Renegades: A New Dawn

Chapter 66: What Makes a Family

At the hospital, Hannah was reading a different wedding magazine when Phil walked in alongside Freja, carrying his trophy, making his wife's eyes light up. 'Well who's been a clever boy then? Come here you beautiful bastard, I've missed you so much.' 'I know that feeling' he responded, before handing her the trophy as he sat down. 'Did you see the final?' 'I saw every single move you played. I'm so proud of you for doing it despite everything.' 'Thank you, but you've done the actual hard work. How is he?' 'He's nice and strong, there's been no complications.'

Just then, one of the nurses walked in, a slightly dazed look in his eyes. 'Someone looks like they've had a long shift' Freja quipped cheekily. 'Yeah, something like that. I just came to give Mum and Dad some good news - we're happy with your progress, and all being well overnight, we'd be happy for you to return home tomorrow morning.' The two of them hugged at the news, and the doctor smiled at them, before he calmly walked off. But Freja had noticed something that Phil hadn't done.

'Hannah, did you hypnotise the nurses?' She responded by giggling, and stating 'Maybe.' When Phil gave her a slightly disapproving look, she explained the rationale. 'Look, I heard them, they weren't keeping me in because of Skylar, they're keeping me in because of my stupid back, which isn't going to get any better here, I mean have they ever thought of investing in memory foam? Or even some decent cushions. And the truth is, I didn't hypnotise them.' 'Really?' 'Yeah' she stated with a completely straight face, before cracking up. 'I got Blair to do it instead. She works really quickly.'

'I thought I told you to listen to them.' 'Look, sometimes I just know my body better than they do. If it had been Sky, I would have stayed, but the fact is, there's been absolutely no issues.' 'There must have been something, he was born a month premature.' 'Aside from a slightly high temperature which sorted itself out quickly, he's been absolutely grand.' This incredibly important conversation was interrupted by Freja going gaga for Skylar. 'Oh you're so cute! You're just the most handsome little thing I've ever seen! I'm your Auntie Fre Fre by the way, I probably won't be teaching you how to count but I can teach you about other things I promise. In fact I think we're going to become really good friends. Oh you're just too cute, I might just stay here until you return home.' Seeing this, the two parents looked at each other, and laughed.

Almost two hours later, it was the end of visiting hours. Before they left, Phil leant down to Hannah, and she whispered down his ear 'Get a good night's sleep, ok? I'll need you to bring my chariot tomorrow. Have her tonight if you need to, whatever it takes.' 'I love you.' 'I love you too mister. Be a good boy tonight, and be back with each other tomorrow. Oh, and don't forget to bring some clothes for me, I'm not wearing stained stuff.' Phil and Freja walked off, with her making him laugh as they left the ward. And all Hannah could say was 'Bring on tomorrow.'

In the base, Meeting Room 2

Belle and Lydia were sat next to each other, both looking tense. On the opposite side of the table, Blair was lounging, with a pair of brown rounded sunglasses on, holding two whiteboards, each with a red pen. 'Just to check, why are you wearing sunglasses' Lydia inquired, to which Blair bluntly replied with 'Because quite honestly, I don't want to look at either of you right now. I still think this whole sh*t is totally gross, and you especially (pointing at Lydia) I still haven't forgiven for what you did to Hannah. But I've been told by Maddy that I should be nice to you, so here we go. I ask a question, you write the answers, Best of 5.' 'Why 5?' 'Because I want a bath and can't be bothered with this sh*t.'

'So Question 1: What is Freja's middle name.' Belle answered immediately, while Lydia took a shade longer to answer. 'Right, reveal.' Both of them flipped their boards to reveal "Gemma". 'Correct. Question 2: What is the name of Freja's Mum?' Again, Belle was first to answer, with a frustrated Lydia just behind. 'Reveal.' Both boards flipped to reveal the name "Ella". But Lydia then added 'And she's probably drunk on a beach somewhere as we speak.' Belle responded with 'That's something you can both agree on', surprising Lydia. 'She's told you?' 'Just told me that she never knew where her Mum would be one day to the next, they never got the opportunity to bond.'

