Chapter content warnings: violence; kidnapping; discussions of death and torture; dramatized police procedures; discussions of sex and infidelity.

Don't forget that you can find me on tumblr: we - are - all - of - legend - now and that my ao3 account is wearealloflegendnow (even though I haven't posted there yet)!

~TLL~

Jake couldn't wait to tell her. Even though Melinda and Carl had been missing their daughter for eighteen years and Lily had been searching for four and a couple of hours probably wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things, Jake knew that he had to leave now. There was no time for sleep or to think about it. Jake opened his bedroom window and transformed, taking to the sky. He swooped down toward Lily's but he heard a cry for help before he was even halfway there, recognizing the characteristic accent of the leprechauns.

Jake dove down toward the street, landing heavily in the alleyway. The Huntsgirl spun around to face him, a large cage in her right hand and, inside, was a leprechaun, who was cursing up a storm at her.

"Come on, Huntsgirl, it's the middle of the night," Jake said. "Let's let him go and you can go home and I can go home and –"

She put the cage down behind her and immediately drew her staff.

"Oh, so it's going to be like that. All right."

She launched herself at him with frenzied movements. Jake moved too slowly and she managed to catch him in the side. It was just a light scratch but whenever she managed to touch him it always infuriated him. He bounced after her, trying to grab her within his claws. She danced out of his way, her eyes of ice never leaving his. She jabbed the spear at him and Jake had to step back and retreat, hating the feeling that he was giving in and she was winning. He roared at her and she seemed unaffected. Then, she glanced over her shoulder. Jake thought he had an opportunity to move in but then he saw the same thing that she did: two other figures, in Huntsclan robes, making off with the caged leprechaun.

"Until next time, Dragon!" she said, her voice happy and pleasant as she took off after her companions.

Jake took off after them in pursuit but, as the Huntsclan so often did, they disappeared into the darkness.

Jake sighed and hung his head, feeling exhausted. He looked back toward Gramps's house, knowing that Fu should know about the kidnapped leprechaun immediately but then there was Lily and Rose. Jake thought of Gramps and he knew what Gramps would tell him to do.

He was honour bound to the magical community. Rose had been kidnapped for eighteen years and seemed like she was living a pretty good life. A magical creature snatched off the streets and taken to the Huntsclan might very well not survive the night.

Jake arrived at his grandfather's at shortly after two in the morning. He let himself in, moving carefully. Not waking up Gramps was important; the old man needed his sleep and it was getting increasingly difficult to get him to do that. Jake transformed back into his human self so that he didn't have to worry about whatever damage his tail would do to the home. He slipped inside Fu's room and woke the little dog, who almost bit him.

"Man, come on!" Jake complained. "You don't bite!"

Fu tossed the cucumber slices from his wrinkled eyes onto his bedside table. "I am a dog. What are you doing here?"

Jake's legs gave into his exhaustion and he sat on the floor, leaning his back against Fu's bed. He explained all that he saw and then ended it with a gruff, "I didn't even notice the other two."

He had failed.

He had failed a lot over the years but the older he got, the higher the stakes seemed to get and the smarter his enemies seemed to get. He had thought that he was going to get a better hang on what it meant to be a protector, to be the American Dragon. Instead, he felt like he was drowning more and more. The Huntsclan, which he had managed to sneak into in his youth, was now completely impenetrable. And now, they were snatching live creatures and it didn't take a genius to think about what was going to be happening in there.

"I saw her," Jake admitted, "near the entrance to town. You don't think she knows where they are, do you?"

"I think if the Huntsgirl knew where Magic Town was, she would have already been inside. I think she knows more than we want her to but since when is that new?"

It was everything that Jake felt but nothing that he wanted to hear.

"I should try and get in the Huntsclan again. Who knows if they have other creatures?"

"I haven't heard of anyone going missing," Fu said. "I'll get the word out to be careful. Kid, I don't think I want you going in there. We don't know what's changed, what their security systems are … If you get captured, we have no hope."

"So, I'm just supposed to let him die!?" Jake snapped. "They're going to torture him. We both know that the Huntsclan is going to run experiments until he dies horribly."

"I know!" Fu ran his hands over his tired face. "But, the Huntsclan has him and I think right now we need to prioritize keeping people safe. Everyone knows that the Huntsclan is impenetrable at this point –"

"We don't! We haven't tried!"

"I'm not willing to try! Gramps can't come and rescue you this time and the only other dragon in the area right now is Haley. Are you suggesting we send her into the Huntsclan?"

"No, me. I'm the one who let this happen. I'm the American Dragon. It's my duty –"

"To first and foremost keep yourself able to protect the magical community," Fu argued.

"I don't like this."

