So, this chapter is a little shorter than the last but I hope it will still be enjoyable.
This chapter comes with a Trigger Warning for mention of child abduction/trafficking and abuse. I wasn't sure I wanted to include the events of the chapter, but after talking with my amazing friend, fanficrulez, I've decided to just go for it. (Really, I don't know what I'd do without him!)
if you guys can get through that, there's some sweet stuff afterwards.
(Continued from the last chapter)
About an hour later…
The Wax hands shop
"One more dip and we're almost done." The nice lady said as she guided their hands into the liquid wax. Kyle grinned at his mate as their joined hands were drawn out of the wax and slowly brought over to the cold water vat and dipped again.
While Autumn and Kyle were getting their wax hands created, Katsume and Elisa stood off to the side, waiting their turn. Getting this done would be their first act as a couple, their joined hands molded in such a permanent way would be a symbol that they were in love.
"So, which colors should we get?" Katsume asked. "There's a lot to choose from."
"I kind of like green. In wax, it's a lighter shade…" Elisa trailed off as she heard a soft commotion in the promenade of the mall. She wheeled herself out of the door and listened closely, doing her best to tone out the voices of the other patrons of the mall.
Behind her, Katsume was looking all around and his eyes zeroed in at a little girl running through the mall at break neck speed…well, at least for a little girl. Behind her was a mean looking man and he was chasing her…
They watched as the little girl ran past them and as soon as she was clear, Elisa pushed hard on her rims wheeled her chair hard, and rammed it into man, who went flying with a loud grunt and landed on the floor a few feet away. A second later, Katsume was on the man holding him down with his knee on the dudes back, struggling to pin the man down to the carpet.
Shit, he stinks like old beer. Katsume groaned as the smell made him want to vomit. The second of distraction was all he man needed to shift under him and throw him off, pinning him by the neck. In the next second, Trent and Tommy were there working as a team to secure the man to the ground as Wes and Eric ran to give them back up.
"Go help your girl." Tommy commanded in a calm deadly voice as his eyes glowed green. Paladin nodded, got up and looked around for his love; he smiled as he saw the terrified little girl being held in his girlfriend's arms as she sat on her lap. They were next to a build a bear work shop and she wheeled her chair into the store, and he followed her in.
This was not what he was planning on for their day of fun, but as he was learning, being a hero was a full time job.
When he walked in, he saw that Elisa was speaking to the girl calmly and the child had her arms around his girlfriend in a death grip.
"Shh, you're safe now." Elisa told the little girl soothingly. "Why are you running?"
The little girl shook her head as tears streamed down her blotchy face.
Katsume watched them for a second and then fingered his pendant. He always wore his dog tag, but now he wore his pendant and today he was glad he had, for it had a listening device implanted.
He slowly approached the pair and made a little bow to her. "My lady Olaynus, you've dropped your magic amulet back there."
The girl recoiled at his voice and Paladin backed away slowly after his girlfriend put the pendant on.
She looked at the little girl and rubbed her back soothingly as she felt the little girl pee her pants. Still she acted as if nothing had happened.
"Hey, he's not going to harm you, that's Paladin and he's a knight of the realm."
The little girl looked up at her in surprise. "He is? Like in the books?"
Elisa smiled when her tears stopped and she only hiccupped. The little girl was looking up at her in wonder.
"Yeah, and I'm Olaynus and an elf."
"Like the ones that help Santa?"
Elisa shook her head. "No, those guys live up at the North Pole. I'm more of a warrior elf."
"But you don't have the pointy ears."
"Well, that's because I have to hide them when I'm among mortals. Can you keep my secret?"
The little girl nodded as she hiccuped again. Elisa looked up to see that Kyle and Autumn were standing in the doorway keeping their distance. When the little girl looked over at them, Elisa added. "And those two are my friends. The girl is Wyvern and she's a dragon lady and the guy next to her is a firebird. But they have to hide their identities just like I have to."
The girl nodded again and then looked over at the bears longingly, her fear temporarily forgotten.
Elisa noticed and carded her tangled hair. "Would you like one of these bears?"
"I had one, but the mean man threw it away."
"You must really miss your bear, huh?"
The little girl sniffled again. "Yeah, Mommy gave him to me but then she went with the angels."
"Well, why don't we make you another one?"
"You can do that? Daddy said they were always too expensive."
"Well, I have plenty of gold to get you another one. And I bet we can even find a dress to put her in." Thankfully a very attentive worker had been listening to the conversation and walked over slowly to help. She was more than willing to play along as she saw the Silver guardians standing near the entrance with a lady who wore a metal badge around her neck.
The worker gave the both of them a brief curtsey. "Milady, welcome to Build-A- Bear, what are we building today?"
Outside the entrance, Pyre and Wyvern were explaining what was going on to the detective while two uniformed police officers were detaining the bad guy.
"That's Olaynus and Paladin inside with that little girl." Pyre explained. "She's wearing a listening device disguised as a pendant."
The detective gave them a confused look. "What are those code names or something?"
