was knocked out of me as the falling suddenly stopped, but I was sure that we hadn't made impact with the ground yet. Surely that would have hurt? Or maybe I'm dead, and was killed on impact? Died out of shock possibly? So I wouldn't feel pain if that was the case. No, I wasn't dead, I could feel my heart pulsating and hammering in every corner of my body like a drum orchestra. And my arms were still looped tightly around something, wait, why did it feel like I was swaying?

"This was probably my most heroic moment in this adventure and you had your eyes closed the entire time!"

Instantly my eyes snapped open. I knew that voice. I was met with a pair of half-lidded eyes and a sly, toothy smirk. Right then I wished nothing more than to be able to remember his name, but I could place that swagger anywhere. My arms were locked around his shoulders as we dangled a good halfway down the side of the building. He wasn't holding onto me; one arm was stretched upwards and the other straight down. He held onto two wooden handles, one in each hand, they had a thick elastic-like string attached to them. The one aimed upwards was tied around the railing at the roof, stopping us from falling while the downwards one was tied securely around R.J's body, suspending him a few meters below us as he spat in angry grunts. I almost passed out from the disbelief as I clocked what the two objects were. It surprised me in the sense that it was so impossible; but at the same time because I felt that I knew this savior, it didn't surprise me at all…

"Hey, Indiana Jones has a whip; I have paddleballs." He quipped at the sight of my bemused expression, "Harrison Ford eat your heart out."

"Need a lift?" a distant voice asked from above, the younger boy in the red hat. It was breaking my heart not knowing their names…

"Nah, we were thinking of hanging around here for a while." His brother answered, arms starting to strain.

"Oh… okay then."

My savior gave me a deflated look, "Middle-kid syndrome…"

Suddenly the elastic that was stopping our fall jolted. We looked up to see the capped boy using all of his strength to hoist us upwards with a cocky grin, "I'm just messing with you!"

As we were pulled back upwards along the building, I found myself holding on tighter, but not wanting to strangle him. I wished I could remember. If I could remember a single thought like I did before, then maybe it could help. But no, nothing. I trusted them, and not just because they saved me, but because… I didn't know why. It felt like I just did and have done for a long time. My back scraped painfully against the side of the building as we were finally on solid ground, or roof whichever way you looked at it. I drank in the air greedily and curled in on myself as the shock finally set in. The taller creature tied the paddleball that held R.J to the edge of a railing and dusted his hands. A paddleball? It wasn't possible. It seemed too… cartoonish. Hey, that seemed to fit actually. Toons… Was that what R.J was talking about?

"I think he'll be alright hanging around for a while." The shorter one commented, peering over the side at the series of shouting and threats coming from below.

His brother looked at me with a pretence scowl, "Kiddo, I'm sure we've had this conversation before." He knelt down and looked me dead in the eye, taking me by surprise with a smile, "Jumping always works better with a parachute!"

Why was I laughing? Shock, that's why most likely. My knees were pulled under my chin and my breath was raspy and jittery. There were black stains and ash coating me among with the gravel and dirt. Where my hair hung in front of me I could see charred areas where it had been singed. Still nothing was making sense to me and frankly I was terrified. So much was trying to force its way through my cranium but I just couldn't reach it. I fished into my pocket and felt sudden relief that the doodle was still there. The boys exchanged grins at the sight.

"Yours?" I asked, my teeth chattering madly as I handed her over to them.

The red hatted one looked confused, "You still don't know us? But… but you saved me…"

His tongue hung over his lips and eyes drooped in disappointment, I wanted to hug him but I didn't dare, "I'm sorry… I feel like I know you but I don't know why. It's hard to explain…"

"We can jog you're memory, right sibs?" the oldest one said, nudging his brother and lifting the page.

"We're the Warner Brothers!" they chanted.

The scribble pointed to herself and her mouth moved, but no sound came out. She stomped her foot in annoyance and made elaborate movements as if she were screaming and throwing a temper tantrum. The boys exchanged glances of amusement.

"You know we could get used to this." The eldest commented, winking at the paper.

"Peace and quiet at last!" the other sighed.