"Don't think I do either," Fu said. "Jake, I need you to trust me."

"I do. I guess. I have to get to going so, just, let me know."

Jake knew that Fu was going to try to offer comforting words but there were no comforting words to be had. That leprechaun was going to die. It was unavoidable, as much as Jake wished otherwise. Even though it wasn't at his hands, he still felt responsible. He hadn't noticed the Huntsboys that the Huntsgirl often kept in her presence. He was the one who had sealed that leprechaun's fate and he needed to do something good. He flew from Gramps' and toward Lily's. The sun was beginning to come up and he knew that Carl, Melinda, and Lily would be getting up. They were all early risers, something that Jake never understood. By the time he rolled out of bed, he could have a dozen texts from her, detailing little things about her already busy day.

He touched down in the alleyway and transformed, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

"Jake? It's early for you."

"Hey, I know, but I'm outside right now. Can you come down? It's important."

Jake stood on the sidewalk and watched Lily cross in front of her window. A few minutes later, she was shuffling down the steps, her boots clunking loosely and a thick coat thrown over her flannel pyjama bottoms. She shoved her bedhead out of her face.

"Is everything all right?"

Jake opened Facebook, which was still on Rose Hunter's profile. He had no words and so he just turned it to face her.

Lily's cheeks completely drained of colour and her mouth fell open.

"That's her! How did you do this!?"

"I … Detective Dempsey said she might still be close and so I just started looking at schools in the area. It was such a longshot and I didn't want to tell you in case it didn't work but … it did."

"Rose," Lily said and then she laughed, her eyes twinkling as she threw her arms around him. "We're Rose and Lily! Isn't that perfect!?"

Jake kissed her.

"We have to tell Mom and Dad," Lily said, pulling him up the steps with her. "I don't know what they're going to do!"

Jake followed her into her house. Lily didn't even stop to take off her damp boots.

"Mom! Dad! Look!" Lily screeched as she and Jake stumbled into the kitchen.

"Jake?" Carl asked blearily, pouring coffee into a mug. "You didn't spend the night, did you?"

"Look!" Lily said. "Look who we found! She's not dead! She's not!"

Lily thrust Jake's phone under their noses. Jake stood in the background, feeling as though he was an intruder. He watched as Melinda and Carl scrolled through the Facebook page and tears started streaming down their faces.

"How did you do this?" Melinda asked. "How …"

"Lily told me about her twin," Jake said. "I just needed to feel like I was doing something to help so I was looking through school photos online. I didn't think that I would actually do anything."

"Look at her!" Carl said. "Oh, she looks … Every nightmare we've ever had."

Melinda seized Lily in her arms.

"Mel, we've got to go. We need to go to the police with this and they can find her."

"Lily, go get dressed. Carl! We have to get dressed! She's alive!"

Their laughs overlapped and Jake began to feel warm and he was glad that he was able to do something good.

(-.-)

Rose tucked her messenger bag into the tiny space and then firmly shut the door to her locker. A couple more hours and it would be another week of school down but she wasn't sure that she was relieved for the weekend to be coming. She liked school. She liked being able to hang out with different people and she really liked field hockey. The regular season was long over but their school team was good and Coach had them doing practices year-round and – the part that she liked best – is that the girl's team from St. Catherine's often went up against the boy's team from their brother school in friendly scrimmages. The boys made up in brute force what they lacked in talent but the girls were smarter and, judging by their trophies and awards, better. They won against the boys often and Rose liked to win.

She heard footsteps rushing up behind her but still put in the effort to look surprised when Marcia grabbed her elbow. Rose wasn't exactly an easy person to sneak up on.

"Are you going to Brad's party tonight?" Marcia asked, looping her arm through Rose's as they went to first period geography.

"I don't know," Rose mumbled. "You know with … everything."

"I'm so positive that it's all just a rumour," Marcia said. "Why would he sleep with her when he could sleep with you?! You're the hottest person that I've ever seen!"

Rose bumped her hip into Marcia's. "You have to say that. But, you know, there's no proof and he's been so sweet in his calls …"

"Think about it," Marcia said, letting go of Rose so they could slide into their seats. "Because I want to go and it feels like such a betrayal to go if you don't."

"I'll think about it."

Marcia grinned and then held out her hand. "Pinky promise me."

Rose pinky promised her. And, she really would think about it. She'd probably even end up going. Brad's house was big, his parties were bigger, just because he was the host didn't mean that she'd actually see him because she wasn't sure she was ready to see him. Brad could be so convincing in person, make her feel so confident in him, but then off he went to be the football star of his public high school and revelled in all the attention that got him. He even went so far as to tell her that the cheerleaders would worship him when she ignored him – the times that Rose ignored him was when she was at her own field hockey games. Brad could be sweet and, yet, it never escaped her notice that he had never gone to one of her field hockey games.

