Zette's Storybook

One


Apache leaned back in the seat and sighed when the pickup stopped moving. Baby looked up from the map she had so laboriously studied with the flashlight, looked out at the night darkened landscape, and then back at the map again. She finally shook her head.

"No, that's not right, Apache," she said. "You took a wrong turn somewhere. We should be in downtown Phoenix."

Apache stared out at the lines of shadowy cactus, and the cliffs a few miles away, silhouetted by the bright moonlight.

"I'm going to kill you, Morning Glory Sangre. Do you think they'll ever find your body out here?"

"You were the one driving! Why is it my fault we're lost?" Baby demanded.

"You told me were to go!"

"I've been telling you that for years. I never thought you would listen to me, but I should have known you'd take me along with you when you did."

Apache batted at her sister, but Baby pulled just out of reach and grinned. Apache considered drawing some kind of weapon, but then Baby would do the same, and now wasn't the time to decide which of them was better in close quarter fighting. She wanted to get home.

"Don't just sit there, Apache. Turn this beast of a vehicle back on and get moving. I want to get to the reservation before first light."

"Then you had better start running pretty damn fast."

"You wouldn't throw me out here," Baby said, but she had tight hold of the seat just in case.

"I would. But as it happens, I'm going to join you. We're out of gas. Why do you think I stopped?"

"I never try to guess why you do anything."

"Wisdom at last," Apache said and threw the car door open. Despite the situation, she didn't feel upset. Baby had actually gotten them far closer to the reservation than she had expected. It wasn't their fault that the pickup drank gas like it was cheap wine. Come to think of it, the truck handled like it had too much wine, too. She wished for a Corvette right now -- or, looking out at the desert lands ahead, a horse.

Baby, carrying both their backpacks, met her at the front of the truck. She tossed one to Apache, and then put a small device on the hood of the trunk and hit a button. The pickup disappeared.

"Gift from Kim," Baby said. She pulled her backpack up over one shoulder. "Remember where we left it."

"I don't care if I ever see the damned truck again," Apache said.

"Duh. I don't want anyone else to spot the truck and guess we're here, but I want to retrieve the little toy that makes things invisible before when we leave."

"Huh."

Apache started out, still considering leaving her sister behind... but at least Baby wisely kept quiet for the moment. And odd... but it felt right, the two of them hiking off toward the hills where they had grown up.

Life had been odd enough back then; she had never thought it could get even stranger. These days, she expected each morning to be stranger than the one before, and she couldn't remember the last time she had looked out a window and considered what a calm, nice day they faced.

But out here, they had stepped back in time. Out here. . . .

She looked up at the skies and marveled at how much she could see, here in the desert away from the haze of ambient light in the city. Stars stretched out forever, and the moon hung in a bright circle just over head. She stopped and stared. So did Baby, remaining silent still.

A falling start shot across the sky.

"That's gorgeous," Apache said. "I haven't seen falling stars in years!"

And another.

"One for both of us," Baby said with a little laugh. She started forward before Apache did. "Nice night for a walk."

Apache didn't argue. They had found peace for the first time in weeks. She wished they could stay out here forever.

Well, except that Baby would get crazy if she didn't get to a Taco Bell every couple days. Just wouldn't work out. The thought of being out here in the desert with a crazed Baby did nothing for her, except to get her moving a little faster.




Two


They reached Lisa's house at sunset the next night. Christmas Eve. Baby looked at the building at the end of the long street and shook her head, hardly holding back her own panic. The place looked packed with people. Cars blocked the driveway and the street. She could hear laughter and the squeals of excited children.

She hadn't expected a party. Last year had been relatively quiet, if you didn't count the people who broke in looking for her and Apache -- People being a rather euphemistic term since she knew now that they had been Van.

Baby sneezed and looked longingly at the house again. Of the two of them, she disliked large groups the most, and especially large groups of her relatives. However, right now she just wanted in somewhere out of the open, even a place where the Van knew to look.

"All right, Apache," she finally said. "Through the front door or in the back window?"

"I'd be tempted to the back window, but with that many people we'd probably just cause even more trouble. Let's get to the door. If one of them found us skulking around out here, we'd never live it down."

"You know, I wasn't really prepared for a full fledged family reunion," Baby said, following her sister up the path to the door.

"Neither was I. From one war to another. I think I would rather face the aliens than have another go around with dear, sweet Veronica again."

"Yeah," Baby said, and sneezed.

"A cold, or an allergy to the Sangre family?"

"Allergy," Baby decided.

