***
Neko leapt up onto the table next to Sammy, ear twitching curiously. "So, what's this I hear about you, a Vanguard base, and Fusionette?"
"They're talking, aren't they?!" the hyperkitteh responded, eyes going wide in horror. "Whoever it was that heard me talking about it
blabbed and now everyone's gonna think of me as the hero that was so clumsy Fusionette had to save her!" Neko, with years of experience in dealing
with catgirls and panic attacks, sat and waited for Sammy to get the babbling out of her system. "It was Spacey, wasn't it? Spacey the gossip mage.
She talks and talks and talks-"
On the other side of the table, Alice looked up from her cereal, a curious look on her face. "You got saved by Fusionette?" she asked, a grin
breaking out. "How did THAT happen?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Sammy protested. "I had a plan, and it was a good one, but those stupid mean jerks in Vanguard ruined it! Not that
they're all jerks, I mean you work for them and you're not a jerk, except when you hog the bathroom, and 'Nettes nice when she's not shooting
at me-" Alice blinked, looking at Neko curiously. "-And they really shouldn't have locked me up, 'cause I was clearly in the right there,
given they were locking Inyme up for no good reason. Sure, she's grumpy and not really good at talking to people and she does smell kinda weird, but
she's not a bad person. And only bad people get locked up, unless the people doing the locking up are bad, like those stupid Council prison cells-"
"You what?!" Alice blurted, dropping her spoon. "You tried to break Inyme out of Vanguard?"
Sammy nodded. "I thought I'd worked it all out. I had a ninja costume and ninja are always sneaky and breaking things that mean they'd be
sneakier, and there's lots of ninja around Vanguard, so if I was really fast, they'd never know it was me. But they were a lot faster about that thing
then they always are on tv, so I had to break out of there, and then I stole a guys armour for another disguise, but it was uncomfortable and he definitely had
Mexican for lunch and he sweated a lot and it smelt real bad, so when the alarms went off again-" when she said 'again' Alice barely resisted
slamming her head into the table "-I got rid of it, and then 'Nette found me and nearly shot me in the back, which is hardly fair of her after all the
times I've had to save her, but then I talked her into helping me, and she told the guards I was a perfectly innocent catgirl, nothing to do with someone
breaking the power room at all, and then she told me Inyme wasn't even being kept there, which meant I went to all that trouble for nothing and I
didn't know where to look!"
There was a long silence. Then, Neko spoke up. "Samantha, did you breathe at all during that?"
"Hey!" Alice snickered, then broke down laughing entirely at Sammys indignant glare. "It's not that funny..." Sammy sulked.
Ifrit smiled, patting the girls shoulder. "It's okay," she reassured her quietly. "I think she just needed to laugh about something.
It's been a long week for her." Sammy frowned but accepted that.
After a minute or so, Alice managed to calm down, then looked at her mother. "Wait... you knew?"
"Of course," Ifrit smiled. "It's my job to know that sort of thing," she added as she placed Sammys breakfast in front of her and
continued on.
The purple haired catgirl watched her go, then turned back to Sammy. "What were you thinking?" she asked seriously. "Vanguard could have killed
you!"
"I went to break out Inyme," she replied reasonably.
"But Vanguard's not the bad guys," her sister pointed out. "Inymes locked up for a reason."
"Sammy shook her head. "Aunt Ifrit explained it all," she said. "Inyme's locked up 'cause she's a Rikti, even though she's
kinda small and doesn't smell like one and doesn't drop big stupid bombs on everything and talk real weird."
"Yes, that's part of it..."
"Which is really kind of silly, I mean, they don't shoot the Traditional Rikti or lock them up, and they're obviously more Rikti then Inyme."
"But Inyme... she works for the Reconstructionists," Alice said softly. "She was spying on us, on Vanguard."
"And she found out that we're not the bad guys, Nemesis is, and she admitted it," Sammy replied, broadcasting her confusion at the fact that no
one else seemed to be able to work this out. "He's the one that blew up her world and tried to blame Statesman for it, and she knows that now."
"She's the enemy," Alice said, although her voice sounded hesitant, uncertain.
"Nope," Sammy said with her usual direct honesty. "Inyme's not a bad guy. She wasn't evil before, and she won't be now. She's
just upset and so she's being a little silly."
Her sister looked at her. "You really think it's that simple?" she whispered.
Sammy nodded. "Yep. Everyone's just being silly because they usually make things really complicated without meaning to. People always do that, I
don't get why." She looked at Alice, took in her expression, and frowned. "Now you're doing it. Inyme thought she was doing the right thing,
but she was wrong. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?"
"Because it's more complicated then that," Neko said, drawing the girls attention. "But it can be fixed."
"How?" Alice asked. "How am I supposed to fix this?"