"Yeah, we're The Miscreants" Wyvern added. "A task force helping out the Special Victims Unit in Angel Grove. We're on a brief vacation before we officially go on duty."
Before she could ask any more questions, he turned on the volume and they listened into the conversation that was being transmitted to the app on his smartphone.
"What's your name?" the attendant was asking as she held out a magic marker ready to write down the name on the tag of a vary fluffy pink teddy bear.
"Alyssa Morgan" the little girl whispered.
Immediately, the detective typed in the name as the little girl spelled it and hit the search button. Instantly her picture showed up as an Amber Alert.
"She's been missing two weeks and we couldn't find her anywhere."
"Well she's found." Pyre answered. He turned and pointed to the man on the ground. "That's the guy that was chasing her."
The detective called one of the officer's over. When he approached she said. "That's our best suspect over there, let's take him in for questioning. Go ahead and call her dad in, as soon as she's done with her bear, we can take her back to the station."
The officer nodded and walked away, and the detective tuned back to them. By now, they'd made it to the stuffing machine.
"So, how soft do you want her?"
"Really soft! I had to lay on a hard floor last night. I want her as soft as a pillow!"
"How terrible!" Elisa gasped. "A pretty princess like yourself shouldn't have to sleep on a floor!"
At that, the girl stiffened. " I don't want to be a princess…that's what the bad guy called me. He told me that…a pretty princess should get a lot of money…"
Elisa hid her anger well as she nodded. "I see. Well, what are you then… a fairy maybe?"
The little girl nodded. "I want to be a fairy! Then I can use magic to keep him away!"
Well then, I know a perfect spell just for that. Do you want to me cast it on the bear?"
The little girl gasped. "You know magic too!"
"Yeah, I'm am an elf after all!"
The worker grinned at the sight and held out the special fabric heart. Why not cast it on this heart and we can put it inside the bear once you stuff it?"
Elisa grinned and thought hard for a second and then held the heart in one hand and moved her other one in such a way that the little girl believed a spell was being cast, then she chanted a few words in elvish and Katsume was sure he'd heard that in the Lord of the Rings. When she was done, she repeated the words in English. "May the light of the elder stars chase away the fear in the night and give you happy dreams!"
She looked at the little girl and then added. "Now it's your turn to wish on this heart and then let this wonderful fairy godmother sew her up."
The lady nodded and then led her through the process of making a wish and then sewing up the bear. When she handed the bear back they went to the 'dressing room' and together they put on a tinkerbell like dress and then they found a pair of wings to go with it and then found a pair of undies and right about the time they found them, the little girl realized that she'd peed her pants earlier. She gasped and then looked up at her protector. "I went potty…I'm sorry!"
Elisa smoothed her hair back. "Hey, let's just finish up here and then I have some wipes with me, and you can get yourself cleaned up. We're in a mall, I'm sure we can go find a spare pair to replace the ones that got messed up."
The little girl nodded, and they continued on. When they got up to the register the cashier rang up the purchase, Paladin approached and handed them his reloadable Visa card.
"Thank you, Paladin."
"Of course, Milady. I'll be at the exit when you fair folk are finished."
When they were done, they rolled out of the door to see the detective lady and the silver guardians waiting for them.
The detective knelt down to their level and introduced herself to the little girl."
"Hi Allysa, I'm detective Noela and I've been looking for you everywhere and so has your dad!'
The little girl's face lit up! "He's all better? The bad guy hit him!"
"Yeah, he did, but your daddy is a strong fighter. He only needed a trip to the Emergency Room to get some stitches and he's all better. In fact, he'll be waiting at the police station for us."
The little girl looked back at Elisa and then hugged her tightly. "Thanks for saving me and I won't tell your secret."
"Thank you, Alyssa. But you better get going so you can get back to your daddy! I'm sure he misses you like crazy.
The little girl kissed her cheek and then walked off with the detective, her bear in hand and the little paper in the other.
Kimberly walked up to them with a look of pride on her face. "You handled that perfectly."
Elisa sat back tiredly. "I did the best I could…but now I'm really going to need those wipes to clean off along with a change of clothes. That sweet girl had an accident."
"Well, we are in a mall and there's a Hot Topic right there, we can go pick out something real quick and we passed the family bathroom back at the food court."
Elisa smiled. "Let's do it and then I want our turn at the wax hand station."
Autumn pushed Elisa into the Hot Topic store and in no time located an outfit that caught her eye. When she pointed it out to Autumn, her best friend grinned. "You ready to show off that body jewelry?"
Elisa grinned at her. "Yeah, after today, I feel like a bad ass."
Then let's not stop with just the skirt, let's get the whole ensemble! It's even on sale!"
Elisa grinned and nodded. She was going to blow her boyfriend's mind!
When they got to the register, the dude manning it grinned at her. "We saw what you did today. That was so bad ass."
"Thanks, I'm just glad I could save the little girl. She was such a sweetheart."
As he rang up their purchase, another woman who looked like the manager reached over him and typed a code in. "What you guys did was heroic, so you're getting a discount on your purchases. I wish more people were like you guys."