Apache took a deep breath. Baby sneezed. Apache knocked.

"Late comers!" someone said from inside. A moment, and then the door opened, light silhouetting them in the dark night.

Robert, the oldest of the Sangres, stood in the doorway, staring. "Well, I'll be damned," he finally said.

"Mind if we come in?" Apache asked.

"Did you bring a bomb this year?"

"No," Baby said. She lifted her arms to show she held nothing out of the ordinary. Standing here in the floodlight of illumination from the doorway made the hair on her arms stand on end. "I'll even (sneeze) submit to a search... but can we do it inside?"

"Paranoid as always," Robert said, but even he laughed as he stepped aside and waved them in.

And when they stepped inside, shouts of greetings went up from brothers, sisters, cousins. Baby suspected they'd all been hitting the eggnog a little too hard, but it did make this far easier than she expected. Veronica glared, of course, but she turned out to be the only one. Lisa laughed and hugged them. John, her husband, brought Baby a Diet Pepsi.

"Bless you," she said, opening the can.

"You two look as though you hiked in."

"We did," Apache said. She slipped her pack down to the floor and accepted a cup of punch from Cloud. "We aren't on an assignment, but we decided we had better take some precautions before we came here. I didn't want to bring our troubles home for the holidays."

"Are you two ever not in trouble?" Robert asked, laughing.

"Not that I can ever remember," Baby replied as she sat her pack down by Apache's -- near the door -- and ready to grab on their way out, if need be. "And to think, it all started here."

"You can't blame us for what you two have gotten yourselves into," Angela said. "If anything, you two should have been in prison by now, if you had grown up under our influence."

"Hey," Robert began to protest, reminding them that he was the local law official.

And that set everyone laughing. The rest of the party began to get back to normal. Even Veronica disappeared back into the kitchen, avoiding battle for once.

"Is there somewhere we can sit down?" Apache asked. "We've been on our feet for the last eighteen hours or so. I don't know about Baby, but my feet are killing me."

"My knee has about two more yards in it," Baby said. "And I think I see a sofa within range."

They both limped to the sofa, moving past a bevy of Sangre nieces and nephews, none of whom they really knew. The kids watched TV, and as Baby and Apache sat down, the others began to ply them with cookies, snacks and questions.

"What have you two been doing?" John asked. He sat on the sofa edge beside Baby. "We tried to get in touch with you around Thanksgiving."

"We were on assignment," Apache said.

"Anything we would have heard about?" John said. Then he stopped and held up his hand. "Riot in Naples. Odd explosion in Tibet."

"Yes, that would be us," Apache said.

John just nodded. "I should have known you two would show up today, especially after the weirdness of the last couple days. Dozens of people saw a mirage of an island out in the desert north of Phoenix this morning. There was the UFO scare last night."

"UFO..." Baby said. She looked at her sister. "Island."

"Hell," Apache said. "Falling stars, you idiot."

"Me? You're the one who pointed them out."

"You didn't correct me at the time. Oh hell. Damn. And an island? What the hell is gone wrong now? Why is it you and I can't have an entire twenty-four hours out of contact without all hell breaking loose? Well, it was nice seeing all of you --"

She had stood, obviously intending to grab her pack and go. Baby stood as well, glad that she at least had a chance for one Diet Pepsi, and shoving a few cookies into her pockets.

But Robert caught their arms. "Tell me you two are not serious."

Everyone had gone quiet.

"Trust us, Robert. If islands are showing up, you really don't want Baby and me around."

"Ummm...Apache, isn't that Mishi Tanaka on TV?" Baby asked, pointing toward the screen.

Apache yelped and leapt over an entire row of kids to reach the TV and turning up the volume as someone else cut the Christmas music.

"I ask for the aid of my friends in this war against our common enemies," the young man said, shaking back his long hair. "My invention is for my world to own, not to be denied by any being for any reason."

"He did it!" Baby said, grinning. "And he's asking for us to protect him."

"We must all protect our future," Mishi suddenly smiled. "And our future will protect us."

"Well, he couldn't have made that any plainer," Apache said. She grabbed the phone off the top of the TV. "I better call in, as much as it is against my better judgment to let them know where we are."

"They know already, I'm sure," Baby said, glancing upward at the ceiling. "And besides, we did tell Mishi this is where we were going."

Apache nodded.

"That was a report from our man in Japan," a newscaster announced. "The exact nature of Mr. Tanaka's disappearance is still being investigated --"

"Gone?" Apache stopped in mid-dial and looked worried.

"Maybe FUTURE already has him. Call. Quick, before the phone explodes."

