Chapter Thirty-Nine - Doing This

"I'm home!" Emily called out.

She secretly--or perhaps not so secretly--loved the reaction that those particular words caused.

There was the familiar sound of chairs scraping back, then the excited pitter-patter of feet before Emily put her bags down next to the door. By the time she stood back up, she had just enough time to brace for impact before Teddy ran into her at full speed.

"Oof!" Emily said as she half-stumbled back. Teddy had wrapped her arms tight around her chest.

Then there was another, smaller impact as Trinity ran into Teddy, twice. The last to join was Maple, who hesitated for a moment before joining in the greeting hug. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," Emily replied.

"Do they do this every time you arrive?"

Emily looked up and felt her cheeks warming up a little as Sam stood, leaning against the corner wall. "Yeah, they do," Emily said as she tried to suppress a blush. It was probably a little silly of her to enjoy the attention so much. Still... she gave Teddy's head a rub, then squeezed her back before moving on to Trinity, then she gave Maple a hug too, then... "Wait, where's Athena?" Emily asked.

"Uh," Trinity said.

"And where's your third body?" Emily added.

In all likelihood, the two of them were just doing something elsewhere in the house. It was probably not a cause for concern. But Emily had learned through harrowing experience that she couldn't just dismiss things because they were probably not trouble.

That way lay sleepless nights and migraines.

"Um," Trinity said. "Do I have to say?"

"Yes," Emily insisted. The more secretive her sisters were, the more trouble was in store for Emily.

Trinity didn't meet her eyes. "My other me's at the bar."

"What?" Emily asked.

"The bar," Trinity repeated.

"No, I heard. What are you doing at the bar? Which bar?"

"The one five blocks that way," Trinity said while pointing to one side and slightly up. "And me and Athena are having drinks."

"Wow," Sam said.

Emily shook her head. "You're having drinks at the bar? Wait, what are you drinking?"

Trinity smiled. "Soda! The nice bar lady gave it to us."

Emily relaxed, just a tiny bit. She did not feel like dealing with drunk versions of any of her little sisters. Then she unrelaxed because one and a third of her sisters were at a bar. "Why are you even there?" Emily asked.

"Oh," Sam said.

Emily's head snapped up. "Oh?" she repeated.

"Yeah, that might be somewhat my fault, maybe," Sam said. "Trinity, did you go to the bar because of Rattles?"

Emily was liking this less and less with each passing minute.

Trinity shook her head. "I went because Athena was going, and I didn't want her to be alone.She went because it's a bar she likes and she doesn't want Rattles to steal the people there from Big Sister."

She had no idea what to say about that. "Okay, fine, can you come back home, please?"

"Okay!" Trinity said. She seemed like she was in a good mood. Probably because Emily hadn't seen fit to punish her for sneaking out of the house again. Emily realized that she hadn't exactly ordered her sisters to stay locked up indoors either, which was probably a mistake. She'd have to have a chat with them about stranger danger and leaving the bunker unattended. A very specific, carefully-worded chat without any loopholes that they could sneak through.

"What's all that about Rattles?" Emily asked. She grabbed her schoolbag from the ground and placed it on the couch while moving deeper into the living room. She idly noted that the room needed another sweeping, and that someone hadn't listened to the 'no eating on the couch' rule, again.

Sam nodded along. "He's been trying to recruit some minions. Mostly hitting up local bars, getting into fights there. He only hit two of them, but it's enough to guess at a pattern, I think."

"Are you sure he needs minions?" Emily asked. "He feels like more of a lone operator so far."

"He has the money for them," Sam said. "He robbed an entire bank, plus he's gotten away with more. The right kind of person probably wouldn't mind working for someone like him for the right kind of money."

Emily nodded along. Her own minions were... surprisingly cheap? It felt more like a mini social club that got together for random activities than something like a proper employment situation. Then again, she had the advantage that her little sisters were surprisingly endearing... sometimes.

"I think Athena was really fond of this one bar. She got lost and they took care of her. I guess she might be feeling protective? It's... a bit silly. They're adults."

Sam shrugged. "Tell that to Athena, then?"

"Uh-oh," Trinity said.

Emily spun around towards her racoon-y sister. "What is it?"

"The barlady won't let us leave."

"Why not?" Emily asked. Were they planning on hurting Athena and Trinity?

"Because we're too young to go wandering out in the city," Trinity said. "Which is weird, because we wandered our way over to the bar without trouble. Now she's saying that we need to call our parents."

Emily sighed. "Yeah, okay, that's... actually perfectly reasonable. Tell her that I'll be there in a bit."

"That's a bit suspicious, no?" Sam pointed out.

"Oh, right. Ask for a phone, and dial... wait, let me write the number down. It's the number to one of my burners."

What followed was a weird situation where Trinity called Emily's cellphone and talked to her while also standing right next to her in the room. Emily instructed her on what to say for both ends of the conversation, which was a little weird to do, but not that hard. As long as it pushed away any suspicion, then it was probably worth the trouble.

Emily hung up, then started to make her way to the door. "I'm going to go pick Trinity and Athena up," she said. "You girls stay here, alright?"

"That's no fair. Athena and Trinity got to go out," Teddy said.

"They snuck out. Which they weren't supposed to do," Emily replied. "It's not the same as just going out. We... can go out to the park or something later. I think we have time for that."

Teddy cheered, and even Maple seemed a little eager at the idea. Emily made a mental note to go out with her sisters more often. The bunker was a nice, secure place, but it was also windowless and indoors, and probably not the best kind of environment to be raised in, not when the only entertainment was one TV and card games.

"Let me put my shoes back on," Emily said. "Sam, would you mind keeping an eye on the girls for a bit?"

"Yeah, sure," Sam said. "You're going to walk?"

"I know where it is, it's not that far," Emily said. Besides, she hadn't gotten that much walking done that day. Mostly she sat in buses and was ferried around, or sat in class. It would be nice to get some steps in.

She put her shoes back on, gave the girls some goodbye hugs, then darted out the door. She didn't want to run all the way to the bar, but she did walk with alacrity, pacing herself so that she'd make it there sooner rather than later.

Five blocks wasn't that much, but it was still enough to get her heart beating. Which was probably for the best, she needed the cardio if she was going to keep up with her little sisters and their endless fonts of energy.

She was three quarters of the way there when her phone rang.

Frowning, Emily plucked it out of her purse and checked the number. It was Sam. "Hello?" she asked. Her first thought was that Sam needed her to pick something up on the way back. Or her sisters had done something, again.

"Rattles is there," Sam said.

Emily stopped mid-step. "Where?"

"The bar. Athena and Trinity just spotted him walking in. He's mostly out of costume, but they recognize him anyway."

"Are they okay?" Emily asked. She picked up the pace.

"Yeah. I don't think he's noticed them, maybe? Or maybe he doesn't care. They are just kids, you know? What do you want to do? I can tell them to pull out, but the bartender might make a fuss."

"I'll be there soon," Emily said. "I... can you grab my go-bag? Tell the girls to costume up."

"Oh, we're doing this?" Sam asked.

"I guess so?" Emily asked right back. She wasn't sure, but this was an opportunity. Rattles was slippery. They had no idea where he'd strike next. If they could grab him now... "Make sure Maple brings her new anti-Rattles equipment," she said. "And have Teddy grab my bag, I'll sisterport her over to me once I'm closer."

This was a chance that she wasn't sure she could pass up. Even if she didn't feel ready for it at all.

***