A Funny Thing Happened

Drake smiled at the little girl and said "Hi, Evory."

He listened to what Lady A had to say and then spoke up," I can apparate you all to Esteë, if you'd like. I don't know how you feel about horse-riding, but spending three hours on the back of one isn't my idea of a good time."

"Ryan, you aren't going anywhere without us," I said when she started to talk about leaving us behind. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to sit around here, wondering if you're okay or if those guys tried to kidnap you again."

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"Do I have cookies? That's like asking whether Ditto Town is a representative democracy devoid of the corruptible trappings of monarchy. I have no less than ten different kinds of cookies in my house at all times, dearie. Let me just go get you one of each!" Miss Lucinda babbled on happily. She raced into the kitchen and hurriedly assembled a platter groaning with cookies and a pitcher of milk. She also tucked her dark altar under the sink and hid various bottles of potion supplies in the cabinets. No sense in frightening the dear little child, she reasoned.

"Oh, those vampires! They were a silly, nasty bunch. And a nasty little girl with blonde hair killed the last of them two days ago. The riffraff that gets into Ditto Town these days. Nothing at all like you, you little bundle of adorableness," Miss Lucinda continued as she hurried back into the dining room.

-----

Malcolm looked out the kitchen door when he heard the bakery door opened. It was yet another stranger and he desperately hoped they weren't demanding another insanely huge order.

Moira looked up, with a disturbed look on her face. It was such an unusual event to see her looking anything other than bubbly and happy that Pandora gasped audibly, causing her to turn bright red with embarrassment and retreat to the other side of the kitchen.

"How about I deal with this customer, Malcolm," Moira said and glided out into the front of the bakery.

Malcolm looked over at Pandora, rather baffled by what had just happened. Moira rarely went to greet customers.

"Ever noticed the customers Moira handles personally usually die soon after?" Pandora pointed out.

"You're right," Malcolm said, looking creeped out now. "Either that or customers who are going to kill someone soon."

------

Jedi Master Ana Dyar strolled down the streets of Ditto Town, idly watching the people walking by. Gawain was off somewhere and there were no duties to perform for the Jedi Council at the moment. For once, she had a day to herself.

As chance would have it, Ana wandered past Jakov's ship just as Matthew and Kale barged in. Normally this wouldn't have attracted her attention, but there was something about the ship that she just didn't like.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she muttered, staring at the ship.

Ana cautiously walked up the ramp, feeling hostility leaking off of the other two Jedi ahead of her. She hung back behind them, watching and ready to intervene should things turn nasty. Finally she had had enough and marched up behind them.

"What the frak are you two doing? You do realize that this is illegal?" Ana snapped at them. She was tempted to yank their lightsabers from them with the Force. "You'd best have a very good explanation for threatening to kill these men and invading their ship."

A Funny Thing Happened

"So, are we all going, or not?" I asked. "We," here I gestured at the twins and myself, "are, of course, going."

A Funny Thing Happened

I smiled gratefully at Booky. "Thanks," I said. "I appreciate that." I looked over at Drake. "You'd be able to Apparate us all?" I asked, a little dumbfounded. "Even the horses?"

----

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Katie smiled, but looked a little pained at being called "adorable." She grabbed two cookies off the enormous tray and began munching on them, taking a bite out of each one after the other.

"But shouldn't there be some kind of law against killing people?" she asked curiously, since she knew people had laws like that in some places.

----

Jones scowled at the newcomer, but since she was chiding the Jedi and not attacking him, he did nothing but continue to stand there, arms folded, glowering at the Jedi.

Caeden, who had his own color now, peered around Jones to look at the woman who had just entered. He thought about how peeved Jakov would be when he came back to discover that Jedi had been on his ship, and he hoped this woman would get them out of trouble. The last thing they needed was get the ship damaged in a fight.

"Yeah, what she said," he said to the Jedi. "I mean, you didn't even ask if you could be here."

P.S."Brooklyn!"

A Funny Thing Happened

Evory smiled at Drake, showing little pearly-whites that seemed to be fading in and out, in and out.

"Wow." I said. It seemed like apparating so many people would take a whole lot of power. Whew.

(Slightly) Less
Matthew groaned and looked at the other Jedi "Did you happen to know that the owner of this ship is a sith?" he said "That I was doing this for the safety of ditto town and I was only using forceful negotiations, I wasn't actually going to kill the kid" he had always separated himself from the order simply because he hated being told what to do “Now are you going to help us cause if you not get out of our way”

Kale shifted uneasily she knew how much trouble Matthew had gotten himself into in the past for working alone... She did not want to be around when that happened.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Caeden laughed abruptly. "The Captain? A Sith? You got to be kidding me." He shook his head and chuckled softly to himself. "But hey man, thanks for not killing me. Because I was like, so scared you would." He laughed again.