"There's never a dull moment with you two around," Robert said.

"Morning Star Sangre, field agent," Apache said. She didn't seem at all conscious of the people around them, watching. "I am requesting information on Mishi Tanaka -- oh, don't you dare claim classified on me, or I'll show up with a few dozen pets --"

Baby heard a sound of panic on the other end of the phone. Good. Apache knew just how to handle those people. A moment later she heard the unmistakable sound of Alan, their boss, his voice a little loud and showing the usual edge of panic. She didn't know why he always sounded that way when he talked to them. Maybe he needed a vacation or something.

Apache listened for a couple moments, and then shook her head. "Not good. Mishi has gone missing, but Alan's sure he got out using his teleporter and the photonic cell, though there's no telling where he is now. The Van are searching pretty damned hard for him, though."

Baby nodded. It didn't look good.

"So just answer a couple questions, Alan," Apache said. "Are there UFOs over Arizona? Uh-huh. Theirs or ours. Van, of course. And Islands... ah. Well, it was nice that they at least tried to intercept us, but do mention that they might try a different mode of transportation in the future. Yes. I hear the buzz. I have to get the phone out of the house before it explodes. Talk quickly. Not that quickly, and mostly in English might help. Uh huh. Yeah. Right. Two days, Alan. That's all you get. Merry Christmas."

She hung the phone up, then walked to the door and tossed it outside. It exploded in mid air, and fell, sparkling to the ground.

"I'll get you another one," Apache promised.

Lisa just nodded.

"Well?" Baby asked.

"We're going to hold up here, since this is where Mishi knew we would be. The Van are on the move, and they're hunting him and us. Alan is sending us back up."

"Back up?" Baby said, shaking her head. "Who in FUTURE could he possibly send that we would trust?"

"Kim."

"I thought he went home."

"Apparently Alan caught him before he went trans-light --" Apache stopped and looked around at the multitude of staring faces. "Are we the only entertainment at this party?"

"Well, you're better than charades," Lisa said. "I'd ask what's going on, but to tell you the truth, I don't think I really want to know."

"You are wiser than we are," Baby said. She sat back down on the sofa. "How about some more Christmas music. I could use a little Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men about now."

Apache nodded agreement, but she took a chair and moved it over by the window. She watched the sky. No one asked why.




Three


Most of the group went home about ten to tuck their kids in and hope for a few hours rest. Amazingly, all of Baby and Apache's brothers and sisters stayed, while their spouses took the kidlets away. Apache didn't trust it much at all.

"You do know that we kind of can take care of ourselves, right?" Apache asked, standing at the door and looking out. And up.

No one said anything. She looked back and found even Veronica standing with the others, but Apache suspected she didn't intend to be any help, especially not with that look on her face.

"You are here, we're here," John said. He leaned back against the wall. "And all in all, we decided it might be better to know what is going on than to fall into it by ignorance."

"Well, you're smarter than Apache and I have ever been," Baby admitted. "We just sort of jump into it. Or get pushed out of airplanes into it."

"Look, I said I was sorry about that. Well, not about pushing you out of the plane. But I was sorry I forgot to give you your coat," Apache said.

"Someone pulling up outside," Cloud said, nodding out the door.

Apache peered out again. Then shoved the door shut. "Hell. Sylvester."

"Oh, great! Just what I need. What the hell is the CIA doing here?"

"CIA?" Robert asked.

"Well, a couple of their agents," Apache said, shaking her head. She pushed the door closed. "He's still limping, Baby. I imagine he's not going to be in a good mood. Maybe you ought to --"

"The CIA have no jurisdiction to work in the US, do they?" Robert said. "They certainly haven't the right to work on a reservation. I think, perhaps, we should let this Sylvester in."

Baby looked at Apache and grinned brightly. "You know, this could be fun."

Apache spread her arms in a gesture of acceptance, and reached to open the door.

Something hit it. Hard. She leapt backwards as the door flew inward and down, completely free off of the frame and hinges.

And there stood Sylvester. His men tossed aside the ram they had used, but she thought she saw a little more worry in their faces, likely at the sight of the line of Sangres, none of them happy with the dramatics.

"A knock would have gotten you in," Apache said, leaning against the wall by the door.

Sylvester actually gave a startled yip, his hand going for his gun -- but he stopped. Odd behavior, even from him. Then he looked around, worried.

"Where the hell is she? Where is that pain in the ass sister of yours?"

"Which one? Oh, maybe you haven't met the rest of the Sangres --" she said waving a hand toward the group.