With Lydia shocked by what Belle had learned, the third question came in. 'What is Freja's favourite colour?' For this question, both answered at the exact same moment, being supremely confident. 'Reveal.' As they revealed the answers, Blair marked it down. 'Correct, her favourite colour is Yellow. Question 4: What is Freja's dream job?' Lydia appeared to be stumped on this, but Belle managed to produce an answer rather quickly and without fuss. After three minutes, Blair got impatient, and stated 'Lydia, if you don't write something down now, I will say you got the question wrong.' Panicking, Lydia wrote down the first answer that came to mind.

'The answer is… she wants to be an Actress, and she asked me to specifically write that she wants to star in true crime documentaries.' Belle then had a question. 'Does she know what we're doing?' 'Oh no, I told her that it was a survey Maddy was doing for the files. So show me your answers.' Both showed their answers, and Blair checked them. 'Yep, both got it right. Question 5: Who does she list as her personal hero?' Lydia got the answer immediately, while Belle struggled, but also submitted an answer. 'The answer is… Phil. Lydia, you got that right' 'It's only because of the stupid spell she's under.' 'That may be, but I'm going with what she told me. And Belle, you also listed Phil. So you're still tied, we're going to sudden death, first wrong answer loses. Question 6: What bone did Freja break when she was five years old?'

Lydia wrote down her answer, extremely confident, only to then find that Belle had also answered quickly. 'Yep, both right, it was her humerus.' Belle then had something to add. 'She was singing along to S Club, backflipped off a chair which rocked back as she jumped, and landed on her arm.' Annoyed, Lydia challenged Belle over it. 'And how long was she in a sling for?' 'She wasn't, your Mum took her home from hospital before she could get a sling because she was already being watched by social services and was convinced that she'd have you both taken off her.' 'And why was she being watched by social services?' 'For going on a week-long bender, and leaving you in the care of Jessie, your 13 year old cousin who looked after you better than your Mum did, and even taught you both how to cook.'

As Lydia continued to be amazed at Belle's knowledge of her life, the next question came in. 'Where is her dream holiday destination?' Lydia answered after a short delay, finishing just as Belle was starting. But they still couldn't be separated. 'You're both right, it's New Zealand, and she wrote "it's because she likes Sheep and Dakota's accent is cool.' As both Belle and Lydia looked confused, Blair shrugged. 'Don't look at me, I don't know what she's on about. Question 8: What is Freja's proudest achievement in the Renegades?' Belle wrote her answer without even thinking, and Lydia followed significantly later. 'Lydia, your answer?' 'I just wrote "None in particular" because I didn't think she'd ever thought of it.' 'And Belle?' 'None, she told me the other day that she doesn't feel like she's achieved anything so far, aside from being ordered about by her sister constantly.'

This gave Lydia food for thought, as Blair realised she had run out of questions. So she decided to start making questions up out of what she knew from Freja's file. 'Question 9: Where was Freja born?' Both of them answered quickly, but finally, one of them broke. 'Lydia, you're correct, Belle, I'm sorry but you're not.' 'But I thought she was born in St. Helens?' Calmly, Lydia explained. 'We lived in St. Helens, but we were both born in Tenerife, Mum apparently had no idea she was pregnant. She moved to Tenerife to work as a stripper, got pregnant from some barman there, and moved back to England after she gave birth because she couldn't raise two babies on her own.' 'And your Dad?' 'Probably doesn't even know he's a Dad, we sure as fuck never met him, nor do we even know his name.'

Lydia then looked at Blair. 'So that's it?' Belle responded by nodding herself. 'I'll get out of the way so you can sort what you need to with her.' 'You're just going to give up like that?' Lydia stated in disbelief. 'I might be a vicious murderer, but I'm a vicious murderer of my word, and I promised that if you beat me in this I wouldn't stand in your way. So go on, do what you need to, just let her know it was nice while it lasted, and that I'm thankful I got to experience it.' Belle quietly left the room, as Blair admonished Lydia again. 'Well I hope you're proud of yourself.' 'What - getting Belle' 'No, reating Freja like some kind of toy.' Lydia shrugged, stating 'I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep her safe.', before leaving.

