"Drop the roller. Now."

Callie hesitated for a fraction of a second, causing her assailant to jam their weapon harder into her back. The roller fell from her hands, clattering to the ground despite her instincts screaming for her to grab it. Gun. To my head. Who? Don't call out, they'll fire. Ok. Breathe. Think.

"Who are you?" The voice demanded again, in accented Octarian.

Strange accent. Young— wait a second.

"Agent Three, wait!" Callie whisper shouted back in Inklish.

If dropping his name tripped him up any, he didn't let it show. "How'd you find me?"

"We're here to help you! I'm Agent One! We found the maps you laid out at the cabin!"

There was a tense pause as he weighed her words, but the pressure on her back let up. She quickly spun around to look at him. Standing there, clad in Marie's Hero Suit and still brandishing the Hero Shot, was Agent Three. He had his mantle tied up in the same ponytail that Gramps typically wore.

He took a deep breath and stepped back. "I—"

The world froze as the front door started to creak open. Callie watched the world in slow-motion as Agent Three wheeled on the spot, aiming the Hero Shot back at her as a splat bomb appeared in his hand, aimed at the doorway. Through the partially opened door, Callie could see the beige of Marie's sweater. Above it, the burst bomb trap began to fall.

Callie did the only thing she could do. "MARIE DUCK NOW!!"
Hearing her warning, Marie threw herself to the side, barely dodging the swinging trap in time. The bombs swung and landed a fair distance away, bursting on the ground.

Agent Three remained poised by the door, bomb and Hero Shot in their respective hands. "Agent Two?"

From outside Marie nodded.

Agent Three took another breath, and his arms shook slightly as he lowered his weapons. The act of relaxing almost seemed to catch him off guard, as he staggered backwards for a moment before finding his balance. He thoughtlessly pulled the bag of ink out of the bomb frame and lazily tossed it into a corner. The frame itself he dropped next to the sleeping bag as he walked over to the zapfish pen.

After a moment's hesitation, Callie moved to help her cousin up. "Hell of an introduction." She whispered.

Marie rubbed her side where she landed. "I guess. What's going on exactly?"

"It's... just don't freak out when you see what's in here."

Marie nodded, and they stepped back inside the hideout. Callie closed the door behind her. She could easily tell Marie was also realizing what Agent 3 had been up to in their absence. There were questions burning in her eyes that would not go unanswered for long.

Callie signed for Marie to take things gently, but there was no telling what exactly she'd do. For the moment, the pair watched as Agent Three delicately pulled a zapfish out of the harness on his side. He crouched inside of the pen, setting the zapfish beside a sipper water bottle, which it eagerly began to drink from. While it drank, he dug through a bag outside the pen and grabbed a handful of food, which he carefully held out for the small creature. With his other hand, he scratched at the underside of his eye.

Callie could practically hear Marie's patience give out as she watched her cousin take a step forward.

"Why are you down here?" Marie asked, pouring authority into her voice.

Agent Three didn't respond verbally, instead using one hand to gesture at the zapfish surrounding him, then dutifully pet the one climbing over his shoes.

"Let me rephrase that: you shouldn't be down here."

Finally, he turned around to look at them. "Someone had to be."

Ok, here we go. Callie took a tentative step forward, trying to put herself between the pair. "I think Ma— Agent Two is trying to say that we didn't expect you to be down here."

Marie gave her a side glare before turning back to Agent Three. "I explicitly ordered you not to go down here."

"Your orders were wrong."

Oh, this is going to get messy. Callie abandoned her slow progress to try and get between the duo, but Marie was, unfortunately, faster.

"Wrong—" Marie sputtered. Her posture straightened and her face morphed into a full on scowl. "What's wrong here, is the number of problems your reckless actions have caused!"

He met her scowl with one of his own, as he turned to fully face her. "You don't know what's happened while you've been away."

"That doesn't matter!" Marie shouted back. "Because of what you've done the entire military is on high alert! How are we supposed to save Gramps like this!?"

The glare Agent Three gave them was enough to make even Marie pause. "Because of what I did?" He asked, his voice barely above a growl. "Because of me, the Octavians have been steadily losing the zapfish— which they stole by the way, did you know that? They need external power sources to attack anything outside of the domes, each one I take is another move they can't make."

His voice rose above a murmur as he shifted into a crouch. "Because of me, the entire Octavian army has been kept perpetually on high alert; the soldiers permanently overworked and under rested. They're wasting so many resources on securing their own bases that they can't build any more super weapons."

Agent Three jumped to his feet fast enough to catch both Callie and Marie off guard. He got louder again. "All large scale combat training has stopped. Attack plan development has stopped. Weapons development has stopped. The entire Octavian military has stalled because of me."