"Sangres," he said. He had gone pale. Truly pale. And backed up a step. "All Sangres?"

"Except me," John said. He laughed. "I'm married to one. And you broke into my home."

"All I want is Morning Glory," Sylvester said. His hand reached toward a gun again, and came back empty with a worried look at Robert and Kyle, both of whom had started forward.

"Looking for me?" Baby said from behind him.

He spun, his face going from pale panic to beet-red rage in that half moment. Apache watched the change in amazement. She didn't think Baby had that affect on anyone but blood relatives.

But Baby stood there with a semi-conscious man in her hands. She shoved him into Sylvester's hands and looked to Apache. "Their driver. This is the lot of them. What do we do with them now, hermana mia?"

"Lock them up for a while, I guess," Apache said with a shrug. "We have real problems to take care of."

"Don't even think you can get away with this," Sylvester said.

"Why not?" Robert asked. After all, I am head of the local law enforcement here at the reservation. And we wouldn't want to think that you are CIA working inside the US, would we? I mean we have no idea that you're CIA, right?"

"Good God," Baby said, grinning. "Sangre reasoning all the way around. You're right, Robert. We have no idea these men were CIA."

Sylvester looked like he might argue the point, and with the point of a gun that he reached for again. Apache kicked him in the stomach and he went down. Baby dropped down, her right leg stretched out in front of her, and quickly took his gun and stood again. Apache had no trouble at all with the other two.

"You," Sylvester said, a growl of sound as he tried to grab Baby's leg. She slipped back and up to quickly. "You dislocated my knee in Japan."

"And you remember what happened when I aimed higher," Baby said. "What are you doing here, Sylvester?"

"I'm not telling you anything, honey --"

Sylvester realized his mistake and tried to crawl away even before Baby moved. She reached down and caught the front of his suit jacket in both hands and pulled him up to his knees.

"I'm not telling you this again, Sylvester. Last warning. Don't ever call me honey again."

Robert chuckled. "Well, maybe you are a Sangre after all."

"In training, if not in blood," Baby admitted, and let her brother take the vermin. Apache gave the other two over to Michael and Kyle, while Cloud draped the last one over his shoulder and followed them out. All the Sangres looked like they were having far too much fun.

Well, really, it was a rather nice present, having the CIA people all boxed up for Christmas.

They decided to have hot chocolate and cookies ready when the four returned. Everyone appeared to be in a surprisingly festive mood, except for Veronica, of course. She sat on the sofa and glared at them all.

Someone knocked on the door. Baby moved toward it, and Apache took a spot to the side. Baby, reached over and pulled the knob, stepping aside so it could fall to the floor. The person on the other side only blinked -- and then smiled brightly.

"Thank the gods it's you, Baby, and not your sister," Seji said. "We need to talk, and I'm afraid she'd try to kill me before she listened to anything I said. Where is she?"

Apache reached from the side of the doorway and laid a knife blade against his neck.

"She's here," Baby answered.

"Thank you. I appreciate that warning," he said. He turned his head just a little. "Hello, Apache. Good to see you again."

"Oh, please try to run, Seji," she said in a soft whisper. "Please give me the joy of maiming you --"

"Maybe another time, lo-" He started to cough as he stopped himself from saying that word. "You know I wouldn't have risked coming to you if this wasn't important. Put away the knife. We can discuss old times later."

With a sigh of regret, Apache pulled the knife back and shoved it into the sheath at her waist.

"What are you doing here, Seji?" Baby asked as the man finally stepped inside. "Spying for the Van again?"

"I've never worked for the Van," Seji said, looking rather annoyed at the idea. "Do I look that green? I'm a freelance agent. The last time I was working for members of the Council who were trying to. . . . I guess confirm what Alan had been reporting."

"And this time?" Apache asked.

"I am here as favor to my cousin, Kim. He thought you might need back up this time, and he wasn't sure how fast he could make it in."

"Cousin? Kim?" Apache said. She shook her head in denial, even while she noted the familial similarities. "He never said you were his cousin. And I did mention you a few times during our trip to Tibet."

"And considering the words and tone you used, do you think he would be stupid enough to admit to even knowing me, let alone being related? You would have cut his heart out before he could explain I'm rather the black sheep of the family."

"He's right, Apache."

Apache glared at Baby. Not that it did any good, of course.

"Now, do you want to know about the four Van sneaking around in the back yard, or not? Shall we go and deal with them?"

"You just stay in my sight," Apache warned. "And I mean it."

"Morning Star Sangre, it would be a pleasure to stay forever in your sight," Seji said with a bow.