The PA above their heads crackled to life.

"Rose Hunter, please report to Principal Gunderson's office. Rose Hunter to Principal Gunderson's office. Thank you."

Marcia laughed. "What did you do?"

"Nothing they can prove," Rose quipped sweetly, just causing Marcia to laugh more.

Rose was not a bad girl at school. Even though she didn't know what she was being called to Gunderson's office, she knew that she didn't have anything to worry about. She stopped and picked up her bag from her locker, just in case it took long enough that she had to go to second period afterward. She strode through the empty halls, going downstairs toward the entrance of the school. It was only once Rose reached the bottom of the steps that her confidence slowed and she tottered unevenly onto the ground floor.

There were police officers standing there. Her heart froze because she could think of no reason why the NYPD would be after her. She didn't do anything outside of typical high school girl rebellion – she drank a little, smoked a little, and she'd fooled around with Brad once or twice. Nothing that the NYPD would want with her.

Rose thought about turning and running but Principal Gunderson spotted her.

"Rose, hi!"

Rose dragged her feet slowly, her eyes never leaving the faces of the two police officers. The man was dressed in uniform while the woman was dressed in plain clothes. Rose was sure that she was police too – a detective, perhaps, not a beat cop like the other one. Which was even more concerning. What could a detective want with her?

"Hello, Rose." The woman smiled. And, though she had the warm feeling of a friend, Rose was even more on guard. "My name is Amelia Stern and I'm a detective with the NYPD. This is Officer Daniels."

"Hi," Rose said. She resisted the urge to ask her why she was here. Rose knew that the less she said, the better. There was danger in overtalking.

"We were hoping you'd come down to the station with us. We have a couple of questions for you. Mrs. Gunderson said it's okay."

"I have to call my dad." Rose wanted to ground her feet to the school floor. Anything that she could do to stall them while she tried to figure out from their unreadable expressions what they were trying to take her to the station for.

"Your father has been called," Officer Daniels said gruffly. "Don't worry."

Rose was going to worry and she could recognize when she was backed into a corner. She could rush up the stairs now, never look back, and disappear completely. Or, she could try to hang onto some semblance of normalcy. Perhaps this was some big misunderstanding.

"Um, okay, sure."

"Do you have everything you need?" Principal Gunderson asked, her voice soft and sympathetic, which was not how she normally sounded and it raised alarm bells in Rose. Clearly, Principal Gunderson did not think that she would be back today.

"Yes. I think so."

The ride to the police station was quiet. Whatever they wanted to say, they clearly wanted to say it there and Rose wasn't going to crack and ask them first. It didn't take long to get there, even with the crowded New York streets. She was escorted into a comfortable waiting room rather than an interrogation room, which just made her edgier.

"Rose," Detective Stern said, "I just want to be clear that this is not an interrogation or an official questioning. You are not in trouble. However, I would like to record this conversation if you agree to it."

"Fine," Rose said, and then snapped, "What am I doing here?"

"What's your accent?" Detective Stern asked.

"I grew up in London," Rose said, wondering what that had to do with anything. "My family and I moved here when I was thirteen."

"After your mother died."

Rose didn't like to talk about her mother. "My father's from New York. He wanted to be close to his own family."

"And you were adopted?"

Rose shrugged. "Yes."

"So were your two brothers?"

Rose nodded.

"Your parents didn't have biological children?"

"Couldn't," Rose said, parroting back everything that had been told to her over the years. "Mum couldn't have kids – she'd had cervical cancer when she was younger."

"Were you adopted in London?"

"I don't know, you'd have to ask my dad. Where is my dad, you said he was coming, right?"

"We said your father was called," Detective Stern corrected. "Now, Rose, we have a very confusing situation on our hands and it is a delicate one. I know you're going to have a lot of questions and I just want you to know that I am here for you and I'm on your side."

"Detective," Rose said, leaning forward into the table, "I'm a very straight forward person. I would appreciate it if you'd just get to the point."

Detective Stern met her eyes. "We have reason to believe that you are a victim of a kidnapping."

Kidnapping. Rose mouthed the words to herself, her mind whirring. "No, that's … My parents adopted me when I was a few months old, they're not –"

"We have reason to believe that the adoption wasn't legal," Detective Stern said smoothly, "yours or your brothers."

Rose sat back in the chair. She could still run. She could still get away. But, what about her father? He would be coming to the police station, thinking that she was in trouble, and then what would happen to him?

"What are you going to do to my dad? You can't arrest him! He's a good dad, I promise. And my brothers? What happens to us now?"

