Hello my lovelies! Back on our normal schedule.

By this point in the story, the mandatory-character-background-story setup is pretty much finished, so now some serious progress should be made.

I would also like to take a minute to point out that anyone who has suggestions for this story as far as what you want to see happen is more than welcome to message the account. I love hearing new ideas.

On with this thrilling tale.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own this stuff (which, for those of you who have been living under a rock, it's over now, so…. Happy 4/13? It was a good 7 years)

Chapter 9

"No, Auntie Lynn, I promise I will be fine." Aradia assured her caretaker for the millionth time over breakfast.

The woman sighed. "I want to believe you, but this gang stuff is very dangerous. You could get seriously hurt. I am supposed to protect you until your mom arrives." Lynn looked at her niece's face, which was filled with determination. "But… I suppose I can't stop you can I? You were always a stubborn girl. Once you've made up your mind, that's it. Just talk to me if you ever are in trouble, okay?"

The girl smiled. "Don't worry, Auntie. I will. Besides, I have a protector, remember? Sollux will look out for me. However, I can take care of myself as well." She got up from the breakfast table, grabbed her empty plate, and kissed her aunt on the head. "Well, I should head off to school. The bus is probably almost here. I love you!" Aradia grabbed her backpack and walked out the door to the bus stop.

The rest of the week was pretty much the same for Aradia. The teachers giving their standard lectures, high schoolers being rowdy, normal conversations with her aunt, so on and so forth. Finally, the bell for Friday afternoon rang, and Aradia was relieved. It's been such a long week. It will be so nice to have a relaxing weekend after all that happened this week. The brunette grabbed her bag from the floor, swung it over her shoulder, and headed for the back of the school. She walked through the halls, which were filled with kids running off to enjoy their weekend, hanging out in groups to avoid going home, or just in couples, flirting with each other or making out. Ugh. So gross. I wish people wouldn't always do that. She finally made it to the doors that lead out to the buses when her arm was grabbed. She instinctively turned around and flung her fist in the general direction of the other person, but her hand was stopped by them. She slowly looked up, first seeing the mismatched shoes, the loose jeans and t-shirt, the different colored glasses, and finally the chocolate brown hair. Aradia sighed. "Sollux. Thank God it's you. Don't scare me like that."

"Oh. Geez, I'm sorry Aradia. I wasn't thinking." Sollux apologized while scratching the back of his head. "Hey, I wanted to ask you something. Are you doing anything right now?"

"Not at this moment, or for the rest of the evening." The girl responded. "Why, did you need something?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I was actually hoping you could come with me, Equius, and Karkat tonight to meet the rest of the group. Not for anything serious, just so you can meet more of the gang and stuff."

The brunette thought about this for a moment. I know I said I would help him out, and I have no problem with it, but I know Auntie Lynn also said not to get involved anymore. "Uh… sure. That will be fine. Let me just call my aunt to let her know I'm going to be home a little late." She pulled out her maroon-cased phone and opened her contacts, clicking on her aunt's name. The phone only rang two times before someone answered. "Hey Auntie Lynn."

"Hi Kiddo. How was school?" The lady asked on the other end of the line.

"Fine." Aradia responded. "Is it okay if I'm home a little late? I just want to hang out with a couple friends for a bit."

A sigh was heard from the other caller. "That's fine. Just be careful. I've heard gang activity is getting worse lately, and I don't want you to get into a bad situation again. As long as you stay with your friends the whole time, and text me as soon as you are heading home, alright?"

Aradia smiled and gave Sollux a thumbs up. "Of course. I'll be alright. Thank you Auntie Lynn. I love you. See you later!"

"I love you too, Aradia. Bye." lynn responded before hanging up the phone.

"You good to go?" The boy asked, motioning to the door.

The girl nodded. "Yep I'm good."

"Cool. We have to go to the front of the school, 'cause EQ is gonna drive us." Sollux said as they started to walk to the other entrance. "You're pretty good lying on your feet. Not that it's a good quality to have, but it's certainly useful. I didn't think a sweet girl like you could do something like that."

Aradia chuckled. "Yeah, well living with…" She paused, not wanting to say his name. "Living with, that guy for a few years, you learn to lie about where you go and what you do. And besides, it wasn't lying per se, it was just stretching the truth. I am going to hang out with friends, I just didn't say which friends or where." She shrugged.

"This is very true." Sollux agreed. "Ah, there's EQ and KK. Shall we go?" He held out his arm, to which Aradia smiled and linked her arm with his. The two walked to the car and got in, talking with the other two boys about their day.