Angela and Lisa looked very amused. Baby went back to work with the door, plainly to avoid laughing.

"Don't push your luck," Apache warned.

"Hold the fort, Baby," Seji said with a smile as they left, heading down the hall toward the back rooms and the window to the yard. Apache didn't argue about the upcoming battle. She needed to take a little frustration out somewhere.




Four


"Do I need this?" Baby said, shaking her head as she worked on securing the door to the frame again. "No, I'm pretty certain I don't need this. Come on Mishi Tanaka. Get this over with before it gets worse."

Someone -- no, something screamed outside. Another cry came from the roof. The others did look startled but Baby only shrugged.

"Mating call of Van Spy," Baby said. "I bet you guys are just thrilled we're home for the holidays, aren't you?"

"We don’t mind seeing you and Apache," Lisa said. "It's your friends who keep showing up who worry me."

"No more than they worry us, believe me. And I mean that about our friends more than even our enemies who show up. I really thought it would be quiet this time, since everyone seemed to be trying to recover from the Tibet fiasco and cover their asses before someone had to really take the blame. I suppose we should just blame Mishi for this mess. Bad timing on his part."

Apache and Seji came back into the living room. They actually looked pleased, at least.

"There are four Van tied up to a tree in the back yard," Apache said. "They're so mad they were turning blue. But I get the feeling there were a lot more out there."

"I am under the impression that they may have brought in an entire Van Corp," Seji said. He glanced out the window. "A hundred or more."

"Great," Baby said. "And here we sit, just waiting for Mishi to drop into this little nest of trouble. Mishi isn't one of you too, is he?"

"Unfortunately not. He's a hundred percent Terran --" He stopped and looked around at the others in the room. "Who are all these people, anyway?"

"These are the rest of the Sangres, Seji," Apache said with a very malicious grin.

He backed away toward the door. Slowly and with his hands held out. Unfortunately, the others returned from securing the CIA people just then.

"And here are the rest of them," Baby said, pulling the door open for them.

"More?" His eyes went very wide. "More Sangres? I'm here in an entire nest of Sangres?"

"You walked into it, Seji," Apache said. She nodded to the ones who arrived. "He's one of ours, though not a very trustworthy one."

"Someone is coming up the street on a motorcycle," Kyle said. "Too dark to see clearly, but I think it might be that guy who was with you last year."

"Mickey," Baby said. She watched as he slipped the cycle into the driveway and hurried toward the house. Baby held the door open for him as well.

"Can't you two stay out of trouble?" he said. "I was all set for a quiet little holiday, just me and two stewardesses on a long layover. And Alan calls me and says to get up here immediately and back you two. I knew I should have disappeared. Who is he?"

"Seji," the man said with a bow.

"Seji? Not the Seji from Japan who. . . . a. . . ." Mickey glanced at Apache and saw the look on her face. "Well you are a braver man than I am, showing up here like this."

"It's worse than that. He's one of them."

"We're not back to them again are we?"

"Come on," Apache said. "You and Seji. There's something in the backyard you should see, Mickey."

It didn't take them long. Mickey looked a little green himself when he came back in. Lisa got him hot chocolate and cookies. And they all watched and waited.

"What's taking Kim so long?" Baby wondered.

"Probably having trouble getting a flight here," Seji said. "You have no idea what frustration is until you've come in from Ursa Minor, and then have to wait for days for a flight to the New York office."

"Is this guy for real?" Robert asked.

"I really wish he wasn't," Baby admitted.

"You should take your crazy friends and go back to the loony bin you escaped form," Veronica suddenly said. She stood, her face dark with rage. "You don't belong here --"

"Veronica, you have no right to say who can be in my house," Lisa said, stepping up beside her sister. "I like them. They're staying, along with their friends."

"Why do you side with them?" Veronica demanded. She looked around at the others. "Why would you take their side and not mine?"

"Because I like them," Lisa said. "And you are a pain in the ass."

"Amen," Cloud said. "It's about time somebody told her."

Veronica made a sound very much like an angry snake about to strike. She stomped to the door, and Baby barley had time to get out of the way. Apache had her hand on her knife hilt, ready for any trouble.

"You bastards," she said, looking at the two of them.

"Well, that's certainly original," Baby said, meeting her glare without a flinch.

Veronica threw the door open and went out, slamming it shut behind her. The hinge came free again, and it fell to the floor.

Kyle came to help with the door. He shook his head looking at the two. "You two do live dangerously. I'd rather face anything than an angry Veronica."

