Rumbles

"I'm never going shopping in this city again," Carol spat as she stalked past Leilani and Rena who were watching television.

"Did you know you're dripping?" Rena called after her.

"I have books to dry. Books!" Carol snarled back at her before disappearing in the direction of the bathroom facilities.

"What was that about?" Rena asked Leilani.

"She ran into people. She's not happy," Leilani said back. She frowned and winced. "Hmm… that's new."

"And that's why you're stuck on permanent guard duty," Lucy said as she tousled Leilani's hair as she walked by. She paused. "What's that smell?"

"Carol, I think," Rena said with a shrug. "It's not that bad actually." She paused as the other two shot her dirty looks. "What? I can make worse smells."

"That is a thought," Lucy muttered, drifting off. "Gas bombs for distraction? Perhaps mixed with laughing gas grenades to throw them off?"

"Should we tell her?" Leilani whispered to Rena.

"Let the boss think. We're moving out soon," Rena added. "As soon as Cassidy gets back, I think."

*****

Lucy didn't jump when Carol slammed her hand on the counter. That didn't stop her hand from jerking, however, marring the line of delicate piped flowers going around the base of cake she was decorating. Lucy put the icing bag down, frowning at cake for a moment before transferring her gaze to Carol.

"What was that for? What did this harmless little calorie laden bit of goodness ever do to you?" Lucy asked.

"You forgot to delete the rankings," Carol said flatly.

"Impossible. They weren't there," Lucy said with a wave of her hand. She rotated the cake to examine the damage. "I guess it doesn't matter if it isn't perfect, right?"

"It's there somewhere because someone asked me about it when I was shopping. Hence my fragrant detour. You owe me candy cookbooks," Carol snarled as she walked away.

"So, that's what was sticking in her craw?" Rena said as she opened the refrigerator and snagged a soda.

"Explains the wet footprints," Lucy agreed. "I'll let Cassidy know about the cookbooks if she comes back."

"She'll be back. She may not like you, but she's still loyal." Rena opened her soda and took a sip. "At least, she's loyal until she doesn't need to be."

"Oh, that is so consoling, Rena," Lucy sighed. She took a knife and sliced the cake. "I might have an idea about how to get the hat out of the box."

Rena paused. She looked at Lucy who was carefully slicing the cake and inserting tiny cardboard cards in between each slice. Then Lucy stopped and activated her communicator. Rena shivered at the smoothness of the communicator surfacing from under Lucy's skin. Hers was always slow to react, a result of Jebediah's tinkering. They'd been trying to remove them with no success.

"Dawnie? I baked a triple chocolate layer cake. Do you think that you and Don would like some?" Lucy said, wiping the knife off with a napkin.

"Give us twenty minutes, Luce. We're getting grilled by our mom and need a distraction. Hmm? Looks like sooner because there seems to be visitors. Oh, I'm not talking to Mr. Scary." Dawnie's voice echoed cheerfully from Lucy's communicator. "Soonest, then, right? Yo, Don!" And the communicator cut off into blank silence.

Lucy and Rena blinked at each other.

"Mr. Scary decided to visit Dawnie's mom? That's so new," Rena breathed.

"Why are our lives so complicated?" Lucy said.

"Because we're wonderful, and wonderful doesn't equal bland?" Rena suggested. She pulled out some plates. "Give me a slice. This is going to be a long day."

*****

Don looked grim. He pulled over a plate of cake and dug in without saying anything. There was even grimness in his chewing.

"What's wrong with him?" Lucy asked Dawnie who was pouring a glass of milk out of the gallon she'd shown up with.

"He can't find San," Dawnie said. She avoided Lucy and Rena's eyes as she took a gulp of milk.

"You didn't tell him?" Rena whispered furiously.

"What was I supposed to say?" Dawnie whispered back. "Hey, bro? Your bestie is back locked up and drugged up and who knows what's up?"

"Dawnie," Lucy hissed. She looked from Don to Dawnie to Rena and shook her head. "Look, Don?"

Don looked up from eating his third slice of cake, a half-empty glass of milk next to him. Lucy wondered how that worked. Clearly, liquid couldn't pour that fast. Did he somehow vacuum it up into his stomach or something?

"What can I do for you, Luce? Be quick. I've got something to do," Don muttered.

"No, no, you don't." Lucy massaged the bridge of her nose. She briefly wondered if there was an app for this; if somewhere, someone had written down all those tricky little phrases that people needed for times like this, but somehow she doubted they would cover alien abductions. "We know where San is."

"You know?" Don shot his sister a dark look. "You knew where he was but didn't tell me?"

"I wasn't sure how to tell you," Dawnie protested. "It's not like we can do anything about it right now anyways."

"Where is he?" Don asked Lucy, ignoring his sister. He looked from Lucy to Rena, and his face took on a green tint. "Don't tell me that he's," he began.

"Oh, yes, yes, he is," Lucy finished with a sigh. "On the plus side, he might be sobering up?" She pulled a plate of cake to herself and took a dainty bite. "This is so good. You two should eat more of it."

She put the plate down and grabbed Rena's arm, dragging her towards the television area. Rena didn't argue, glancing back at the twins who were silently staring at each other.

"Do you think they're having a high-speed argument," Rena asked Lucy as she plopped down on one of the sofas.

"I just hope they're having a high-speed argument. That way, we know that he's not off committing some high-speed mistake that'll change plans," Lucy muttered

Rena eyed her for a second before turning her attention back to the televisions. As usual, four were tuned to news channels. She frowned at one of them.

"You need to speed up the timeline, Luce," she called over her shoulder. "Looks like someone's tracked down that info we were looking for."

Lucy turned from looking at Don and Dawnie to the televisions. A slow smile blossomed on her face.

"Oh, now that's interesting," she said with a laugh.