This did not sit well with the girl. She pointed at them both and made gestures with her hands as if she was snapping something in half, then punching repeatedly into her palm. Then she moved onto kicking motions and ended with pointing at them again in a moody pout. They gulped.

"Uuuuuuhhhhhhh-We love you too sis!"

"She's going to kill us isn't she?"

I found myself with a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. I missed them. I didn't know their names or why they seemed so familiar to me or even why they knew me so well… But that's what made me so sure about this. I had missed them. When they saw that I still hadn't given any hint of recognition, the oldest gave in.

"You know, this is the third time introducing ourselves to you, let's hope it sticks this time, eh kiddo? Yakko, Wakko and Dot." He thumbed at his sister slyly, "But she loves it when you call her Dottie."

The scribble started fuming and making movements of punches and kicks in protest all over again and even gave me a warning glare. Note to self, never call her Dottie. Hmm, it was strange how much those names suited them. It hit me all over again that they had called me by my name. I was Talia, and I was alive. And I would find out the truth somehow. My name is Talia, and no one would be feeding me secrets anymore…

"Where are the others, weren't there more of you?"

"Pinky and the Brain stayed to fix the machine with Scratchy and Slappy was helping Rita." Wakko explained, again names that sounded so familiar to me. He grinned at his brother, "You think Nurse will be pleased with us?"

Yakko pinched his chin in thought and glanced over his shoulder where R.J was dangling, still struggling against his bonds, "A reward could be in our future, brother-sibling!"

"Helloooo Nurse!" they beamed mischievously.

"We better get moving, they're probably going for Tony Awards for best dramatic scene down there." Yakko joked, getting to his feet, "You with us, kiddo?"

Wakko smiled apologetically at his sister before slipping the paper under his cap for safe-keeping. Both brothers held out a hand to help me up. Somehow, the question didn't just seem like simply asking if I was going to go with them to the others, but also if I trusted them or not. I hesitated, unsure if I had chosen the real path or just what R.J had made up for me. But there was something here that I was missing, something just out of sight. And from what I could see already, it was something good to say the least. I smiled lightly and grabbed their hands, allowing them to steady me on my feet.

As soon as I was up, Wakko leapt into my arms and locked his arms around my neck, nuzzling his face into the side of my face as if he was never going to let go. It took me by surprise and I was sure I felt damp trickling slightly into my hair. Was he crying? He didn't seem the sort to cry. His body shivered, confirming my speculation. Yakko looked a little taken back too, but didn't interfere. Suddenly I let out a muffled sob and wrapped my arms around the boy, hand on his head softly to hold him closer. I sank to my knees and kissed the top of his head lightly. As I rocked him side to side, I felt like I'd done this before, but not to him. But to another child. I'd felt this surge of protective and caring instinct before. No, two children! But who? No faces or names came to me. So I held Wakko tighter and simply prayed that I would find out soon. Just close your eyes, the sun is going down; You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now; come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound… Please god let me remember!

Yakko placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and started to smooth his brothers back gently, "Come on you two," he muttered softly with a ghost of a smirk, "People will start talking if we're gone too long."

Instead of releasing me completely, Wakko simply clambered over me so that I was now carrying him piggyback, his chin rested on the top of my head. I got to my feet and was ready to let Yakko lead us away, when there was something I had to do. I marched back to the edge of the building and peered over the side. R.J glared up at me, arms bound at his side and swinging like a pendulum from side to side. It was petty, it was childish and it wouldn't gain anything, but I didn't care. I leant over the edge and I spat. It hit him right between the eyes, making him spew out another set of yells and threats. I didn't care. With Wakko still on my back, I turned and headed towards the door. Yakko arched an eyebrow in approval and bowed as he opened the door for me. As we headed back down the stairs, I hoped to god that there would be answers at the bottom.

A/N:

NEW POLL UP, PLEASE VOTE XD

Wakko just seemed like more of a sweetheart in a situation like this, and Yakko's trying to regain his confident swagger back after the last chapter.

I would like to thank 'frumouttamimind' and Guest reviewer from a while ago called 'IwuvYakkoFan' for the ideas with the paddleball saving bit. Thanks guys! XD

So the instincts are kicking in and memories are struggling to get through, but what's next?

Wait and see awesome people of mine! XD