He stepped forward, eyes darkened as he stared Marie down. "Because of me, the surface hasn't seen ANYTHING that's happened down here! Inkadia has no standing military! If the Octavians get out, it would take days before any kind of resistance was organized!" The blue of his ink bled to a searingly bright red. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE WOULD BE DONE? HOW MANY LIVES WOULD BE LOST TO A POINTLESS WAR!?"

He stepped forward again, close enough that Callie could see his arms shaking from how tightly he clenched his fists.

"BECAUSE OF WHAT I'VE DONE—" And suddenly, all of the anger vanished, leaving despair and fear in its place. "I— I haven't failed him yet."

In that moment, Callie didn't see Agent Three. Gone was the bombastic fighter who gave an entire military unit the run around. All she saw was a terrified kid who had been left all alone.

She didn't think. Callie rushed forward, catching him in a hug as Agent Three's body seemingly gave out from beneath him. The red in his mantle quickly fled, washed away by the deepest melancholic blue. His body shook with silent sobs as she held him, gently patting his back. "Hey, it's ok. You're not alone now..."

From where she was crouched, Callie couldn't see her cousin, but it was a safe bet the reverse wasn't true. With her spare hand, she slowly lifted it to sign a message for Marie to see. Play Nice. Blames Himself.

"I—" Agent Three, croaked out, his voice quiet. "I'm sorry I failed..."

Callie pulled her other hand down and wrapped it around him tightly. Sitting here, holding the boy, she could feel just how hard he'd been pushing himself. His entire body strained with every tiny effort. How was he even able to run around the domes like this? She shoved that thought to the side as she focused on the kid in her arms. There'd be time to think about that later.

There was some shifting behind her as Marie sat on the ground beside him. She sighed in the way that meant she was trying to find her words. "I— I'm sorry, Three."

In her arms, Callie felt Agent Three flinch.

There were a few moments pause, filled only by the sound of Marie's fingers rapping on the floor. "I shouldn't be taking this out on you."

Callie slowly pulled herself out of the hug, shifting so that she wasn't between him and Marie. The way he unconsciously leaned towards her broke her hearts. She kept a hand on his shoulder as a reassurance.

Marie cleared her throat, and drew in another shaky breath. "I, uh, I'm scared, Three. I really am." Marie broke eye contact, looking to the side. "There's so much that's different, and we don't have Gramps to help us and I just— I don't know what to do."

The waver in Marie's voice was obvious. That was just as much an admission to Callie as it was to Three. It seemed Marie was finally letting loose the emotions she'd been holding in since the call.

Callie herself still couldn't describe how she felt. There were the obvious things, fear, worry, paranoia even, but that was all surface level. On a deeper level, she felt... normal? No, normal isn't right. It's like... normal but to the left. Normal but turned ten degrees. Normal but it's a rectangle instead of a square. There was no solid way to even think about it, much less a place to start unpacking it. Instead she... set the feeling to the side for the time being, and got used to the normal-but-slightly-blue-ness of her life.

She let out a long, drawn out breath, like she was finally letting a weight off her shoulders. "But I'm not alone in this." Marie looked back at Agent Three with a newfound conviction in her eyes. "I haven't been in a long time, and now you won't ever be either."

Agent Three looked surprised by her sudden declaration. "But you don't know me?"

"So? It's hard not to be at least a little concerned when you look like that." Marie snarked.

Callie pulled her hand back to try and hide her snickering. Oh, Marie. I think we've got him.

Agent Three looked stunned. "What?"

Mischief glinted in Marie's eyes. "Like a sad little blobfish. I can't help but feel like I need to help you."

"Hey! I don't look that bad!"

Callie matched her cousin's energy with a big smile. "You do look a little rough, Three. When was the last time you ate something besides granola?" All three of them turned to look at the pile of wrappers.

"I—" He paused, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I don't have to tell you that."

"Awww, c'mon" Marie gave him a playful smirk. "When was the last time you saw the sun?"

Shame colored Agent Three's face as he looked away. "...Two weeks."

"TWO WEEKS?" They both cried in unison.

"I've been outside since, it was just at night!" He hopelessly tried to defend. Whatever, it doesn't matter." He turned away from them with a huff, reaching into the zapfish pit as a distraction. His other hand scratched at the underside of his eye again.

Callie quickly caught Marie's eye. Serious. Not Playing. She signed.

Marie nodded. "We want to help—"

Three cut her off. "You don't know me, why do you care so much?"

"Can we not be worried about the exhausted kid in front of us?" Marie snapped back.

