Chapter 26, enjoy!

Warning: sassy, spoiled Heidi

Unbeta AF

The Parent Trap

Chapter 26

Sticks and Stones

Heidi tried to escape, in her sleep, in her dreams to escape but she found her dreams to be like a barrier around her. She was stuck in her dreams, she was stuck without her best gifts, her dream weaving. Why? What was Wulf doing to make this so? Heidi placed a protective hand on her pregnant belly and sighed, pondering what she do now.

"Well…well….well," Heidi turned her head slowly and blinked, seeing a woman walk over to her, in her dreams, with dog like ears and a curled dog like tail that were covered in spots, "The great Anatu descendant, now sits before me, trapped."

"A dog…and you are?" Heidi asked, sitting back on her free hand, watching the dog person prowl around her, like any dog would, finding prey.

"Dani Cornwall, of the Cornwall Dream Weaver Clan," the woman sneered, making Heidi tilt her head, confused, "Why the confusion, hairball?"

"My mother's diary spoke about other dream weavers, they're pretty rare now, but never about dog dream weavers, even more so with the Cornwall Clan, guess you weren't that important…" Heidi said, causally, making the woman hiss before her, enraged, angry.

"You little bitch-" The woman snarled running up to Heidi, with her fist closed aiming to hit the woman in the face but stopping, "No…no….don't you fucking egg me on, you can't."

"Why are you here?" Heidi asked, the woman, letting go of the breath she held, as the woman lowered her fist, she didn't want a black eye, thank you, "I'm with Wulf now, yes, why are you working with him?"

"Easy, you have the stones…now one stone, I want to use that power you now hold," Dani said, looking at Heidi, who wrapped her hand around the stone, "Yes, that stone you wield, hairball!"

"You can try," Heidi whispered, looking at the dog like woman, as she reached up to scratch her ear, frowning as she saw that her cat ears are out now, as was her tail, "I just find it…strange," she was pissed that she was far from her children, her husband, she was upset she was in danger, far be it from her to actually be reasonable at this moment in time, "No, not strange, typical, of a dog…you can train a dog to do new tricks and you can trick a dog into training them into what you want."

"What has you saying that, violin strings?" Dani asked Heidi who sighed and shrugged her shoulder, looking up at the dog woman, "Speak, now!" She growled, barking out the order.

"Wulf, he has tricked and trained you to do his bidding, "Heidi said, looking at the woman, "If he tells you to jump, you're going to ask how high, if he tells you to rollover, you're going to rollover…whatever he wants you to do, you'll do it, because he's trained you well. Promised you something, I bet…just like a dog, 'if you do this, I'll take you on a walk, if you do that, I'll give you an extra-" Heidi saw the fist coming and then blinked as the stone on her necklace flashed a bright light and had Dani the dumb mutt flying backward, crying out in pain as she did, "Hmm…interesting…"

The stone vibrated on her collarbone and Heidi wrapped a hand over the stone, trying to calm it down. Dani let out a snarl and stood up, stomping over to Heidi and grabbing her by the collar of her dress and shaking her asking, "What did you do, you fucking hairball, what did you do to me?!"

"I did nothing, it's just…the stone hates you," Heidi said to the woman, who snarled and growled, in rage, "I suppose, for my safety, I should wake up now…"

Heidi snapped opened her eyes and looked around, wiping away the sleep from her eyes and the grogginess as well. No, she wasn't home, in her bed, beside her children. She was in an ornate room, too glided for her taste, in a canopy bed of gold, with golden sheer curtains and lush pillows and blankets. Heidi turned in the lush, golden bed and looked around at the wood and golden furniture. Shit…the gold was hurting her eyes!

Heidi closed her eyes and then sat up, opening her eyes once again and climbing over to the bed and sliding off it, her feet landing on soft carpet. She shook her head to clear up the last of the cobwebs and then placed a hand on her belly, which was now starting to swell a bit more now. Most likely Wulf had seen her pregnant belly and knew she was with child.

Shit, that wasn't good, was it. Heidi bit her lip and walked over to one door and tried to place her hand on the doorknob but the stone on her collarbone vibrated almost violently, stopping her. Heidi wrapped her hand around the stone and asked, "What is it? Why did you stop me?"