Meanwhile, at Ashworth Brook Farm

Buoyed by Hannah coming home the next day, Phil returned home himself to find Astrid folding a pile of baby clothes neatly on the dining table. Noticing him, she smiled. 'I didn't think you'd be home so early, how's Skylar doing?' 'He's good, they're coming home tomorrow.' 'Fantastic!' she cried out, a certain unmistakable twinkle in her eyes. 'I was just bringing over some stuff for him, so you don't have to worry about all of this. There's some clothes for him here, I bought four different types of baby formula if you need it including this one which is lactose free, there's some baby powder in the bathroom, and'

She was interrupted by Phil, who was very confused. 'Sorry, I appreciate all of this, but I don't know when we hired an au pair, or to the point how you even got in here.' 'I told Maddy what I was doing, she leant me her keys.' 'Well next time could someone maybe let me know that we've got a home invader?' 'She said she'd let you know, but I think she was a little busy. Oh, and less of the au pair comment, I'm just helping out as his godmother. If you don't want me here, I can go.'

In a huge turn-up from previous behaviour though, he smiled at her. 'While you're here, you might as well have a drink. What do you drink where you come from anyway?' She laughed in response. 'It's Norway, it's not Mars. You have fruit juice here?' 'I'll have a look for you.' Rifling through the cupboards, he found some Pomegranite cordial. 'Pomegranite do you?' 'Absolutely, thank you.' As he poured it out, they continued to talk about parenthood, and found themselves slowly bonding.

'The house looks amazing for him to come home to, you've done an amazing job.' 'Thank you, but the truth is, I haven't a clue what I'm doing. He's coming home in less than 24 hours and I still don't know if I'm ready. And in fact, I don't know if I'll ever be ready.' 'Don't know until you try though. Thing is, there must be a reason you and Hannah found each other again, why you were brought together, and maybe this is it. I've always believed that the universe makes things happen because they were meant to be.'

'Yeah, there was… another reason me and Hannah found each other again.' 'I know that, Maddy will tell you anything when she's had too much supermarket beer, I don't know how she can stand the stuff.' 'i don't either, at least I have standards.' 'My point is, everything that came together for you to be together, perhaps it was meant to be so that you could produce a miracle. You might not know what to do now, but you'll learn. You'll be fine.' 'Thanks.' 'You're welcome. This is the most you've ever talked to me isn't it?'

'Probably' he concurred. 'I'm sorry, I've held Finn against you for so long.' 'Like you're the only one. I'd be lying if it said i didn't affect me, but it happens.' Trying to make good, Phil thought of Astrid's own issues. 'How's the situation with Declan, I heard you were having some legal issues?' 'I've got Frances on the case, they're trying to rescind the contract I signed because I don't have the title anymore, but Declan's working with Frances, she's just sent them evidence of the contract and told them that if they don't reinstate the contract, she's taking them to court. No idea how all that works, but sounds alright.'

'What'll happen is they'll get a certain amount of time to respond, and if they don't give a reasonable response, Frances will take them to court for breach of contract, because the contract didn't say that you had to still be champion. It should be pretty open and shut.' 'And Frances is good?' 'She knows what she's doing, everything is by the book, and she knows every loophole. She'll get you sorted before you know it.' 'Thanks, you know more about it than I do. I just want to get back into the action.' 'And you will. Give Frances the opportunity, she won't let you down.'

At the base

All was calm for once at the base, when the door system rung, leading to the amusing sound of Dakota shouting 'Guys, are we still calling it the C.L.I.T.O.R.I.S?' As everyone laughed at Dakota saying the word clitoris, she got a straight answer from Blair. 'We're now calling it the "Lovely Awesome Control Unit Commanding A Response After Criminally Horny Arseholes", I think Maddy ran out of words that begin with "H". Now I'm going for a bath, if anyone disturbs me in the next hour they'll be eating their tonsils for tea!'

As Dakota opened the door, Meghan was stood, wearing a beanie hat and wire-frame glasses, as well as sporting an Australian accent. 'Hi, my name is Marilyn, I've submitted an application to join the Renegades, and Maddy asked me to come over here.' Dakota seemed fine with this, but a passing Belle was less convinced. 'You're from Australia, right?' 'I was born in Sydney but I moved to Leeds when I was 13.' 'And you're now' '25, 26 in a few weeks. I'm hoping to get the O.K. before my birthday.'

'You… look familiar.' 'Yeah, so do you, did you go to Woodbridge High School?' Slightly distressed at the question, Belle nodded. 'Cool, me too, that's probably how we recognise each other, I know you were a couple of years below me.' 'So you… know what happened?' 'I do, and I know it was an accident.' Still haunted by the spectre, Belle relented. 'I'll go and see if she's free, Dakota, could you keep an eye on her?' 'Erm sure, I guess, look are you ok Belle' 'I'm fine' she snapped in response before storming away.