"I'm not a kid." Three insisted. "That's like, you worry about that if you pass someone in the street. People don't go this far out of their way unless they care about someone."

"Is it so hard to believe?" Callie asked.

"It's more likely you're just here to pull me out of the domes so I don't ruin your mission."

Marie sighed. "K— Why are you so resistant to the idea that we might care about you?"

"Because it doesn't make any sense! You don't have any reason to help me! The only thing we've done is yell at each other over the phone!! Why would you help me?"

Callie gave him a reassuring smile "Nothing a fresh start can't fix!"

"I'M THE REASON THE CAPTAIN WAS KIDNAPPED!" He shouted back. "IT WAS ME!! I'M THE REASON THIS HAPPENED! IT'S MY FAULT!"

Both cousins were stunned by the outburst. They stared for a few moments as Three sucked in desperate breaths, until again all his energy abandoned him.

He didn't cry this time, if anything he seemed too tired to cry. That didn't stop his voice from quivering when he finally asked, "Why don't you hate me?"

Callie's hearts broke. Oh, Three... She lunged forward to wrap him in another hug. The eagerness that he clung to her only made her hearts hurt more. She held him for a few moments as she measured her words.

"It's not your fault," She gently assured. He bristled at the comment, but she continued before he could object. "You are just one agent. A damn good one, based on what I saw today, but still just one agent."

"That's not—" He tried.

"You barely escaped yourself." Callie insisted. He bristled again, but didn't say anything else. "They sent a team of soldiers after Gramps. They sent an army of soldiers after you. The fact that you got out was probably the most reassuring thing you could have done for him."

"...you think so?" He asked, his voice small.

"I do."

Callie leaned out of the hug and scooted back to sit with Marie. "If you'd have been caught, he would have spent the last month worried about you."

He sat there for a moment, looking conflicted. "Why?"

Marie scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Because he cares about you, dingus."

"But the missions..."

Callie's hearts tied themselves into knots. She reached over and grabbed one of his hands. "The NSS, the missions, they're all incredibly important." She tugged on it slightly, trying to get his attention. When he looked over, she met his eyes. "But so are you."

"Me?" Agent Three shook his head like he was trying to fling a crab off his ear. "No! There's nothing like that about me!" He started scratching at the place under his eye again, vigorously enough to make Callie worry. "I'm just— "

"The squid that Gramps chose." Marie stopped his spiraling. "I don't know what made him choose you, but the fact is, he did." She paused long enough to let her words sink in before continuing. "I'm led to believe he chose right. I really don't think any other squids would go this far for some kooky old man." This time, Marie put her hand out for him to take. "I don't know about you, but I trust that old man's judgment."

Agent Three very hesitantly reached towards Marie's hand. She closed the gap for him, grabbing his hand firmly.

Callie reached for Marie's free hand, finishing their little Agent triangle. "We're a team now!" She cheered, causing Agent Three to jump.

He traced his gaze around their arms a few times. Callie could see the exact moment the message finally started to sink in as he stared.

"We are?"

"Yeah." Marie deadpanned at him, while giving one of her playful smirks. "I'm not letting you run off now that we're here."

Callie hopped to her feet and stepped back to give him some space. A giddy smile spread across her face as energy and relief flooded her body. Thank cod we got through to him! That went really well!!

A burst of static assaulted them as Marie stood up. "Gah, that feedback sucks! Three, I'm taking my headset back when we get out of here."

"Ugh, tell me about it." Callie mimed scratching at her ear, lightly raking her claws along the back of her headset. "Sheldon can make a third suit, right?"

"Ohh, that's true. Actually you know what? Three, you can keep that suit. I'm taking the new one... Three?"

The sudden concern in Marie's voice made Callie turn back. Three was still sitting on the ground, seemingly frozen to the spot, staring up at them with a look of terror on his face.

"We have to leave." He murmured, before suddenly bolting from the spot. Callie didn't think he could still move that fast after he collapsed in her arms a moment ago.

Without bothering to explain anything, he began to rapidly throw the loose items in the hideout onto his sleeping bag. There wasn't much, just bomb frames, granola bars, and their wrappers. He rolled it up, tucked it under his arm, stood up and bolted for the far end of the room.

"What's going on? Why are you freaking out all of the sudden?" Marie asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, we were having a moment!" Callie added with a tilt of her head. A motion from Marie informed her that was probably not the right thing to say. She averted her eyes shyly for a moment.

"It's your radios! You'll lead them directly to us!" Three didn't look at the as he yanked the limiter from the bottom of his tank. All the ink gushed out, making a large blue puddle on the floor. When it was mostly empty, he promptly unhooked the bottom of the tank, and shoved the rolled up sleeping bag inside.