'Why was she talking to a stone?!' she wondered and then she heard something, a whisper, in her head. It sounded like a young child.

'Trap, burn you, we can't protect…' the voice said and then Heidi looked down at the stone and asked, "You can talk?"

'Only talk to you…' the stone hummed, in Heidi's hand and Heidi had to sit down in an ornate chair and shuddered, running a hand through her head.

"Holy shit, you're sentient, he wasn't lying, y-ou, why not when there more than one stones?!" Heidi asked the stone, "When I sort of threatened you?"

'Only 4 stones, not seven….not complete.' Heidi hummed, at the answer and sighed, placing a hand over her mouth and nodding her head.

"That sounds about right…" Heidi said shaking her head, "How do we get out of here?"

'Wait,not in safe place, protect you and one inside of you, no try anything reckless…"There was amusement from the stone when it said that, but Heidi was puffing up in anger.

Heidi leaned forward, rubbing her stomach and then she leaned back, waiting for her captors to come to her. She paused wincing in pain and reached back and paused, feeling something large and fuzzy behind her. Heidi slowly ran her hand up and down the silky fuzzy item and then slowly stood, walking over to where she spied a mirror. She walked over to the mirror and let out a yelp, seeing her large, fuzzy cat tail out along with her cat ears. Oh no, oh geez, what is happening, why are they out, why were these things out!?

'Easier for you to have them out, then hiding them,' This stone was causing her way too much trouble! 'You thank me later…'

"I better," Heidi mumbled as she ran her hands over her cat ears with a huff.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"She turned in her badge and everything related to the agency," William said, tapping his fingers to his forearms and looking to a pacing Diesel, "There is no way to trace her in that form, Anya, what about dream weaving?"

"I can't, I've tried," Anya was frowning her eyes lowered, "I have reason to believe a dream weaver is working with this Wulf fellow. The only reason why I can't trace her is because another dream weaver has woven a barrier around her, when she was unable to fight."

"What do you mean unable to fight?" Diesel asked, dread filling his stomach, "Has someone hurt her?! Is she in trouble?"

"No, it means, she was knocked out, against her will, no time to start a proper dream, but a golden opportunity for a dream weaver to create a dome, if you want to call it something, around Heidi's mind, to prevent her from coming to others in their dreams," Anya looked to Diesel's stricken face and then placed a hand on his shoulder, "Wulf isn't going to hurt her, not if he wants to use the stones."

Diesel did recall Heidi saying to him that the stones wouldn't work for anyone but her. But, what about if she died, or if he killed her, what then?

"What if he kills her? To gain control," Diesel asked, making Anya and William frown, concerned, "Has anyone actually acquired all the stones at once?"

"No, not to my knowledge, if one person had one stone, they're usually affected by that one stone, because no one is chosen by the stone to control them, except for Heidi, that is…" William said, making Diesel sigh, running a hand over his forehead, "I don't think Wulf has any power to control her, I think he's full of it."

"Well he doesn't know that, none of us know if that's true," Diesel said, looking to the man, looking to two, "Fuck…where would he take her, where would he take Heidi?"

Everyone was quiet, trying to figure out where Heidi was. Diesel had an inkling where Wulf took her. Back when they were on friendly terms, and still seeing one another at family functions, they always happened at the family compound, a large place in the states on the west coast. It had been in the family for ages, waaaaay before the state it was in was a state. No one in his family used it now, it fell into obscurity. The last time he heard, one of his cousins had taken over the care of it and was living in it. It couldn't be Wulf, could it? he would have to go talk to other family members, but damn, that would be rough too, he kind of cut his family off ages ago, too…evil, he supposed.

It was a long shot, but it was the only shot he had. He mumbled an excuse to go check on the children and pulled his phone out to make a few calls. His mother answered with a sharp, "Diesel….Diesel…calling after all these years, too good to take over the Western Seaboard, like his poor mother wanted him to do so badly!"

"Ma…." Diesel sighed, pinching his brow, "You know why I didn't do it, logistically, it's a pain in the ass! The Western Seaboard, no way!"