"Me, too," Baby fervently replied. Then she shook her head and pulled the door back down again. "Forget it. We'd just have to drop it again. Gang's all here, Apache. Here come Alan and Kim. Gee, I didn't know this is where we were holding FUTURE's Holiday party this year."

"Of course not. We're a secret organization. No one knew," Apache said. "Now if your guest of honor would just arrive."

Alan and Kim came in, stepping over the fallen door without much more than a glance at it.

"Welcome to the party," Seji said. He embraced Kim who grinned brightly. "It's good to see you again."

"If you were a little more discerning about who you worked for, we would see a lot more of each other," Kim replied. He put an arm over Apache's shoulder, which drew stares from everyone., especially when she didn't pull her knife.

"We were always on the same side," Seji insisted.

"Only technically. You've been on Earth long enough to know nothing is ever that black and white."

He agreed with a little bow of his head.

"Right now I'm not going to turn away any allies," Alan said. "Who was that woman stalking down the street? I saw three Van run for cover just at her look. We could use that kind of help."

"Forget it, Alan," Apache advised. "That's Veronica Sangre. We'll be lucky if she doesn't join the Van at this point."

"Ah well," Alan said. He looked around. "I think there are far more than enough Sangres here already."

No one argued that one.

"Any idea where Mishi Tanaka is?" Baby asked.

"On his way," Alan said. "I was afraid he would get here before us."

"It's midnight," John Sangre announced. "Merry Christmas!"




Five


Apache smiled. A holiday at home. They hadn't had one of those since last Christmas. Never mind that it wasn't really their home. At least it was a home. How nice.

She smiled. "Merry --" A whistle, a clashing of bells, a loud boom. Mishi Tanaka sat the floor in the midst of the Sangres. "Christmas."

"Hey, Mishi," Baby said. "Glad you could drop in."

"Stop with the stupid jokes," Mishi said shaking his head.

"Someone was bound to say it," Apache replied. She leaned back and looked around the group. "Now what?"

Something hit the roof, bounced, hit, bounced hit, bounced.

"Sounds like they're dropping a few more Van in," Kim said, glancing up at the ceiling. "Any chance the Council will get us some more back up?"

"Not fast enough," Alan replied. "We just need to keep Mishi out of their hands. Is there a chance you can pop back out again?"

Mishi took a blue glowing square out of his pocket. He shook his head. "Not for a couple hours. Even with the photonic cell, this thing is underpowered. I'll need to do something about that."

"Don't remind me about the cell right now," Alan warned, giving Baby, Apache and Kim a glare. They all smiled. It didn't help. In fact, everyone in the room got a distinctly worried look as they saw those smiles.

Mishi finally stood as well, looking around the group and apparently more worried about what he saw here than the noises on the roof. "I want a weapon."

Alan tilted his head, and then nodded. He pulled a needle-nosed gun from under his jacket and handed it over to Mishi, who immediately began turning it over in his hands, looking down the barrel --

"Don't even consider taking it apart to see how it works," Alan warned. "It's set for twenty-five shots, and they will stun, not kill. Choose your targets wisely.

"Why didn't you give us any of those?" Apache asked.

"I know you two have picked up some weapons of your own along the way. But quite honestly, I wouldn't trust you two with one of our weapons to save my life. Hell, you two can't even be trusted with telephones."

"True," Baby admitted. The hit-bounce noises had stopped. Baby looked up. "I get the feeling that everyone is here."

"Great. Let's get this over with," Apache said. She turned and walked right out the front door, Baby at her side, while the others started making odd panicked noises. "I don't know why they do that."

"Me either," Baby said. She shrugged. "Probably thought we should have a plan or something."

"Oh yeah, right. You know what happens when we have plans."

A Van stepped out of the darkness, her skin so green it looked almost black, and her hair shaved to stubble on her head. She wore little more than weapons, and she didn't look very happy. Apache imagined it couldn't be the most comfortable set of clothing in the world, so to speak.

"You are outnumbered and cut off from all help," the Van said. Her dark eyes narrowed. "Give us Tanaka."

"Sorry, I'm not into giving Christmas presents to people I don't like."

"You could still survive this if you cooperate."

"Live to fight another day, huh?" Apache said. Baby, Apache noted, looked uneasy. They had not dealt with this kind of Van before. Usually they just made claims of going to kill everything and got to the fighting. "Somehow, I don't think the odds are ever going to get any better, especially if we give over Tanaka."