Wow, this is a long ride. I didn't realize how far they travelled just to be apart of this gang. Aradia thought to herself as she watched the city roll by. This was the first time she had actually looked at the city since the first night she was here. She was amazed by all the tall buildings, many of them extremely industrial-looking, while still managing to be beautiful in their own way. Between blocks of skyscrapers were more open areas, some occupied by theaters or art studios, others just open fields or parks. Houston is so beautiful. I wish I could actually walk around the city and explore all this architecture. Maybe I'll convince Sollux to take me one day. She smiled at the thought of her protector. It was silly, how she started behaving like a little school girl whenever she thought of him, but she couldn't help it. He had saved her life, after all. It also helps that he's really sweet, charming, handsome, funny… Oh geez I'm rambling again aren't I? Her thoughts ceased as soon as the car pulled up to a giant, multi-story building.

"We're here." Sollux told Aradia as he started to unbuckle his seat belt.

"But…" Aradia stopped. "This place. I've read about it. It's been abandoned for at least five years. It use to be a shipping warehouse, right? You guys really meet here?"

Seeing the other two guys standing silently, Sollux jumped in. "It's been abandoned as a warehouse, yes, but no one bothers to come this far South in the city, so the Alternians decided to use it as their home base." He motioned for the other three to follow him into the building. Equius and Karkat willingly followed, but Aradia was hesitant. The boy looked behind him, gave the girl a soft smile, and took her hand. "It's fine. We're all friendly, I promise. What did I tell you the other day? I'm your protector. You'll be okay."

Aradia nodded, and the two of them walked inside. Immediately, she was amazed. The facility was sure put to good use after it was abandoned. From what Arada could see, there were several rooms being used as bedrooms, some more being used as offices or meeting rooms, a big space that seemed to function as a hang out space, and the main floor was filled with tons of gym equipment, from punching bags to weights to even a running track. Most of these areas were filled with different people who looked like they were a variety of ages. She gasped. "This is incredible. The architecture for such an old building is fantastic!"

"Yeah, it took a lot of time and scrounging of money, but we managed to make it decent." Sollux explained. "See, most people come from the same background, or of the similar type. This whole building is a safe haven for the whole gang. Anyone can come here to hang out, work out, or, for those whose families have abandoned them, they can live here. Pretty neat, huh?"

The brunette was speechless. "Neat? This is amazing! How many people are here?"

The boy considered this for a second. "Well, the gang is quite a revolving door, but on average, we have about 250-300 members, but that includes partial and honorary members. You'll meet some of them later I'm sure."

"Wow. That's amazing!" Aradia remarked, still admiring the gigantic structure.

"Mhm." Sollux said, looking quite chuffed with himself. "Let me call everyone that's here and I'll introduce you. You don't have to talk about anything right now, I just want the gang to know you're in this with us." He cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey everyone! Come down to the main floor. I've got something important!"

Slowly, everyone came down from all areas of the building and crowded around Sollux, who had taken to standing on a table nearby. Once they were all gathered, Aradia looked up at Sollux, who helped her get up onto the table. "Okay. So, as you all may know, the Midnight Crew has been a lot more active lately. They've been getting more violent and more cunning with their actions. Luckily, we should now be able to get the upper hand on them. We have some excellent inside intel from this amazing girl right here." He gestured toward the brunette, who, not knowing what to do, just gave a small smile and wave. "Her name is Aradia Megido. She has some knowledge about the head honcho of the Crew's operation. You will treat her with the utmost respect, as she is now our most vital source of information, as well as an honorary member of our gang. Is that understood?" The crowd seemed to murmur in a positive response.

Wow. He really seems to command attention from people. It's kinda hot. Aradia thought to herself.

"Okay. That's all for now. You can all go back to your previous activities." Sollux waved his hands in the general direction of the equipment behind the crowd.

Everyone began to disperse, and Sollux got off the table, then proceeded to help Aradia off. Equius and Karkat were also standing with them, as well as another short girl who couldn't have been more than 13 or 14 years old. She had a round face, but her body was fairly lean, and she had short, spiky, dyed bright red hair.

Clearly getting the vibe that she was curious about their sudden new friend, Sollux piped up. "Ah, Aradia. This is Nepeta." He motioned to the small girl. "She is one of those gang members that aren't in it because they come from a rough background. In fact, Equius and Nepeta have been friends for the longest time. I don't remember the last time I didn't see them hanging out. She isn't technically a member of the gang, only because Equius won't let her, but she has a black belt in Karate and Tae Kwon Do, so she is an excellent fighter."

The spunky girl beamed at Aradia and waved. "It's so nice to meet you!" Her voice was quite shrill, and there were traces of a romanian-esque accent. "I've heard so much about you already, and I can't wait to get to know you better."

"Yeah, I hope I can too." Aradia responded.

The five of them held more light-hearted conversation for the next few minutes before Aradia realized how late it had gotten. "Oh gosh. I should probably start heading home. I don't want Auntie Lynn to worry. Equius, can you drive me back?"

The tall boy nodded. "Uh-huh. We should probably all go back. Sollux, Karkat, are you coming?"

The other ones nodded, said their goodbyes, and they all headed to the car for the long ride home.

Well I hope that was sufficient. I will see you all in a couple weeks. Please leave comments and suggestions if you have any.

See you soon!

~Jane