Jones did not move, his face remained impassive. "Safety of Ditto Town, huh?" he growled. "We're here for a peaceful supply run. We don't want any trouble with anyone. Especially not the Jedi. Now get off this ship before I start busting some heads."

"You should see what he does to melons," Caeden added gleefully.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

The head nurse, who had been grumbling before Tyler came in about how horrible this shift was even before the Stolen Patient ever enter their wing, hardly looked up from her work at the front desk.

"Are you family?" she asked, drolly formally, clearly annoyed with this job. "If not," she went on without waiting for him to reply, "get in line." With her pen, she pointed to an empty seat in the waiting room, right next to where Nate was sitting, head in his hands.

~~~~~~

"No!" Mary Jane insisted, almost shouting. She groped to try to stop Chase, catching his wrist firmly, as he started to get out. "It's not that big of a deal. Please don't. I got off Scott free; I'm not getting any detention or anything."

She looked at him with imploring eyes, willing him to understand that she wasn't upset becuase of the principle's scolding.

Restart

Ty glanced over at Nate and his jaw tightened. There was no way he was going to go sit next to him.

He turned to the lady at the desk. "I'm her brother," he lied. "And I need to see her right away. Her name is Dorothea Hennessey. I don't think she would have told you it, but it's true. Run a DNA scan, I don't care. I just need to see her. Please."

----

Chase paused, glancing at the hand on his wrist, then back up at the girl in the passenger's seat beside him. He slowly shut the door firmly, frowning now in confusion.

"I don't understand," he finally said, helplessly. "If you're not in trouble . . . why are you so upset?"

P.S."Brooklyn!"

(Slightly) Less
Matthew raised his eyebrows "No sith ever has a 'peaceful supply run' on dittotopia, usually they are here to take over the world. Luckily it doesn’t seem as if you folks could if you wanted to, no I think I shall stay until your captain returns. Then we can straiten things out, give your master the things he needs then send you guys off the planet. Perhaps with an escort” he added thoughtfully.

Kale was thinking "Ok... That guy is really getting on my nerves, can I shut him up? no, no keep it cool and let master do the talking. Oh but I hate doing that" she turned off her lightsaber and crossed her arms.

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

Jones frowned and leaned forward slightly so that he was closer to Matthew's head. "Listen carefully," he said in a low, dangerous voice. "One, the Captain is not my master. Two, we are here for supplies and for supplies only. Three . . . get off my ship before I call security. This is a private vessel. It is illegal for you to be here without permission."

He straightened slowly. "The Captain wants nothing to do with your archaic little world."

"Yeah, and stop calling him a Sith. That's like, rude man," Caeden put in, looking bothered. The prolonged visit of these Jedi were putting him slightly on edge. He tapped his fingers agitatedly against the vent beside him, making tiny plinks against the metal. His shining eyes glowed in the dim light of the corridor and he shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

Jones caught the nervous movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to frown at the boy. Caeden stopped fidgeting, lowering his gaze to the ground. He knew he was a master at stealth and concealment. All the crew members could attest to that. Even the Captain had to search an entire day to find his shoes that one time. If a man as powerful as the Captain took that long, there was no way these Jedi could find anything in a few second. That's how long Caeden knew it would take for Jones to snap and start blasting skulls.

The boy visible relaxed when the Jedi girl shut off her lightsaber.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Nate had hardly moved since he sat down in the waiting room. With seemingly the weight of the world on his shoulders, he didn't acknowledge the to and for commotion of nurses and doctors going in and out of the intensive care unit double doors. It was all that he could bear just to be near the doors, hearing the constant whooshing of entry and exit, and knowing he wasn't allowed passage.

So he turned a deaf ear to all the ruckus going on around him, except for when someone mentioned "Miss Hennessey." Which happened now, and looking up his disappointment of seeing it was someone who was not a doctor talking about Dotty was hard to distinguish from his misfortune of not being able to see Dotty.

The nurse frowned at Tyler. "Do you know how many times I heard that lame excuse today? You are no more her brother than I am the Platypus Bob Saget." She sighed insufferably. "And don't you know anything? It's all over the news, she hasn't woken up yet. And if she was, she'd probably tell us you aren't worth the DNA scan," she added under her breath as she turned away. It was obvious the nurse did not recognize the movie star and thought that everyone had a sneaky reporter's face.

~~~~~~

Mary Jane tried on a smile but it was weak in reassuring. "I--I was upset that I got caught," she said quietly, tears reforming in her eyes. "And that my mother is probably going to find out. I never done this before--ever! If I had I would have thought about the consequences more before I did. . ." She trailed off and released his hand, bring it up to her face as she sat up and looked straight out the windsheild.

(Slightly) Less
"Sorry mister but I'm afriad I can't do that until we conduct an investigation" Matthew said "If you have nothing to hide you'll have nothing to worry"

Something was registering in Kale's mind that she just couldn't place; like a name on the tip of your tongue... Finally she figured out what it was "They were hiding something... The vent" She lifted her hand and force pulled the metal grill off of the wall then walked over towards the hole in the wall.