Around five minutes after, Belle returned, with a slip of pink paper. 'Straight up the far set of stairs, it's the unpainted door that says "Maddy's office" on it. If anyone stops you, show them this and they'll point out the office.' 'Thanks guys, wish me luck.' 'Good luck' Belle mumbled, as Dakota said it with enthusiasm. She then left for the office, but Dakota wasn't ready to let Belle go. 'Look, what's up, you're barely talking, and that thing about your school really seemed to knock you for six.' 'You don't know what's going on inside my head. I've just lost the one person who cared about me more than anybody else, the one person who truly accepted me for what I am without having to change or manipulate me in some way, and because of what - because I didn't know she was born as a result of a one-night stand in Tenerife with a barman? And then to top it all off, I get reminded of school, and all the death threats I received while I was there for what happened. It got to the point when I had to be home schooled because someone I didn't even know brought a knife into school just for me. I don't need to go back there.'

At the office, Meghan knocked on, receiving a surprisingly friendly reply. 'C'mon in.' As she did so, Maddy laughed. 'Megs, you really don't need to go to all this trouble to not be recognised.' 'Yeah, I don't want Hannah finding out, before anything gets sorted at least. She's got all these veto powers and' 'Hang on… what veto powers?' 'She told me she could veto any decisions here, and she'd stop me coming in.' Maddy shook her head in response. 'She's bluffing. Nobody has any veto powers, the only authority here is me.'

'Right, I know we're mates and everything' 'And technically I'm kind of your aunt' 'Let's not go there' 'I'll keep holding that over you.' 'No doubt, but this can wait. So even though we're mates, it's only fair that I treat you the same as anyone else who applies. I'm going to go through your application, talk to you about why you want to be here, and then discuss your application with my leadership team. From there I will either provisionally approve your application, in which case I inform you of any steps you need to complete in order to join, or I will reject your application, in which case you will be escorted out. Do you understand everything I just said?' Meghan confidently replied 'Yes I did.'

'Right, so first your personal details. Meghan Cummings, you've spelled it with an "h" in the application, is that the preferred way of spelling your name?' 'I mean I don't care to be honest, I mainly spell it with an "h" to be different. So sure?' 'Ok, I'll keep spelling it with an "h" then. You are 23 and currently live in Victoria, Australia.' 'I mean yeah, I guess. I've been living in a bedsit down in Enfield for a few months, but most of my stuff's still back in Ballarat North in Victoria.' 'Will you be wanting to live in the base when you arrive should your application be approved?'

'Are there any advantages?' 'The advantage is you have somewhere to sleep, you'll get to know everybody quicker, and it's sometimes quite funny when I change the name of the security system, but the disadvantages are that you'll never get into the bathroom because Blair and Rio hog it all the time, you'll get woken up periodically by Astrid going on a morning run at half 5, and nobody ever cleans up after themselves.' 'I think I'll be living in if I get the chance.' 'Thank you. Your nationality is Australian/British with a question mark' 'Yeah, I wasn't sure how that worked because I have dual nationality.' 'In that case you just put both.'

'Ok thanks. You've already said you're related to Allyx, so when we're processing your application, we will use a false identity for you.' 'Kk.' 'So medical conditions, I know about the crash, did you have any lasting issues from that?' 'Yeah, I've got an issue with my left shoulder, it didn't heal well, so it dislocates pretty easy. I think they butchered the surgery but I could never find a lawyer who would take the case, but that's not really relevant.' 'Anything else?' 'Not other than that.'

This lead to the next stage, as Maddy put the papers away. 'So why do you want to be here?' 'Because our family name has become a joke, whenever anybody hears it it's just a codename for that bloke who tried to kill his family. So maybe, if I can just make this world a little better, if I can encourage people to look past reputations and hearsay, then just maybe, I can repair the family name, and make it a sign of hope. I want the Cummings name to be synonymous with this revolution, you're doing so many fantastic things, making everyone feel welcome and safe, and I want to be part of that.'

Listening, Maddy almost smiled, but kept a calm and stern face. 'Right, and what do you feel you bring to us skillswise? Because as you likely understand, in order to admit you as a full member, we need some kind of benefit in return.' 'What you get is you won't find anyone harder working than me, I've worked 18 hours in three different jobs 7 days a week before just to afford somewhere to live. I don't shirk from hard work, and I don't back down against anybody.' As a test, Maddy then flashed her eyes, and Meghan responded by tightening her gaze. 'You may be the president, and a damn good one, but you don't scare me.'