"Hmph, are you at least married?" The woman asked and Diesel looked down at his ring finger and mumbled his answer.

"Yes, Ma…I am."

"Hold up, hold up, repeat that, my wayward son, you're finaly married?! And why haven't we met this lovely creature?!

"Because Wulf took her, Ma," Diesel sighed, looking at his phone and hearing his mother gasp in shock, "Yeah, he took her."

"Oh, well…I suppose that would be a possibility, little Wulfy-wulf, loved to mimic his older cousin and steal all his things," Diesel's mother cooed, making the man sigh in frustration, "I remember when he stole his first item, your ice cream cone, I had to buy you another and then you smashed it in his face, why couldn't you stay that way, my darling Diesel…."

"Maaaaaaa," Diesel popped out the Agency and into the house, where Stephanie and Carlos were holding tight to Lester whimpering for their mother, "Look, the house on the West Coast, is it…still in the family, does Wulf have it?"

"Of course he did, covered it in gold, disgusting, actually, a little too gaudy, if you ask me-" Diesel hung the phone up and sighed, talking to his mother was like talking to a missionary, trying to lead him back down the path of evil. He hadn't been evil in over…well, he hadn't been evil in a while! He was a changed man! He was in the 1900's of his reports! Once he hit the 1970s, he could use a computer!

"Daddy, Papi," Stephanie and Carlos ran over to the man, who grabbed them and gently ran a hand over their heads, "Where's our Mommy?"

"Hey there kiddos, I know, it's been a rough few days without her, right? Well, I promise, she's coming home soon, I'll go and get her."

"We wanna come too," Stephanie said and Carlos nodded his head, face set, "We wanna come get Mommy."

"She's our Mami, our only Mami, we wanna beat up the bad guys that took her," Carlos said, crossing his arms, "We 7! We're big kids."

"Remember what I told you about your Mommy and I?" Diesel said, crouching down and looking at the two, his face serious, "About how it's our job to protect you and not your job to protect us? Well, that still applies, it's our job to protect you both, Stephanie and Carlos, you two are safe, you will stay safe, there is no need to follow after me, I will go get Mommy and bring her back. I'm the protector of this family, I take my job seriously."

Stephanie and Carlos looked at the man, with tears in their eyes. Diesel sighed and kissed both of their foreheads saying, "Daddy has this, I'm bringing Mommy home."

"What if you get in trouble? What if you get hurt?" Stephanie asked, and Carlos nodded his head.

"Grandpa William and Grandma Anya will know where I am, okay? So if I'm not back soon, they'll come, with a huge army!" Diesel said, hugging the two, "We're coming back, I promise…"

Diesel gave them another great, big hug and let them go, saying, "Uncle Lester is in charge, Auntie Jeanne will be here soon, I have to go and get Mommy back, be good."

"Yes, Papi," Carlos nodded his head and Stephanie nodded her head before Diesel left them, with a pop. It hurt them both, to be so far from their Mommy and Daddy, when Mommy first went missing, there was a hollow feeling, an ache but with Daddy gone too, it just hurt. It wasn't like school, they weren't too far from them at school, this was different. It hurt so badly that Stephanie and Carlos wanted to cry. It was then and there, when their father popped out that Stephanie and Carlos knew that they couldn't stay, they had to go after their parents.

Carlos turned to Stephanie and said, in a low voice, "It's time to be heroes, Steph, go get your Wonder Woman stuff and I'll go get my Batman stuff."

The two brushed off Lester and Jeanne by saying they were very tired and were going to sleep but in reality, they were putting on their costumes to go find their parents. They had to be super heroes now, for Mommy and Daddy to be saved by them!

"How are we gonna get to them?" Carlos whispered to Stephanie, whose face was set, as she donned her wonder woman costume, a mask on her face.

"I know how, though your connection to Mommy and Daddy is strong, mine is stronger, I've been working on it, Carlos," Stephanie said, as she held her hand out for Carlos to take, "I can see it, the connection to Mommy and Daddy, I know how to reach them, they used to say, if you want to go somewhere or go to someone, you just have to want it badly, so badly that your gifts take you there. I think I can get us to Mommy and Daddy, Carlos!"

