Thank you thank you thank you! I'm so grateful to have you followers! Incidentally, if you want to read more of my, well, not work, per se, but my writing – check out my other fics (if you follow either of the TV shows, or How I Met Your Mother as I'm going to start one soon) – and here's my blog: I generally just post the random thoughts going through my mind on here. It's kind of a party since nobody reads it.

And after that little indulgent self-promotion, here we go.

Kate

Kate came home, whistling, and bounded through the door. She had just attended a most splendidly successful training session with Madge in the back yard, and the overwhelming, motherly pride she felt had put her in a very good mood indeed. Unfortunately, her adrenaline rush was cut short as she was forced to halt in the midst of her jubilant entrance.

Mr. Benedict, Rhonda, Miss Perumal, Milligan, and Number Two were standing there, looking supremely upset. She heard murmuring from the other room; whatever it was, the others had already gotten the news. Feeling no need to hear the adults' version of it, she tried to skirt around them, but they blocked her path. Frustrated, she turned to her father, who looked more serious than ever.

"I'm putting my mission for Kate and that boy on hold for this," Milligan told Miss Perumal out of the corner of his mouth. She looked relieved.

Figuring that there was no way out, Kate asked urgently, "What happened?"

"Will you assure us that if we back away, you will sit still – well, not still, of course, but your version of it – and listen to us?" Mr. Benedict asked somberly. He was wearing a very dark plaid suit today.

"Um, okay," replied Kate, perplexed.

"Alright." The adults exchanged knowing looks, then led her into the dining room. All the shades were down. She took a seat, apprehensively tugging at her bucket. As if he could read her mind, Mr. Benedict said,

"You won't need anything from there, I promise."

Her worries only marginally eased, Kate asked again, "What happened?"

"You remember Mr. Curtain's Ten Men, of course," said Mr. Benedict.

"Yes, obviously," snapped Kate. How could she not?

"Do you recall the, ah, leader?"

She did. He was a big man with massive shoulders, frightening blue eyes, and perfectly coifed hair. "You mean McCracken?"

"Correct."

"What about him?" she pressed. "Is he back? I thought the Ten Men were put in custody!"

"The Ten Men were. Unfortunately, their families were not."

"They don't have families." Kate laughed at the absurdity of, say, Crawlings marrying someone and having children together. Daddy, daddy, what did you do today?

Oh, you know, I just tortured that bothersome Benedict Society into insanity again. We're planning to kill them, you know. Isn't that wonderful?

"It turns out that one of them do. And, unluckily, McCracken is the one."

"What? You're kidding, right?"

"I'm afraid I'm not. The situation is… unsettling. We have no proof that his daughter – we know he has a daughter, though we don't know her name – is aiming to carry out any sinister plans. We have no information on whether or not his wife is here. To our knowledge, McCracken is still locked up, but nothing is certain."

"But – but why is she here?" cried Kate. "Why here, of all places?"

"We don't know," said Miss Perumal, "which is why we're being very careful."

"So… does this mean we're not allowed to leave the house anymore?" asked Kate instantly.

"Yes, and it means you can't attempt to break out either," added Milligan. "I'm the new, full-time bodyguard. If you have to leave – and we are not so cruel as to disallow you to get fresh air from time to time – it will be with me.

"But what about… school?" Kate asked. Not that she enjoyed school at all, but it was something to do, and as much as she resented Sophie, she did like being around other people. Plus, if Reynie was happy with his basically-a-girlfriend, Kate was all for it. Well, maybe not all. She supported their relationship half-heartedly. At any rate, being quarantined in the house was the last thing she wanted to do.

"We've already told the school board that due to unforeseen engagements, your attendance will be put on hold for the time being. They're a good school, and know not to be nosy."

A feeling of dread was spreading in Kate's chest. As much as school had been a pain, the thought of being alone, inside, with Reynie, all day… "Will Rey – will we be, um, able to talk to people outside of here?" she asked anxiously.

Rhonda and Miss Perumal exchanged quick looks as Mr. Benedict answered. "For now, no. I assure you, this is probably a complete false alarm, and it's likely that everything is fine. But we can't risk the small chance that it's not, and so this is the way it has to be, for awhile at least."