"You are not fools. You've proven that in the past year. We have weapons you couldn't imagine --"

Apache's hand moved, a quick arc of movement in the glittering light, and laid a dagger on the woman's neck. She drew a thin line of blood. The Van blinked, her ice-like eyes going wide.

"I don't give a damn about your weapons," Apache said. She drew the knife back. The Van nodded as if they really did understand each other.

"We prepare," the Van said, stepped back, and gave a surprisingly polite little bow. Then she disappeared into the dark.

"Prepare," Apache said, stepping back to the door. "They must have better luck with plans than we do."

Really, it turned out just as well that she and Apache didn't go in for that planning stuff, because the Van started moving toward them before they reached the door to the house. Apache stopped and looked back, watching the line of shadows coming their way.

"Hell. I really don't want them in the house."

"Me either," Baby said and rushed forward first. Apache sighed and followed.




Six


Baby reached the green line of Van just ahead of her sister. Van lifted their weapons and aimed at her and ready to --

"Strike!" Baby shouted.

She and Apache threw themselves to the ground and rolled, playing human bowling. Or Van bowling. They broke through the line, Van leaping and falling as they shouted, and taking down a few others with them.

Baby scrambled back to her feet, kicking the first Van who came close to her and sending that one back into another three of her team. Two went down. A spare, rather than a strike, but it still helped.

Something else helped as well. Something rather... unexpected. She heard a scream of anger and dared for a moment to look away from the Van closing in on her. She watched in amazement as the rest of the Sangre family raced out of the house and into the fray.

Hell. With the all the Sangres on their side, how could they lose?

A shame she forgot about Veronica at the moment. . . .

The battle broke apart into a number of small skirmishes. Seji, Kim and Mickey came out to join the fray, leaving Alan and Mishi at the door, where they did quite well at keeping any one from going in. Baby did her best to take out as many Van as she could, keeping a running count. She wondered where Apache had gone off to --

And then two Van landed, unconscious at her feet.

"Twenty-three," Apache said.

"Twenty-six," Baby answered and grinned. And jammed an elbow into a Van and then hit her on the head on the way down. "Twenty-seven."

"Damn."

Apache went back to work.

They had taken down over half the force, at least. Unfortunately, that gave the remaining Van more room to maneuver, and to use those guns they had been slow to pull when in such close quarters with the rest of their people. Baby ducked under one bright red ray that melted a cactus -- my, they were serious.

And then someone else started firing. An Uzi.

That rather stopped everyone in stunned disbelief. Even the Van who had a gun aimed at Baby paused -- and Baby took that moment to kick it out of her hand. She gave her best smile when the woman looked annoyed.

But the Uzi fired again, though apparently only up in the air because no one could have missed at that range. People and Van parted, and Baby saw the problem -- first Veronica, and then Sylvester. His three men followed, all of them armed and none of them happy.

"There she is, Agent Sylvester," Veronica said. She walked up to Baby, a gleeful smile on her face, and Baby had the oddest feeling that neither she nor Sylvester noticed that the Van looked rather odd. "You take Baby, and I can guarantee that Apache will follow."

"Oh, you can bet on that," Apache said, coming closer. "I don't think it's quite what you want, though."

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Veronica?" Baby demanded.

"Something one of the Sangres should have done years ago," Veronica said with a sickeningly sweet smile. She patted Baby's head. "I'm getting you arrested, honey."

Sylvester backed away so quickly that he tripped over a Van and landed on the ground. The other three agents looked stunned, bringing their guns up --

But Baby hardly even noticed. She spun and kicked, catching Veronica in the side of the head. For a moment Veronica stared, her eyes going glassy. By then, Sangres had grabbed the last of the CIA people. No one got shot.

"Don't ever call me honey," Baby said and gave Veronica a little shove. She landed on her ass. On a cactus, unfortunately -- well, unfortunate for her. She started howling. "God, you are such a pain in the ass."

"No, she has a pain the ass," Lisa corrected, going past to help Veronica. "Really, Baby, I thought you knew English better than that."

Lights flashed in a quick pattern of bright green and blue overhead. From the way Alan waved, Baby knew it had to be people on their side -- whatever the hell side that might be. The Van took the chance to disappear into the darkness, and Baby suspected they wouldn't be back, at least for a few days. Lisa managed to get a cursing Veronica to her feet. She glared at Baby and Apache. Robert gathered up the CIA agents and took them away. They seemed rather glad to go, too.

The others turned back to the house. By the time they got the door fixed, the Van had disappeared, Lisa had returned without Veronica, and Robert had come back from the jail. They had more hot chocolate and cookies.

