This story bit me and wouldn't let go until I wrote it. :)
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Summer and Forrest belong to VinnieStokerLover. I only own Rachel and Courtney.
Another One In Need Of A Home
Snare-Oh let out a sigh of relief as he entered the Grant Mansion. "That was a rather long mission," he said to himself as he closed the door and headed up for his room. As he was putting his things away, he decided to see about doing whatever chores needed done. Everyone else was out running errands or spending time with their families, so he decided that having them walk home to the chores being done would be a nice surprise.
Thankfully, there was only a couple loads of laundry to wash and dry, a few dishes to be washed, and the trash needed taken out. Putting the laundry in, the alien mummy did up the few dishes and then began gathering the trash, carrying it all to the dumpster in three trips, thanks to his tendrils and strength. After putting the laundry into the dryer, he went to sit in the living room when a sound caught his attention and he went still, narrowing his eyes as he turned his head slightly.
"If you want me to adopt you, you'll do what I say!" A man's voice said loud and clear, making the Thep Khufan head towards the open window and look out to see a man and a woman standing outside with a young girl that looked to be about twelve years old in front of them.
"Now get in there and get a pearl necklace for me!" The woman said.
"And be quick about it, brat!" The man said, pulling out a whip. Snare-Oh felt his blood run cold when he saw that and he turned away, gently closing the window before silently slithering down the stairs and hid nearby to watch as the back door was pried open and the young girl came in.
The first thing the alien mummy noticed was that the girl's clothes were about a size too small and he shook his head. "Must be another foster child," he said to himself and he watched as the girl headed upstairs.
Courtney swallowed as she entered one of the bedrooms, but something her follower was quick to notice was that she didn't touch anything. She instead just pretended to look and then quickly moved on. This behavior caught her follower's attention as he then listened to her talk to herself. "I could tell them there isn't a pearl necklace here," she said to herself before spotting one suddenly. "Oh, there is."
Snare-Oh watched as the girl entered the bedroom to look at the pearl necklace laying on the desk and he recognized the room to belong to Water Hazard, who had bought the necklace to give to his fiancée on her birthday, which was coming up soon. The girl looked at it and reached for it, but then stopped and shook her head and backed up. Deciding that enough was enough, the Thep Khufan quickly moved and grabbed the girl, making her gasp as he pinched the side of her neck, making her black out before he brought her to his room and set her down on the bed. He then checked the security cameras and found the couple still outside. "I better get rid of those two," he said and pressed a button.
A blaring alarm sounded and the couple jumped before looking up to find Snare-Oh standing there and he unraveled his body while glaring at them and roaring. "This house is haunted!" The woman screamed.
"Let's go!" The man said. "That child is not our problem now!"
As they ran off, Snare-Oh called the police sergeant, who promised to take care of the couple and that he and the judge, who was a family friend, would be over in a bit to see about having the child stay at the Grant Mansion. Nodding, the alien mummy went back up to his room to find the child still unconscious and he quickly searched one of the closets and found a bag that had a spare outfit in it. Rachel had them on hand in case anyone who came to her uncles' homeless shelter needed clothes or if anyone that came to the Grant Mansion and was adopted needed clothes.
He had just reentered the room and set the bag of clothes on the bed when the girl sat up and she scooted back quickly, whimpering a little when she saw him. He looked at her and gestured to the clothes. "Put these clothes on and knock on the door when you're ready," he said, heading out and closing the door behind him.
Courtney glanced around the room before looking at the clothes and noticing some light blue, which made her curious as that was her favorite color. Opening the bag to find a light blue shirt and light blue jeans, she quickly changed into them, noticing how they actually fit her better than her old clothes, which she put in the bag and then looked at the door, swallowing as she went up and knocked softly on it.
Snare-Oh heard the soft knock and entered the room, noticing the young girl had put on the new clothes, but noticed that she looked terrified too. "I was watching you," he said, making her give him a scared look. "You were refusing to steal the pearl necklace you found. Why?"
She looked ashamed and withdrew more into herself, making Snare-Oh recognize the same sign of shyness and fear he had seen in many of the foster children that had arrived at the mansion before they had been adopted by his friends and given a better home.