"Okay," said Kate quietly. "Can I go now?"

Mr. Benedict looked torn. After a swift glance at Milligan, who gave a curt nod, he spoke up. "Kate?"

She spun around, hand automatically on her bucket. "Yes?"

"If you can prove that you are able to manage this, ah, confinement… there is a possibility that we might find opportunities in which to employ your – the Society's – skills in pursuing Miss McCracken."

Her face lit up. "You mean we'll get to follow her? Maybe jump off some buildings, confront some bad guys, solve some mysteries, climb a mountain or two and escape down the side of it…"

Mr. Benedict laughed; Number Two instinctively reached to catch him, only this time there was no need. She settled back, looking very happy.

"No, I hate to break it to you, but those talents and ambitions, while admirable, are not ones that I think will be necessary to apply to this situation. At most, we'll instruct you and the two boys – primarily Reynie – to keep an eye out on her at school. This is because we are assuming that she will attend a public high school so as to throw off suspicion. But you must absolutely promise not to put yourself or your friends in any danger. I cannot stand the idea of you walking straight into McCracken's control."

"Yeah, okay," Kate said agreeably, more focused on mentally compiling a barrage of questions to ask of the others when she was finally released. "Can I go now?"

The adults consented and she scampered over to the other room, where, sure enough, Reynie, Sticky, and Constance were waiting.

Reynie jumped up immediately when she walked through the door. Casting him a peculiar look – he cleared his throat and sat down again – she announced, "McCracken has a daughter!"

"We know," said Sticky, shivering. "I keep thinking of all the terrible things her father must have done…"

Reynie looked at him. "Must have?" he asked in incredulity. "Sticky, we were at the brunt of it!"

"But we weren't the only ones," pointed out Kate. "I see what you're saying. He could've tortured any number of people, and probably did."

Constance was quiet, but continued to mutter things under her breath.

"What's that, Connie-girl?" asked Kate, leaning down.

"…Stupid shock watches… stupid pencils… stupid briefcases…"

"I think the reminder of Ten Men was perhaps hardest on her," Sticky said, looking at her in empathy. He, like the others, found her inimitably frustrating the majority of the time, but none of them wanted to see her in distress.

"Hey, it's okay," said Kate brightly, seating herself on the rug with her legs in their usual pretzel formation. "Did Mr. Benedict tell you? If we can show that we can stay safe or good or properly behaved and whatnot in here, then he'll let us get involved if something does come up. I don't even know – I haven't seen the girl – but this could be good." She rubbed her hands together, grinning.

"Reynie saw her," Sticky said helpfully.

Kate leapt on top of Reynie, pinning him down and upending his glass of orange juice. "What did she look like?" she asked, shaking him. "Did she look shifty? Did she look like McCracken? Is she absolutely hideous, like Jillson and Martina? Who was she with? What was she doing? What, what? Where were you when you saw her? Was anybody else around?"

Reynie's face was slowly turning purple. Gasping for breath, he made the universal sign for choking. Kate thought he was attempting to convey something to her via re-enactment or charades of some sort, but Sticky cried out, "Kate! You're going to suffocate him!"

"What? Oh. Sorry." Kate stepped off of him and he started rubbing his ribs ruefully.

"You're lucky I'm used to it by now," he told her. "If it was anybody else, you could've just killed them."

"I suppose so," she said airily. "But you're used to it."

He smiled at her. "Yeah, I actually think it's been good for my lungs. They need a good workout here and there."

The two of them looked at each other, both as if they were trying to find something that had just barely disappeared over the horizon, but the moment was broken by Constance saying grumpily, "So are you going to answer her stupid questions?"

"Constance, you think everything is stupid when you're upset," Reynie pointed out, hurriedly looking away from Kate. "But okay, I'll answer them if you can repeat them back slowly." He started to add, "And without breaking my ribs again," but somehow felt that wasn't tactful – Kate was resolutely staring at the floor – and kept his mouth quiet.

"Kate? Are you going to…?" asked Sticky as they waited for her.

"You can do it, Sticky," she said, inspecting her hands as if they were extremely fascinating.

"Well, okay, then." He gave her a curious look, then turned to Reynie, rattling them off exactly as she had asked them.