"Okay, I have to ask," Cloud said. "There you were with the four CIA agents, Baby. One went down out of sheer panic, but the other three still had guns. But you attacked Veronica. Why?"

"I've had to put up with her all my life. I really didn't think I had much of a chance against the Uzi and the others had, wisely, stayed just out of kicking range. I could have probably taken a couple of them, but I had the feeling this would be the last chance I might ever get to take out some of my pent up frustrations toward Veronica. And I enjoyed it, too."

"I got her down to the clinic. They sedated her. The doctor looked like he was enjoying taking cactus needles out of her ass, in a sadistic sort of way," Lisa said.

"Just spreading Christmas cheer where I can," Baby said. She leaned back and looked out the window. "Hey, it's snowing!"

"Thought you'd like that," Alan said and smiled. "Merry Christmas."




Seven


Apache had the great joy of waking Baby up on Christmas morning with a rather unusual little present. She sat down on the soft backed chair by the sofa and smiled at Robert and John. Both of them kept their distance. Wise.

"Baby," she said softly. "Kim and Seji want to take us home with them."

Baby sat straight up, looking at her sister with such absolute shock that it got a snicker even from John. Baby glanced at him, glanced away.

"You can't be serious," Baby said. Her voice sounded a bit higher than usual. "Go with them. Out -- there."

"Way out there. Mishi is leaving world for a while, so that he can continue his work some place with less interruptions. Kim and Seji are sponsoring him. We're going as bodyguards."

"Is that an advancement from courier and field agent?"

"Well, it's definitely a step up."

"Ha. What does Alan say?"

"That's the scary part. He thinks it's a good idea. He's even already left to get to the High Council before they hear about it through other sources. Something about panicked people starting wars."

"You think we should do this?" Baby asked. It wasn't often she asked a question like that.

"The alternative is to stay here, fend off more Van, the CIA and Veronica, who has already called lawyers --"

"Veronica," Baby said with a moan and dropped back down. "Going off world may be a really good idea."

"I thought you'd see it that way." Apache reached over and patted her sister on the shoulder.

"You know, I'm really going to miss you two," Robert said. "If nothing else, it's never dull when you two are around."

"Oh, we'll be back," Apache said with a smile. She leaned back in the chair, wondering what kind of chairs they would sit in next month. "And if this doesn't work, we're going to come back to the reservation and herd sheep."

Robert and John both looked less certain a that threat.

"Ah... what about your pets?" Baby said, lifting up on an elbow again.

"Got it covered. You remember Mark from Tibet?"

"Oh, sure. Former FUTURE spy. Finlandia, photonic cell. Gobi desert. Hotel room, python. The one who twitches a lot."

"That's the one. I called him down in Antarctica this morning. He and his friends are going to move up to my beach house and take care of things while we're gone."

"In exchange for?" Baby said, looking intrigued.

"In exchange for us leaving world, actually," Apache answered. She shook her head. "I do hope the camel and goats get along."

"Well, looks like you have everything in hand," Baby said. "When do we leave?"

"Not until after the New Year. Kim says that Alan barely got out in time, and the weather won't be clear over Chicago again for at least a week. I don't know why Chicago, so don't ask. Seji, Kim and Mickey are taking Mishi back to The Office in New York. You and I, hermana mia, have the week off."

"You're joking," Baby said. "Paid?"

"Yup."

"What do you do with a paid vacation?" Baby said, stunned.

"Damned if I know. I think we're supposed to have fun."

"Like we haven't been having fun at work?" she said, confused.

"I know, I know --"

Lisa came out of the kitchen, shaking her head and brushing a line of white flour against her shirt. "I just heard something odd on the radio. People are calling in about a mysterious island out at Horse Mesa Dam, and a giant eel --"

"Oh. Well maybe we ought to clear that problem up before we go," Baby suggested.

Apache nodded and stood. She looked relieved. "God help us if we'd had to come up with something on our own for entertainment. Robert, can we borrow your car --"

He tossed Apache the keys. "Be back for dinner."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Baby said, and managed, somehow to duck under Apache's swing and race down the hall to the bathroom. She could sometimes move pretty fast, even without her brace.

But Apache had prepared by the time her sister came out of the house -- outside in all that lovely, cold, white snow Alan had given Baby for Christmas. Time to put it too good use, she decided, looking at the pile of snowballs she had ready...

A shame Baby came out through the back window and snuck up behind her. They still had a very fierce fight, especially when the rest of the family joined in, along with a few neighbors.

In the end, it was she and Baby holding off the others.

As it should be.

The End