"There is an active investigation into all three adoptions. No one is accusing your father of doing anything wrong but if the birth families didn't willingly give up their children, we need to know what happened and how three stolen children ended up in your father's custody."

"He's a good person!" Rose shouted. "How do you even know I was kidnapped? Don't you need DNA or something? Proof?"

"We will be asking you for a DNA sample," Detective Stern said, and Rose was getting sick of her calm demeanor. Rose could feel herself unravelling like she was a ball of yarn, and she was not a person who unravelled. "But, we are very certain you are a kidnapping victim."

"Why?"

"May I show you something?" Detective Stern asked.

Rose nodded.

Detective Stern put a folder on the table and Rose resisted the urge to grab it out of her hands and start reading it for herself. She would find out later. She would make sure that she found out later. Instead, she folded her hands in her lap and waited until Detective Stern pulled a photograph out of the folder and laid it on the table in front of Rose.

"This is the family we believe that you were stolen from."

Two parents and a teenage girl. A teenage girl that could have been her. Rose ignored the image of the mother and father and stared at the girl. She … They were identical. If it weren't for the short hair, that girl would have been Rose. Rose glanced up at Detective Stern and then quickly back down.

"We will be comparing DNA, to make sure that these are your parents and your twin sister, but I'm sure you can see why we're as confident as we are."

"What are their names?"

"These are Carl and Melinda Dawson," Detective Stern said, pointing at the two adults, "and this is one of their twin daughters, Lily Dawson."

Rose and Lily. Rose wanted to laugh. It sounded like something a thirteen-year-old child would come up with for their future children.

"What happened to their other daughter?" Rose asked, leaning back in her chair and away from the picture. She didn't want to look at them because then she would have to admit that there was a different family that she shouldn't have grown up in. She had grown up knowing that she was adopted and had never felt any inkling of interest toward the family that she had come from. She had two parents and she had siblings. That was the family she had always felt like she should have had. But, to have been kidnapped?

"She was taken from her mother's hospital room at two days old. Carried out by a woman dressed like a nurse and then handed off," Detective Stern said, "She was never seen again."

"Until now," Rose said sarcastically. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Can I see my dad?"

"I'm sorry but your father is in an interview room. We don't believe it's in anyone's best interests for you to have contact until we have finished our investigation."

"What about my brothers? Where are my brothers?"

"Rose, I'm sorry –"

"What's going to happen to them?" Rose demanded, hearing her voice turn to ice. "You have to tell me."

"They will be removed from your father's custody, pending our investigation, and placed into foster care."

"No. We have an aunt here. She can –"

"Rose, I don't think you're grasping the situation here. I need you to understand how serious this is."

"No, I don't think you understand. Our father did not kidnap us! I'm sorry this happened to this other family but it is not his fault."

Rose couldn't bear to look at Detective Stern. She was seething. She felt like she was going to burst out of her skin, she was so angry. She looked out the door of the waiting room and that was when she saw him.

"Kyle!" she shouted and was booking it for the door before Detective Stern could move.

Rose threw open the door.

"Kyle, where's Nicholas?"

Kyle pulled away from the officer that was accompanying him.

"Rose! I don't know. What's going on?"

Rose grabbed him in a hug.

"I didn't see Nicholas," Kyle said. "He's going to be so scared."

Rose knew that. Nicholas was the weakest of them. She whispered in Kyle's ear, knowing that their time was limited. "Don't be scared. Don't say anything. I will figure this out and I will find you. No matter what, I will find you."

"I know," Kyle said.

"Rose."

Rose felt Detective Stern's hand on her shoulder but she shook her off.

"Come on."

Kyle was pulled from her and Rose stood in the station, watching him be led into another room.

"Where is Nicholas?" Rose demanded without turning to look at the detective. "They have to stay together. They have to."

"He's safe. They're both going to be taken care of."

Rose barely heard her. She was trying to think of how many rooms there could possibly be in this place and how her father had to be in one of them. Nicholas, too, he was going to be in one of them. She knew her father could take care of himself but she had to look out for her brothers. They were only two years younger than her, but from the moment that her parents had brought them home, she had been their protector. She stood there, remembering being four years old. Even though she was so young, the moment stood out to her. The two rowdy boys, invading her home, trying to play with her toys. Nicholas and Kyle weren't twins but they were barely three months apart in age, and they had always acted like they had come from the same womb. They finished each others sentences; they barely had to look at one another to know what the other was thinking. The three of them, they were a team. And Rose was their leader. When their mother was dying and they were more often left with a babysitter than with their father, their bond had become inseparable. She didn't like not knowing where they were going to be sleeping tonight.

"I want to see Nicholas."

Rose turned on the detective but found herself not looking at Detective Stern, but past her.

Rose found herself looking into her own eyes.