“Kale...” Matthew warned.

Restart

Ty gritted his teeth, working his jaw back and forth. He wondered why the world always seemed to be against him lately. Dotty came back only to hate his guts. Then he gets hit when the news that she's sick. Then the media finds out about his background. Then Dotty goes and gets herself lost and hurt and tells no one. And now he's stuck in this stupid hospital, talking with this stupid woman, who would not let him in the stupid room, just to see if his stupid friend was okay.

"That's what you think," he muttered under his breath. "That's what everyone thinks. But that's not what I think. I think I'm going in to see her. Thanks for nothing."

He turned and strode through the doors he was not supposed to go through, breaking into a run.

----

Chase sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Geez, MJ. Don't be so hard on yourself. I mean, it was only a bowling ball. It's not like you TP-ed her house or stuck sporks in her yard or tied her cat to the laundry line." He shook his head. "I can explain it all to your mom if it'll make you feel better."

----

A (Slightly) Less Normal Life

"You're incredibly nosy, you know that?" Caeden said, looking miffed. "Now I'm going to have to screw that back on. Thanks a lot." He bent and picked up the metal grating, inspecting it closely for damage as Kale stood in front of the empty hole.

Jones face was livid. "That's it. You start vandalizing Lilith and you've got to pay." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a blaster. He held it in a firm grip and pointed it at Matthew. "Get off this ship," he said through gritted teeth. "Now. Or I swear I'll kill you." He paused and then added. "And leave some money for the damages you've just caused."

Caeden looked up from the grate in his hands and frowned slightly. "Hey Jones," he said. "I don't think fighting in this tight space is a good idea. Take it outside, will you? I gotta fix this."

He stepped around Kale and put the grating in place before going on his hands and knees and searching for the screws that held it in.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Restart

Nate was watching the conversation with the young man, who's back was turned to him, and the nurse uncomprehendingly, hearing the words but not really listening. There had been a lot of reporters that morning trying to sneak past the main desk to get a snapshot of their Stolen Patient, not that they didn't already have plenty to flash all over the news. After the first three Nate stopped listening and looking; he didn't want to concern himself with gossip when waiting for news on Dotty's condition was enough stress for him.

The noise volume started to rise suddenly, though, which snapped Nate into attention. The young man was making a break for the ICU; the nurse was calling for security. He sat there like how one would watch a car chasing scene on TV after being suddenly awoken from a deep sleep, dumbly. But then as the kid walked past him Nate blinked and his jaw slackened, his lips forming a shout. He had just recognized the movie star.

His chair screeched as he bolted off it, slammed against ICU's doors, and ran after Tyler. Now he heard the abominable place open its mouth and scream. A few feet behind the teen Nate didn't care anymore if he was going to be thrown in jail for breaking some hospital code. He was right to assume the worst from this kid before, and he was an idiot to let him escape yesterday. Not again.

Dodging around nurses Nate charged with a sudden burst of adrenaline, catching up to Tyler and lunged onto him from behind. The forcefulness of his actions almost brought them toppling to the floor if they both hadn't slammed into a beefy male nurse. Nate wasted no time in collecting himself as they all scrambled to right themselves, and he grabbed Tyler by the back of his neck and pinned him against a wall.

"What are you doing here!" he bellowed in the teen's face. "Coming back to finish the job? I knew there was something wrong with all this from the start. You did this to her, didn't you? Didn't you!"

~~~~~~

Mary Jane looked at Chase inquiringly, as if asking if he had done all those things before. She bowed her head and shook it slowly. After this it would be hard not to believe he probably didn't.

"Thanks, but I don't think she'll be forgiving if she knew it was your idea." She hoped that didn't sound as accusing as it did, but she was trying to see it in her mother's prospective.

Restart

Ty suddenly got a face full of concrete as Nate tackled him and then slammed him against the wall. He struggled as best he could but it was hard what with the raw anger in the man holding him.

"Of course not!" he shouted back, grimacing as a bruise started forming on the cheek bone pressed against the hard wall. "I would never hurt her! I love her!" He growled in pain and squeezed his eyes shut. "Gah, God help me I love her." He opened his eyes as best he could and tried to glare around at Nate.

"I may hate it with every inch of my body, but that's the truth," he ground out painfully.

Alyson, who had arrived just as Nate had sprinted after Ty, came barging into the hallway, followed by several harried-looking security men.

"Nate!" she cried out in horror. "Nathan King stop this right now!"

----

"No woman can resist my adorable charm," Chase said with a crooked smile. His eyes were hesitant though, since he knew she was probably right. He sighed and turned the car back on, driving back onto the road.

"I better get you home," he said, his voice quiet. This day had turned out awful. He almost forgot to put his seatbelt on. He buckled it as he drove.

P.S."Brooklyn!"