With this, the interview concluded. 'Right, I'm going to round up the leadership team, and from there we'll decide what to do next. We have a meeting room just next door, I will escort you into there while we make the decision.' As Meghan was taken into the room, Maddy smiled and shut the door, before returning to her office, and getting on the tannoy. 'Can Blair and Rio come to the President's office please, that's Blair and Rio to the office.' She then waited… and waited… and waited. For over 15 minutes, until Blair walked in, her glistening body wrapped in a pink towel.

'One of these days I'll be able to have a bath in peace.' 'You do realise you can just go round to Mam and Dad's for that?' 'The last time I trusted Jade to do that we ended up in Harrogate because she got distracted by a cute dog.' 'I meant I could take you dumbass. Anyway… hang on, where's Rio?' 'Like I know, she was here the last I knew.' Suddenly, Rio walked in, carrying a shopping bag. 'Where were you - I called 20 minutes ago.' 'Was it you who was ringing me?' she responded in surprise. 'I'm supposed to be off duty today, I've got physical therapy in an hour.'

'Sorry, it's not marked on the calendar. Anyway, just had a potential new member in, and I wanted to review their application with you.' 'Ok.' 'So for the reasons of confidentiality, I've just identified them as Jane Doe.' 'Let me guess, you couldn't spell anonymous' Blair responded sarcastically. 'Very funny, can we take this a little seriously please?' 'Sorry ma'am.' 'So this person is currently living in Enfield in London, they have no significant health conditions but they do have an ongoing shoulder issue, albeit it doesn't appear to be a big problem.'

'Reasons for wanting to join?' 'This is my concern - there was a lot about restoring family image, a lot about wanting to prove themselves, and there was certainly an aspect of joining because they idolise the club, not because they honestly believe they can contribute. They're hard working, but I'm not convinced they understand what they're getting themselves into.' 'Did any of us when we joined?' Rio probed, causing a significant question to be asked. 'At the end of the day, we didn't know what we were getting into. Whoever this is clearly wants to be a part of this, it seems like they put some thought into the decision if they travelled up from London for it.'

Blair had some other concerns though. 'Is there anything about what they think we stand for?' 'Not really, a lot about wanting to make a difference, but not many details. Seems like they've had a rough time when they were younger, but that's really toughened them up. They said they were difficult to intimidate, I did the flash test and they barely flinched.' 'So they're clearly up for the fight here. This is difficult.' 'It is. At this moment, I don't think we really know enough about this.' Rio clearly had her opinion set though. 'I think we give them a go, maybe bring them in on trial like we both had.' All the while, Blair quietly contemplated.

Around half an hour after they convened, Maddy went back to the meeting room, where Meghan was quietly sat. 'We've reached a decision.' Hearing this, she jumped out of her seat, and walked straight into the office, where Maddy pulled up a chair. Immediately though, Meg could tell that this wasn't going to be the easy yes she was hoping for. 'Go on then, give me the bad news.' 'I've had a meeting with the leadership team, and after taking a vote on your application, we ended up being unable to come to a conclusion, there were an equal amount of Yes and No votes.'

'So… what happens now?' 'Your application will remain in the system, and you will be made an associate member of the Renegades in the meantime. That will allow you to come into the base unescorted, albeit you will still need to be invited in. Additionally you will receive a 50% discount on all Renegades merchandise if you show your associate member card. Your application will automatically be reviewed after three months, at which point you will either be brought into the club or your application will be rejected.' Disappointed but remaining positive, Meghan had one other question. 'So am I allowed to stick around here for a while?' Maddy responded with an affirmative smile. 'Absolutely. Since you live in London, you can sleep here tonight if you like.' 'Thanks.'

As this was going on, around the rear of the base, Rio was on the phone again. 'Slow down Reginald, I haven't agreed to anything yet. No, you listen. As I have told you already, I will give you my decision in a few days. In the meantime, anything you think or anything you hear is worth absolutely nothing. I appreciate the offer, but that's all it is, appreciation. Now I don't appreciate you calling me so much to ask things I already told you the answer to. Don't forget, if I agree, you still have to uphold your end of the bargain - if I join, Akiza leaves. Right, goodbye.' As she hung up though, she was unaware of Jana listening in.