Unleashing his tendrils, he caught the young girl, who gave him a fearful look as he brought her over to his bed and tied her down to it. "I'm going to get answers out of you, young lady," he said, giving her a stern look. "No matter how long it takes."
She whimpered as his tendrils came closer to her and she let out a shriek when those tendrils began wiggling into her neck, but just as Snare-Oh expected, giggles began building up in the young girl's throat and he could feel her shaking as she tried to hide her laughter. "You won't be able to resist for long," he said to her teasingly, wiggling his cloth fingers faster into her neck and tickling her ears too. "Cootchie, cootchie, coo!"
Courtney tried to squirm away, unsure of what this monster was doing, but he certainly didn't sound mean and he had given her some better-fitting clothes. She then squeaked as one of the tickling tendrils tickled behind her ears. "Aha!" He said and quickly tickled behind both of her ears, which forced her to let her giggles out, giggles that turned to laughter as her neck and ears were tickled like crazy. "I did say you wouldn't be able to resist for long, didn't I?" He asked teasingly.
She giggled more, letting out another squeal as her underarms were tickled next. "Looks like you haven't laughed in a long time," Snare-Oh said thoughtfully. "I better make sure you get plenty of tickles then."
"NOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" The eleven-year-old girl squealed as more tendrils joined in the tickling, tickling her stomach, ribs, and her sides, a couple of tendrils lifting up her shirt to the bottom of her rib cage to not only increase the tickling sensation, but to tickle her belly button too. She squealed with laughter.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed out.
"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Courtney heard him tease her. "I haven't tickled a little one in a long time, but I'm glad to see my tickle skills are still up to par."
Wondering exactly what he was planning, she felt him give her a breather before he went to her feet and removed her shoes and socks and carefully rolled up her pant legs to just above her knees. "Now, let's see how ticklish you are from the knees down," he said as he began.
She let out a very loud squeal as several tendrils descended upon her knees, calves, and her feet and tickled them crazily as her captor then used his hands to tickle her feet, especially right under her toes and in-between her toes too. This made her laugh hard and loud. "NOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHO!" She pleaded.
"Aww, too ticklish?" He cooed at her. "Are you just so ticklish you can't stand it, little one?"
His teasing made her laugh more before he pulled his tendrils away and picked up a long, soft feather from his desk. "Before I begin the tickle torture again, I'll give you a moment to catch your breath, and while you do so, perhaps you'll answer my questions?"
Courtney swallowed hard. "I'm sorry," she said. "I…If you let me go, I won't say anything. I promise."
He gave her a look. "Not what I was looking for, kid," he said, brushing the feather under her chin, which made her scrunch up her neck again and giggle. "I want an honest answer from you. Why did you refuse to steal that necklace? You even refused to touch any of the jewelry boxes you saw. I want to know why."
Snare-Oh had a good idea as to why, but if the reason came from her, it was better. The eleven-year-old swallowed again and looked away. "My parents taught me stealing is wrong," she said. "It was one of the first things they taught me."
The alien mummy arched an eyebrow at her, having a bad feeling about this. "Who were those two then that forced you to break in here?" He asked.
"Just two people that took me in after my parents died when I was six years old," Courtney answered. "They tried to make me steal stuff when I turned nine, but I refused and…he started bringing that whip with him."
Gentle cloth fingers gently turned her face to make her look at her captor. "Has he used it on you?" He asked.
"Once," she said. "Across my shoulders."
Untying her arms, Snare-Oh helped her sit up and he rolled up the girl's shirt sleeves and found faded scars that he instantly could tell were whip marks and felt her shiver a little as he had an angry look on his face. "I should have scared the pants off them," he muttered angrily.
The young girl sniffled a little and the alien mummy untied her and held her in his lap as they sat on the bed and he spied the feather he had set aside and picked it up, twirling it over the young girl's ears and she squeaked before he held her securely in one arm and tickled her again, swirling the feather all over her neck and ears before bringing it down to her stomach and swirling it all over her belly button and stomach.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" She laughed loudly as she tried to plead with him to stop, but he then scooted down and grabbed her feet, wrapping one of his tendrils around her ankles before running the feather all over her feet from her heels to the top of her toes, which made her squeal even louder.