Kate only looked up when Reynie began answering: "She looked like McCracken. I mean, I didn't remember exactly what he looked like, but she looked familiar, and then Mr. Benedict showed us a picture of him and the resemblance is… well, they're clearly related. Dark blue eyes, big shoulders, and you know how his hair was perfectly styled? I didn't notice this, but apparently her hair was too. Um… I'm not the right person to ask about someone's looks, so I'll just skip that question. She was alone. I was at the ice cream parlor with Sophie and she was staring at us."

"What?" said Kate hastily. "You were with Sophie?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Sophie's the one who said she had 'perfect' hair. We both thought it was kind of weird that –"

"I've got to go now," Kate said in a strangely thick, muffled voice. "See you at dinner."

She left, went up four flights to her room, and let out a long, angry scream. She was pummeling her mattress furiously when Miss Perumal came in.

"Kate?" she asked.

"Yeah, hi," said Kate miserably.

"What's the matter?"

Taking a shuddery breath, she recounted what had happened after she'd joined the others. "And it's so stupid," she wailed, sounding much like Constance, "because now this stupid thing is getting in the way of every single thing that I want to do! I was so happy about the secret mission – or not secret – or whatever it is! I mean, finally there was going to be action! But then my stupid feelings came along and decided to mess everything up!" Howling, she buried her face in her pillow.

"Oh, Kate," said Miss Perumal soothingly, rubbing her back. "It's okay. That was just one small thing."

"One small thing? One small thing! Exactly! One tiny little eeny-weeny itty-bitty small thing! And here I am, all cut up about it, and all because of one small thing!"

"Well, what upset you in particular?"

Kate sat up, thinking. "I was cross because Reynie and I were kind of joking around and Constance interrupted, and then he said he was with Sophie when he saw McCracken's daughter, and… I just felt angry. Angry and frustrated."

"It's perfectly normal to feel some jealousy. Reynie and Sophie are together, after all –"

"Not yet. It's not official," said Kate. "At least I have that. Maybe something will happen and…" Her voice trailed off. "Look at me! I've turned into a terrible person! I'm never jealous of people! Especially people like Sophie!"

Miss Perumal hesitated, then said carefully, "I think it is safe to say that at this point, Reynie and Sophie are… involved, or 'official'. That is not to discredit your own worth – which is a lot, Kate. Someday Reynie will see it in you, I promise. I know that he sees it already, just not like that. And who knows? Things might change. We have a new villain, and that has to be exciting to you." She smiled affectionately. "In a couple of months, you and Reynie's roles could be reversed – you might be over it, and he might like you the way you like him now. Does that make sense?"

Kate, being the logical person she was, couldn't help but nod. "It does," she admitted. "I just… I don't know. It's not like me to wish things against my friends."

"Feelings change. And these feelings are new, so it's bound to be disconcerting. But Reynie is an old friend, and however much these new feelings may disturb you, I promise everything will be fine in the long run. Ultimately, it's about who will love you the most when you deserve it the least. Perhaps Reynie will have that with you, instead of with Sophie." She paused. "But do please try and stay friends with him. He needs friends, particularly in light of recent events. It isn't fair to punish either of you by breaking off what has been a strong and developing connection."

"Okay," said Kate, getting off of her bed and stretching. "Thanks, Miss Perumal," she added, retrieving a medium-thick rope from her bucket and uncoiling it. "You're really helpful, you know," she continued, leaning down and removing a floorboard. After a brief glance under the beam of her flashlight, she stowed that away, looped the rope securely around one of the multiple pipes that were now exposed, and disappeared into the darkness before Miss Perumal could say anything.

And, of course, when, a minute and a half later, after Miss Perumal had jumped up and frantically raced down the stairs in case Kate fell, the very person whose safety she had been so concerned about was standing there, beaming and saying,

"Wow. You're a slow poke, aren't you?"

For, you see, Kate Wetherall never fell.

As you can see, I opted to create an entirely new character - McCracken's legacy. You never know what might happen next. Banning them from leaving the house has had a very low success rate, after all.

Let me know what you thought of this last chapter and how you're liking the story. Thanks so much for reading!