In the base

After spending three hours having her memories restored, Freja emerged from the lab, and went straight up to the main base. Immediately, Lydia went over to her, smiling. 'Hey Freja, how you feeling?' Freja just brushed her off though, walking straight past, and going straight to the kitchen to make herself a coffee. Afterwards, she shoved past her sister on the way back, and walked straight to the arena, slamming the door behind her. As a result of this, Lydia immediately located Kris, who was relaxing in the main hall, wearing sunglasses and drinking a non-alcoholic pina colada. 'Kris, I'm not sure it's worked.' 'Not my problem' was his surprise response. 'Pardon?' 'You heard me, I did everything the way I was told, I don't know how the machine works, and quite honestly I think the way you've treated Belle is gross. Imagine if I spent every day slagging you off for that time you got arrested.' 'Hang on, how did you know about that? Also it's not like I killed someone, I bunked off school and stole a phone.' 'Yeah, point is she made a mistake, and she's spent every day punishing herself for it.' 'So she decided to latch on to my sister, repeat MY sister, and start to poison her mind.' 'I don't think Freja's mind took a lot of poisoning, she's a little bit kooky to begin with. If anything, I think Belle made her easier to live with. A little cantankerous at times, but still better to live with.' Annoyed, Lydia stormed away.

The next morning

Phil arrived at the hospital for 10am, only to find a visibly annoyed Hannah waiting on the bed for him. '9 Phil, we said 9. The hell have you been?' 'Trying to fit the baby seat to the car, because all the instructions were in Chinese. That's the last time I order anything like that off the internet. I brought your clothes at least.' 'You think that gets you off the hook?' She then stood up, and grasped him in a deep hug, and whispered down his ear 'If you get me away from these "yummy mummies" then you're all forgiven.'

She then left for the toilets, while Phil held Skylar. 'You're coming home with us little guy.' As he looked down proudly, Hannah returned from the toilets, and just stopped, leaning on the door frame to watch him holding his son. 'Me and your Mummy are going to take the best care of you, you're going to love being with us. And one day, you're going to understand how much your Mummy went through just to make this happen.' She then walked up beside him, and as he went to hand their son over, she shook her head, and pushed him further into Phil's grasp. 'He's not mine, he's ours .'

An hour later, they returned home, and Hannah stepped out, taking a breath. 'I've missed you.' As she said this, Phil slid out, and leant into the car, taking Skylar out of his car seat. 'Gently does it little guy.' She laughed to herself as she heard this, and waited for Phil to catch up, before she crossed the threshold into the house, Phil barely a few steps behind her. And as they did, they got a huge surprise. At the far end of the living room was a banner, reading "Welcome home Hannah" in bold blue lettering, with a second banner reading "+ Baby Skylar" scrawled on in red permanent marker, as if it had been a last minute thought. Stood in front of it were Blair and Ally, both smiling. Immediately, Ally ran up to them. 'Welcome home! Can I see him, can I, can I?' Phil nodded at her, and walked across the room, lowering him into his wooden cot, with the other youngster leaning over the side. 'He's so cute!'

Blair then came over to Ally, pulling her back slightly. 'Careful now, baby's ears are very sensitive.' 'Sorry' she whispered, before seeing Hannah's proud smile and grinning herself, full of wide-eyed wonder. As Ally continued to talk to Skylar rapidly, Blair went over to Hannah, giving her a hug. 'Welcome home. Sorry about the banner, we only realised this morning it wasn't right.' 'It wouldn't be very Renegade if it wasn't a bit messy would it? Thank you anyway.' Astrid then came through from the kitchen, carrying a tray of party food; mini quiches, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, and much more.

'What's all this?' 'We thought you might be hungry after getting out, hospital food isn't nice.' 'You can say that again, I'm starving.' 'Well we've got plenty for you. Oh, and I brought round some of my old baby clothes, my Mum gave them to me when I met up with her in Paris. If you don't want them that's fine, but' her musing was interrupted by Hannah's reaction to them. 'Oh my god, these are so cute!'