"Go talk to her," her advisor said, earning a shocked look. "It's been nearly a week, and Vanguard hasn't locked you out of the war
zone. I think they'll let you see her."
"But... but what am I supposed to do, to say?" Alice asked. "I can't just walk up and say 'did you use me to spy on us?'"
"Sure you can," Sammy said. "Get it out of the way, because you're both thinking it. Dunno why, making it all complicated," she said,
shaking her head. "You know she wouldn't."
Neko didn't respond to that for a moment, knowing that Inyme HAD used it for such a purpose, even if that wasn't the primary reason for the
relationship.
The younger girl stared at Sammy for a moment. "How can you trust her so much... you barely know her."
"'Cause you love her," the hyperkitteh responded simply.
"I d-" the angry denial died on her lips. Neko nodded slightly, having expected that. Alice might be able to lie to herself, to her advisor and
parents... but never to Sammy. "I do," she admitted. "I wish I didn't right now, but..." she bowed her head slightly, closing her eyes
for a moment.
Neko moved closer. "One way or the other Alice, we're not going to be able to sort this out until we actually face it."
"I know," she whispered as Sammy moved around the table and hugged her sister, providing a presence. "It's just... I'm scared. What if
you're wrong?" she asked Sammy.
"Won't know until you do it," Sammy admitted. She looked up to see Ifrit in the doorway, lingering and listening. Alice followed her gaze and saw
the fey, and a weak smile flickered over her lips. "You look like you disagree," she murmured.
With a soft, slightly bitter laugh, her mother shook her head. "No... I think you need to do this... I'm just terrified you'll be hurt
again." Alice looked at her mother, then slipped out of Sammys arms, went across the room, and hugged the fey.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."
"Worth it a hundred times over kitten," Ifrit smiled, blinking back tears. They lingered for a long moment, before Alice broke the hug and wiped at
her face.
"Well," she declared with a lopsided smile. "I guess I'm off to Vanguard for one heck of a boss fight." Ifrit looked at her, before her
expression and emotions shifted to amusement. "What?"
Smiling, Ifrit turned Alice around and guided her towards the bathroom. "Shower first," she declared. "You're going to be properly cleaned
up before you see her. And I'm going to fix your hair too. Sammy, be a dear and fetch her standard hero costume?"
"Mum!" Alice protested as Sammy headed for her sisters room, grinning.
***
Neko leapt up onto the table next to Sammy, ear twitching curiously. "So, what's this I hear about you, a Vanguard base, and Fusionette?"
"They're talking, aren't they?!" the hyperkitteh responded, eyes going wide in horror. "Whoever it was that heard me talking about it
blabbed and now everyone's gonna think of me as the hero that was so clumsy Fusionette had to save her!" Neko, with years of experience in dealing
with catgirls and panic attacks, sat and waited for Sammy to get the babbling out of her system. "It was Spacey, wasn't it? Spacey the gossip mage.
She talks and talks and talks-"
On the other side of the table, Alice looked up from her cereal, a curious look on her face. "You got saved by Fusionette?" she asked, a grin
breaking out. "How did THAT happen?"
"It wasn't my fault!" Sammy protested. "I had a plan, and it was a good one, but those stupid mean jerks in Vanguard ruined it! Not that
they're all jerks, I mean you work for them and you're not a jerk, except when you hog the bathroom, and 'Nettes nice when she's not shooting
at me-" Alice blinked, looking at Neko curiously. "-And they really shouldn't have locked me up, 'cause I was clearly in the right there,
given they were locking Inyme up for no good reason. Sure, she's grumpy and not really good at talking to people and she does smell kinda weird, but
she's not a bad person. And only bad people get locked up, unless the people doing the locking up are bad, like those stupid Council prison cells-"
"You what?!" Alice blurted, dropping her spoon. "You tried to break Inyme out of Vanguard?"
Sammy nodded. "I thought I'd worked it all out. I had a ninja costume and ninja are always sneaky and breaking things that mean they'd be
sneakier, and there's lots of ninja around Vanguard, so if I was really fast, they'd never know it was me. But they were a lot faster about that thing
then they always are on tv, so I had to break out of there, and then I stole a guys armour for another disguise, but it was uncomfortable and he definitely had
Mexican for lunch and he sweated a lot and it smelt real bad, so when the alarms went off again-" when she said 'again' Alice barely resisted
slamming her head into the table "-I got rid of it, and then 'Nette found me and nearly shot me in the back, which is hardly fair of her after all the
times I've had to save her, but then I talked her into helping me, and she told the guards I was a perfectly innocent catgirl, nothing to do with someone
breaking the power room at all, and then she told me Inyme wasn't even being kept there, which meant I went to all that trouble for nothing and I
didn't know where to look!"