Elisa grinned at her. "Thanks! I really appreciate it!"
Katsume looked up as they exited the store with their bags. He cocked his head to the side when she gave him a wink and a naughty grin before Autumn wheeled her towards the women's bathroom.
Tommy looked at them and then at his wife. "I've got Mav, you should probably go supervise…"
Kimberly grinned at him and then pecked his cheek before she followed them.
"Alright, ladies. Let's see the goods." Kim said as she stood in front of the handicap stall. "That was a pretty naughty look you were shooting Paladin, young lady."
"It's not as bad as you think, Aunt Kim." Autumn said. "I promise."
"As things stand, I'm not sure I can take your word for it, Wyvern. You're mated now and definitely not the innocent little girl you were a few months ago. I saw that sexy bikini you got off the wall; I sure hope you have a cover up that matches!"
"Like you have room to talk, Aunt Kim. I've heard how bad you and Uncle Tommy were at our age."
Kim snorted. "Touché!" Then she turned her attention to the other girl under her care. "Now, do you need help Elisa?"
"The wet wipes help, but I'm going to need a hot shower when we get to the hotel tonight."
Kim nodded. "Okay, do you need any perfume? I have a small sample bottle in my purse."
"No, it's okay, we grabbed a bottle from the clearance table. It'll work for now."
When she came out, Kim grinned at her. "Huh, that's cool. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be."
Elisa looked cute in her Nightmare Before Christmas crop top and black plaid skirt with a zipper on the side. Her new black and purple belly button jewelry matched the outfit perfectly. The look was finished off with some stripped knee socks and her flats that she'd worn that morning. She looked very cute.
"I approve." Kim said as she looked her over. "Are we all set to go?"
"Yeah, I'm hoping there's a laundromat nearby. I hate to leave pee in my jeans for too long."
"It's going to be fine, most of these luxury hotels have a laundry service available. We'll have them washed when we get back."
Katsume couldn't hide his grin as they came out of the bathroom. His girlfriend was gorgeous! "Milady, you are stunning!"
Elisa grinned up at him. "And you my Paladin are biased!"
He grinned leaning down and kissing her forehead.
"Alright you two, break it up, already." Kyle said with a laugh. "We have things to do today!"
Katsume shook his head and then looked up at Kyle and raised an eyerbrow. "Oh, hi Pot, I'm Kettle!"
That only made Kyle laugh harder. "Yeah, I know. But we really would like to finish getting our wax hands done and didn't Elisa want to get a bear made too?"
Elisa grinned and leaned up, returning the kiss. "They've got a point. Let's get back to having fun."
The adults laughed in amusement, but followed behind the teenagers back to the wax hands shop.
Inside the store, the lady in charge beckoned them over. "Well, are you guys ready to get started If you'd like, we can get a stool for you, ma'am."
Elisa shook her head and slowly stood up to her feet, wobbled a second before Katsume put an arm around her waist. "I can hold you steady." he said pressing another kiss to her forehead.
The worker smiled giving them that tender moment. "Whenever you guys are ready."
Katsume and Elisa smiled as they joined hands and then let the lady get them started. With their hands covered in lotion, they dipped their joined hands in to the wax.
Autumn pulled out her camera and captured the sweet moment and then Kyle stole a kiss from his mate.
When they were done, they left the store and went on to the Build-A-Bear Workshop. This time, they retuned to a hero's welcome.
Elisa picked out her bear, a Halloween themed bear with little fall leaves dotting it's white fur. Katsume gently pushed her chair to the next station.
Autumn and Kyle, however, took a little longer to pick a bear. Autumn picked up a white bear and looked at Kyle.
"What are you thinking about?" he said softly fingering the soft fur.
"Us…" She looked over at a bear on the shelf a little ways from them. The bear was identical and had on a white bridal dress and veil. Kyle looked at her and pressed a kiss to her neck. "Someday, mi Corazon. I can't wait to marry you."
She looked back at him and then walked over to the que in front of the stuffing machine.
Tommy and Kim walked behind them and watched everything with amused grins.
"How much you wanna bet that they'll be married the moment they turn 18."
Kim chuckled. "I think the only thing stopping them is Adam's sanity."
Tommy chuckled at her and added. "I know how he feels…I'm not sure I'm ready for that playdate between our daughter and the son of Skullovitch."
Kimberly rolled her eyes but said nothing. "You know what? I'm going to get a bear for our son, it'll be nice to have a friend next to him in his crib." She didn't even wait for her mate to follow, but pushed the stroller forward towards the bin.
Tommy sighed and followed his wife. He was careful to be sweet to her the rest of the day.
Wes and Eric watched the whole scene in amusement. They knew exactly how he felt.
So there you go. I probably would have added more, but I want them to get back to Miscreant Business in the next chapter. I know this was a heavy chapter, but I promise that there's a good reason for it that will come up later. I wanted to add more, but I felt that what happens next deserves it's own chapter.
Until next chapter, guys!
-slytherensangel26