Carlos grabbed Stephanie's hand and she closed her eyes, imagining their Mommy, her pretty face and kind smile. She could see it, her connection, in her mind and with her hand, the one inside of her mind, Stephanie reached out to the connection and pulled, hard and it yanked her forward, with a pop. However, when they were closer to Mommy's connection something cut it off, abruptly and Stephanie and Carlos landed in a heap on carpeted flooring, inside of a massive house.

"I did it, I did-" Carlos slapped a hand over Stephanie's mouth and dragged her behind a tapestry as two large men came running over, brandishing guns, he's seen those before, in batman, the bad guys always had guns and they were dangerous!

"Hey, did you hear that sound, where'd it come from?" One of the men asked, looking around, with a frown, "Think it was a rat?"

"Who knows, might have been anything, let's go back to our posts, Wulf will have our head if his pet cat escapes," Stephanie and Carlos looked at one another and nodded their heads. They were somewhere close to Mommy, though the connection had been cut, they could still feel her, a faint feeling but one nonetheless.

There Mommy was in this place!

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Heidi ran a hand over her baby bump, turning her nose up at the meal that was given to her. It was upsetting her stomach and she told the man to get her some fish and not canned tuna, or else she would scratch his eyes out.

"The boss said-" The man started but Heidi put her hands on her hips and said, "No, I don't care what your boss said, it's what I want, I'm the pregnant one here, and a guest, you do it or else I'll throw a tantrum so big, Wulf will have to come and quell it!"

"Another one? Aren't you suppose to be scared?" the man asked Heidi, who shook her head, frowning, "Well, can't you be scared?"

"Never!" Heidi said glaring at the man, who sighed, pinching his brow, "Why would I be scared of you? Yo-you're more scared of me than anything else!"

"Not wrong about that one," The man said, as he picked up the plate and then left the room, "I'll be back with salmon…"

Heidi sat regally on the golden chair in her jail and sniffed, pouring herself a glass of water. She had been in this prison for almost two weeks. It was almost like a vacation for her. Waited on hand and foot by Wulf's goons. Wulf himself was still smitten with her and so he spoiled her with books, gifts and trinkets and though she was married, she would never say no to a ball of yarn to play with it! She had an inkling he was trying to buy her love and devotion from her to get her to do his bidding.

Pfft.

That Dani dog, though, annoying and yes, it was her obligation to annoy the dog like dream weaver because why not?

She was concerned about her children and her husband but the idea of deliciously cooked salmon had Heidi purring with contentment. No wonder why the stone told her hold back on trying to escape, she was being pampered and spoiled to no ends!

Heidi hummed and kicked her foot up in the air, basking in delicious warmth and comfort but paused as the door to her jail opened and another goon came walking in, look agitated. Heidi raised an eyebrow and asked, "What's up, buttercup?"

"Were you trying to escape?" The goon asked, making Heidi roll her eyes and shake her head, "Strange…might be an intruder…"

'Intruder?' Heidi blinked and then she tilted her head, closed her eyes and reached out, in her mind to sense the intruders. When she felt the intruders, her blood ran cold and she covered her mouth slowly, dread filling her body.

Oh gods, oh no, Stephanie and Carlos…they were here, what were they doing here?! D-Did Diesel bring them with him?! That bastard, she was going to kick his ass! Heidi watched as the goons left her room, without her salmon but then she got up and walked over to the door. The stone hummed, warning her about the charms on the door but she had more things to worry about than stupid charms.

Heidi held the stone in her hand, looked at the door in her way and said, "Tear it off the hinges."

The stone vibrated with power and with ease the door went flying outwards and into the hallway. Heidi looked down at the stone and asked, "Why didn't we do that first time?"

'Wasn't ready too…didn't feel like, pick your poison,' The stone had some sense of humor, didn't it, Heidi mused and then she was off, to find her children.

TBC…

Between two determined children, an angy father/husband, a sassy pregnant woman and a snarky stone, Wulf is going to have some issues...