There was a long silence. Then, Neko spoke up. "Samantha, did you breathe at all during that?"
"Hey!" Alice snickered, then broke down laughing entirely at Sammys indignant glare. "It's not that funny..." Sammy sulked.
Ifrit smiled, patting the girls shoulder. "It's okay," she reassured her quietly. "I think she just needed to laugh about something.
It's been a long week for her." Sammy frowned but accepted that.
After a minute or so, Alice managed to calm down, then looked at her mother. "Wait... you knew?"
"Of course," Ifrit smiled. "It's my job to know that sort of thing," she added as she placed Sammys breakfast in front of her and
continued on.
The purple haired catgirl watched her go, then turned back to Sammy. "What were you thinking?" she asked seriously. "Vanguard could have killed
you!"
"I went to break out Inyme," she replied reasonably.
"But Vanguard's not the bad guys," her sister pointed out. "Inymes locked up for a reason."
"Sammy shook her head. "Aunt Ifrit explained it all," she said. "Inyme's locked up 'cause she's a Rikti, even though she's
kinda small and doesn't smell like one and doesn't drop big stupid bombs on everything and talk real weird."
"Yes, that's part of it..."
"Which is really kind of silly, I mean, they don't shoot the Traditional Rikti or lock them up, and they're obviously more Rikti then Inyme."
"But Inyme... she works for the Reconstructionists," Alice said softly. "She was spying on us, on Vanguard."
"And she found out that we're not the bad guys, Nemesis is, and she admitted it," Sammy replied, broadcasting her confusion at the fact that no
one else seemed to be able to work this out. "He's the one that blew up her world and tried to blame Statesman for it, and she knows that now."
"She's the enemy," Alice said, although her voice sounded hesitant, uncertain.
"Nope," Sammy said with her usual direct honesty. "Inyme's not a bad guy. She wasn't evil before, and she won't be now. She's
just upset and so she's being a little silly."
Her sister looked at her. "You really think it's that simple?" she whispered.
Sammy nodded. "Yep. Everyone's just being silly because they usually make things really complicated without meaning to. People always do that, I
don't get why." She looked at Alice, took in her expression, and frowned. "Now you're doing it. Inyme thought she was doing the right thing,
but she was wrong. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of it?"
"Because it's more complicated then that," Neko said, drawing the girls attention. "But it can be fixed."
"How?" Alice asked. "How am I supposed to fix this?"
"Go talk to her," her advisor said, earning a shocked look. "It's been nearly a week, and Vanguard hasn't locked you out of the war
zone. I think they'll let you see her."
"But... but what am I supposed to do, to say?" Alice asked. "I can't just walk up and say 'did you use me to spy on us?'"
"Sure you can," Sammy said. "Get it out of the way, because you're both thinking it. Dunno why, making it all complicated," she said,
shaking her head. "You know she wouldn't."
Neko didn't respond to that for a moment, knowing that Inyme HAD used it for such a purpose, even if that wasn't the primary reason for the
relationship.
The younger girl stared at Sammy for a moment. "How can you trust her so much... you barely know her."
"'Cause you love her," the hyperkitteh responded simply.
"I d-" the angry denial died on her lips. Neko nodded slightly, having expected that. Alice might be able to lie to herself, to her advisor and
parents... but never to Sammy. "I do," she admitted. "I wish I didn't right now, but..." she bowed her head slightly, closing her eyes
for a moment.
Neko moved closer. "One way or the other Alice, we're not going to be able to sort this out until we actually face it."
"I know," she whispered as Sammy moved around the table and hugged her sister, providing a presence. "It's just... I'm scared. What if
you're wrong?" she asked Sammy.
"Won't know until you do it," Sammy admitted. She looked up to see Ifrit in the doorway, lingering and listening. Alice followed her gaze and saw
the fey, and a weak smile flickered over her lips. "You look like you disagree," she murmured.
With a soft, slightly bitter laugh, her mother shook her head. "No... I think you need to do this... I'm just terrified you'll be hurt
again." Alice looked at her mother, then slipped out of Sammys arms, went across the room, and hugged the fey.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For everything."
"Worth it a hundred times over kitten," Ifrit smiled, blinking back tears. They lingered for a long moment, before Alice broke the hug and wiped at
her face.
"Well," she declared with a lopsided smile. "I guess I'm off to Vanguard for one heck of a boss fight." Ifrit looked at her, before her
expression and emotions shifted to amusement. "What?"
Smiling, Ifrit turned Alice around and guided her towards the bathroom. "Shower first," she declared. "You're going to be properly cleaned
up before you see her. And I'm going to fix your hair too. Sammy, be a dear and fetch her standard hero costume?"
"Mum!" Alice protested as Sammy headed for her sisters room, grinning.
***