She came through, carrying a powder blue tunic. 'Look at the stitching on this, it's just so beautiful.' Astrid beamed in pride at this recommendation. 'My Mum hand stitched all of them, she apparently spent weeks on sewing them.' 'Are you sure you're ok to give them away? These are amazing, but they're part of your childhood as well.' 'If you want them, I'd love to give them to you. It's important to be able to hand things down from generation to generation, and one day he can pass them down. It tells the story of generations that pass.' 'Well thank you.' 'You're welcome.'

In the arena

Belle walked into the arena, having received a text from Lydia. When she walked in though, it wasn't Lydia who was waiting for her but Freja. 'Sorry, Lydia texted me' 'That would be me. I stole her phone because I didn't take mine out of my pocket before the dark bath so now it don't work anymore. She seriously won't leave me alone.' 'So, it worked then?' 'Yep.' 'I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and thank you for everything.' As Belle turned to leave though, Freja blocked the door off.

'Belle, why should anything change between us?' 'What? You had everything restored.' 'Yeah, and I'm capable of making my own decisions. Fuck Lydia, as far as I'm concerned, we'll always be sisters. You've done more for me in the past few weeks than she's done in years. So yeah, Lydia's my sister, but as far as I'm concerned, so are you.' 'And does Lydia know about this?' 'No, but she will do. I'm done with people deciding shit for me now. Phil's the only one who gets to do that, and that's only with total consent.' 'So we're… good?' 'I mean I'm not exactly happy you were gambling on my mind, but aside from that, we're good.' 'Glad to hear it.' As Belle went to leave, Freja had another revelation. 'By the way, I've got a practice duel with Denny in about 20 minutes, but Dakota said if you wanted in she'd make it 2-2. You in?' Surprised, Belle shrugged. 'Sure, I'll just grab my deck.' 'No need, I've got it still.'

Outside the base

Rio was on her way to physical therapy when Jana leapt from a half-built brick wall nearby. 'The hell are you doing?' 'I could ask you the same thing. Sneakin' around, takin' mysterious phonecalls, talkin' to your traitor brother, talking about doing the same thing yourself, I think you've got a lot of explaining to do, because I could very easily tell Maddy what I've heard and she'll believe me because I've always been there for her. Even before all this, all this Renegades business, I was there, and unlike lover boy, I stayed for her. But don't waste my time, I've got things to be doing.'

Surprisingly, Rio responded calmly, yet tersely. 'I've been taking phonecalls, yeah. And I might just have an offer from my brother, one I need to consider, but I don't see what it's got to do with you. You might be Maddy's lil' wolf puppy with ideas above your station, but the last time I checked, you weren't a member of the Renegades. In fact if I recall correctly, it's not that long ago that you were fighting for the enemy, her precious rose being used to manipulate Maddy. So I don't see how you could even think you're some kind of loyal friend.'

'Yeah, and I didn't see you rushing to help me there. In fact if I recall correctly, you suggested leaving me with Akiza.' 'I suggested Maddy not going to help, because that was playing into the trap. Your trap, you were the trap. I don't owe you or anybody else an explanation, because what I'm doing is best for me and where I need to be. And where I need to be now is physical therapy, so if you'd kindly shove off, I'll be on my way. Good day.' She pushed Jana head-over-heels, surprising the wolfblood with her physical strength, before walking off.

Ashworth Brook Farm

As Phil was doting on a settled Skylar, Hannah was busy talking to Astrid about the consequences of pregnancy. 'Tip for you Astrid - never get pregnant if you still want any kind of figure, it turns you into a blimp.' 'You could take up rock climbing like I did when I was recovering from my broken neck. Well, recovering more than I am at the moment, but that doesn't matter.' 'Don't forget, my back has issues as well, so I probably shouldn't be doing something that involves a chance of falling off.' 'Good point.' After some thinking, Astrid came up with another idea.

'I mean this guy's probably going to have you up early, so if you can find some kind of carrier for him' 'Oh I've got an over the shoulder one, I have done for months.' 'You could come on one of my morning runs then, it sharpens the mind, and you might just get back into shape quicker.' 'And how am I going to get up to the base every morning?' 'I was thinking I'd move down here for a while, it might take some of the pressure off both of you as well.' 'I mean… if Phil's ok with it' 'He is, he suggested it yesterday because I mentioned I wanted to be active in Skylar's life.' 'Ok then, we'll arrange something in that case. Nice having you here.' 'Thank you. I promise I won't be too overbearing.' They smiled at each other, and went back to the party.