"Cootchie, cootchie, cootchie, coo! Just listen to that laughter. You're going crazy with laughter right now, aren't you?" Snare-Oh teased her before stopping and letting her get up. She giggled a bit more before looking at him and looking curious.
"You…You don't act like a monster," she said.
"Oh trust me, I can scare someone to death if I have to," he said as he stood up. "But with kiddos like you, I prefer tickling them."
She giggled again, which made him chuckle. "So then, what is your name, kiddo?" He asked.
"Courtney," she said and then looked curious. "You wouldn't happen to be King Tut, would you?"
The alien mummy laughed in amusement. "That's the first time someone's asked me that," he said as he very gently pinched the right side of her face. "My name is Snare-Oh."
Just then, a knock came to the door and Snare-Oh went to answer it, finding the police sergeant he had spoken to earlier and the judge there and invited them in. Rachel and Rook came home a moment later. "Snare-Oh, what's up?" Rachel asked as Rook helped Summer and Forrest out of the Proto-Truk. "The police sergeant called us to say there was a young girl forced to break into the Mansion."
"That's true," he said. "A foster girl who is in need of a good home."
Courtney was behind Snare-Oh and she peeked out to see Rachel and Rook standing there with two children and she shrunk a little behind the alien mummy, who gently moved aside to reveal her to the couple. Rook stepped forward and the young girl flinched sharply, giving him a fearful look, to which he gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "Don't be frightened," he said gently. "The police sergeant told us what happened."
She didn't look very relieved until Snare-Oh gently wiggled a tendril into her neck, making her giggle. "Courtney, relax," he said with a smile.
"Courtney?" Rachel asked. "That's a pretty name."
The young girl blushed a little. "Thank you," she said softly.
Summer and Forrest looked at each other and smiled, thinking the same thing and went up to Courtney, hugging her, which surprised her and she cautiously returned the hugs. "Mommy? Daddy? Can she be our big sister?" Summer asked.
"Please, Mom? Please, Dad?" Forrest asked eagerly.
Rook smiled and gave a thoughtful hum before turning to Rachel, who also smiled. "Well, she does need a good home," the twenty-five-year-old woman said. "What do you think, honey?"
"I think we have a new daughter," the Revonnahgander said, still smiling.
The judge drafted the paperwork, which the two signed immediately and the police sergeant smiled at Courtney. "Well, you've got two new parents, kiddo," he said. "And trust me. They'll love you and will never make you do something you shouldn't."
The young girl felt a little overwhelmed as Summer and Forrest cheered about having a new big sister and Rook noticed his new daughter was a bit stunned and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Courtney," he said with a gentle smile. "I promise you'll be very happy here. You have several aunts and uncles and cousins now."
She blinked. "I do?" She asked.
He nodded. "You've already met one of your uncles," he said, indicating to Snare-Oh, who was tickling Summer and Forrest playfully and the two were giggling in their uncle's arms. The eleven-year-old girl giggled.
"He's funny," she said. "And…he was really nice to me, even though he tickled me for a while."
Rook chuckled. "Tickling is a common occurrence here at the Mansion," he said.
"It's not only how we bond with each other, it's also how we cheer up little ones like you and welcome you to the family," said Rachel before she and Rook began tickling Courtney, who laughed as she tried to squirm away from her new parents, but they hugged her while they tickled her. "Brace yourself, Courtney, because you're going to get a lot of tickles from us."
She giggled as they stopped tickling her, but she then looked at them with an uncertain look. "Are you…sure you want…a thief…as your daughter?" She asked.
"Courtney, you are not a thief," Rook said, pulling her into a hug.
"Of course now," Snare-Oh said. "A thief would steal things. You didn't."
"Snare-Oh's right," Rachel said with a smile as she too pulled her new daughter into a hug. "You're our new daughter from now on, sweetheart."
She looked at her. "I…don't have to do anything to have you…adopt me?" She asked.
"We just did, pumpkin," said her new father. "You're here to stay, no strings attached."
Courtney smiled at that and hugged them. "Thank you," she said before hugging her new younger siblings and then hugging Snare-Oh. The alien mummy gently ruffled her hair.
"Welcome to the family, little one," he said with a smile.
The young girl smiled, feeling like she was one of the luckiest kids in the world.
Well, Rachel and Rook now have three children. Pretty neat, huh?
Please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418