In the base

Maddy was filing the papers from Meghan's application when Jana busted into the room, and slammed the door. 'Jana, we've been through this, you knock on the door.' 'Sorry, but we need to talk about Rio. I heard her on the phone earlier, and she admitted to me that she's got an offer from her brother' Maddy then held her hand out to stop her friend from breathlessly ranting. 'I know the situation, it's fine.' 'Hang on, what do you mean "It's fine"? How is any of this in any way "fine"?'

'Look, I trust Rio to make the right decision. We will deal with the situation as and when it comes up. But in the meantime, I trust her, and I have no intention of betraying that trust.' 'I swear you've gone soft' Maddy responded with an angry flash of the eyes, making Jana sit down. 'I know what I'm doing, I can do my job without judgement. I don't know exactly what she's doing, but I trust her. If she accepts whatever offer this is, she still isn't the betraying type, and she's worked way too hard to just walk away from this without a plan. My policy is to give my pack the autonomy to decide things for themselves.'

'You think I can get behind this?' 'I'm not asking you to "get behind this" Jana, it's nothing to do with you, or anybody else other than me and Rio. This is a situation between us, it is under control, and it's not something you need to worry about.' 'Yeah, because it's not my business unless I have one of those swanky cards.' 'If you want to join, you can go through the same process as anybody else does, you can apply and we'll talk. But this situation isn't anybody's business here apart from me and Rio, I think I've made that quite clear. And if you can't trust me, then don't, but remember - my club, my rules.' Jana stormed out of the base, still in disbelief at Maddy's attitude.

Outside the arena

Having finished their duel, Belle and Freja were leaving the arena in relatively high spirits. 'Tell me that wasn't a good warm-up.' 'I'll give it to you, that was easier than I expected, I thought we did pretty well. Thanks for setting all of that up.' 'You're welcome, it was totally worth it. If Rio and Blair start getting on we might even be able to challenge them at sometime, have a real challenge.' 'You realise we'd get slaughtered, don't you?' 'I think we could at least give them a run. Obviously I don't think we'd win, but it would be nice to see where we are.'

As they continued to discuss their success, Lydia noticed them together, and annoyed at Belle's presence, stopped right in front of them. But Belle wasn't in the arguing mood. 'Look, I gave you what you wanted earlier, I didn't kick up a fuss, let's just move on.' 'We can't move on while you're still stalking my sister you freak. I thought I made it clear - you're not sisters, you're not "friends", you're nothing to each other. Go and find some other sad fuck to latch onto, someone who will buy your sob story.' 'Hang on, we said nothing about not being friends, this was about her memories and NOTHING else. And it's only because I agreed to it that you even got the chance, I could have just let you negotiate with Phil, I'm sure that would have gone well for you.' 'I don't negotiate with hostage takers. And you're acting like it was some kind of kindness to give me my sister back? I don't think so, you're no better than him.' The bickering was only interrupted by Freja standing in the middle of them, her blue eyes narrowed, enraged by what she was hearing.

'Right now, NEITHER of you are my sister! I'm sick of you both discussing me like I'm sub-human, I'm not just some prize to be won at the funfair, neither of you have the right to say who I see, or who I don't. Only two people do that, one's me, the other's Phil, and that's with consent. He isn't some hostage taker, I asked to work with him, when he takes control it's because I let him. Not because I have no control or free will, it's because I said yes to his proposal on why. Neither of you get to pick my life for me. And I'm not listening to you tear strips off each other because you're acting like entitled arseholes!'

'Now you have two choices - either you learn to get on, I'm not saying like each other, but learn to live with each other, or just get out of my life! Only I decide who my family are from now on, and if you don't want to end up like Mum, you're going to shut the fuck up and work things out! Now if you don't mind, my friend, one of my very close friends who is more of a Mum to me than anybody else has had a baby, and I want to go and see her. If you've got sense, you're going to grow up, because right now, there's one adult here, and you're not it.' Shocked, Lydia tried to negotiate. 'Fre… just let me' 'No, I'm not just letting you do anything. Stop using me, or you lose me. That simple' she stated while walking backwards, before storming out of the base.

Next time: Phil is handed a fearsome challenger, Belle and Freja look to retain their titles, Maddy forces Akiza's hand, and Rio has to choose whether her loyalty is with blood or family. The Renegade Chronicles Chapter 128: Heart of Rebellion