Callie watched in confusion. Are they tracking radio signals? She stepped next to Marie, who seemed just as off-footed.

Three marched back across the room, his eyes widening slightly as he looked them up and down. "What the hell are you doing!? Turn them off!"

OH RIGHT! Callie desperately fumbled with the switch on the right ear of her headset, getting a quiet click as the ever-present buzz of static cut out. "Right, that... makes sense."

She watched, fascinated as he dropped to his knees by the zapfish pen, and started taking it apart really fast. The bits of the pen were put into a bag she hadn't seen him grab, while the actual zapfish mostly just sat in place and looked around.

He was about halfway done when he looked up and met Callie's eyes. There was a fire burning in them that hadn't been there before. "W— why the hell are you both just standing there!? Help me!"

"What do we even do?" Marie asked with more edge in her voice than she probably intended. Callie gave her shoulder a quick pat to try and get her to calm down.

"Pull the covers off the windows!" He shoved the last of the zapfish pen into the bag, and immediately wheeled over to the maps on the ground. From the pile, he withdrew a satchel she hadn't seen before, which all of the maps easily slotted into with room to spare.

In the meantime, Callie did as she was told. Pulling the plastic covers down from the inside was certainly a lot easier than trying to fall through them.

"They can track radio signals?" Marie asked in a more level tone. Callie knew it was her 'fake' level, but it was a good step forward.

"According to The Captain, that—" He cut out for a moment, breath suddenly hitching. "They figured out how to track the signal, yes."

"Why didn't you leave a warning or something!?" Marie shouted back at him as she ripped one of the sheets down.

"I didn't think you guys would be back for a few more weeks!"

"Three, how long have you been down here!?"

He didn't answer. Instead, taking a massive swig from the bottle of water he'd been keeping, and then tipping it over so it drained. The remaining water bottles met similar fates, before they were all crushed up and thrown into the satchel.

"Plastic." Agent Three waved his hands impatiently. Callie handed the first sheet over. He wasted no time, quickly folding it down into a small enough square it fit into the satchel. She handed him the other one, and soon Marie brought her two over as well. The second the last sheet was in, the satchel's flap was fastened and strung over his neck, resting on his left hip. He put on the backpack with the zapfish pen as well, resting it beside his ink tank on his back.

With that, everything had been picked up. Agent Three carried everything in the nightmare of bags strewn across his person. Well, almost everything.

"How many zapfish can you carry?"

"You want us to—" Marie tried to ask.

"Yes!" Three didn't give her a chance to respond, setting a zapfish into each of her hands. He did the same thing to Callie a moment later.

"If you're going to run," he explained," Hold them against your chest, like this, with your hand gently wrapped around its body." He demonstrated with another pair of zapfish, curling his wrists inward, so that his fingers were pressed against his lower chest. "Do. Not. Squeeze."

Callie practiced the motion a few times. The little fish she was holding whined, but didn't seem very upset about the treatment at least.

One of the four remaining zapfish went into the harness on his right side. One was nestled into the top of the satchel, such that it could peek its head out if it wanted, and the other two were carefully held in his left hand.

"Alright, we're leaving." With his open hand, Agent Three pulled the rope from the burst bomb trap down, and quickly walked out the front door.

Callie shared a look with Marie. This whole thing was not going how either of them planned. They agreed with a nod they'd talk about it later, but for now, they followed the new agent out the door.

"Three, can you explain why we're sneaking to the public library?" In the seventeen years of her life, Marie never once thought she'd be using her agent training to sneak through Inkopolis.

"Yeah." Callie hesitantly agreed. "I know we do... abnormal things. But this just feels wrong."

"Plus, I do not want to deal with the headlines about us being caught breaking and entering."

"Oh, cod, I didn't even think about that."

They were currently standing on the roof of the Inkopolis Public Library. It was an older building, only three stories tall, nestled comfortably into the historic downtown district. None of the other buildings nearby were any taller, so their chances of being seen from the ground were pretty slim. That doesn't do anything about cameras, of course. I hope you know where you're leading us.

Agent Three looked up from the skylight he was prying at and gave them a side glare. "I tried to get you both to stay behind."

Marie scoffed in response. "There's bigger problems now, like why are you breaking into the library?"

"I need somewhere to drop the zapfish off where they'll be seen."

"Why not take them back to the zapfish facility then?"

He gave them a look that didn't sit right with Marie. "Really?"

Don't sass me you little— Marie chewed on her words long enough for Callie to step forward.

"New experience for us! Could you explain why exactly we can't just give them back?" Callie gave him her best innocent smile.

He rolled his eyes, but turned away from the skylight, giving them his full attention. "You both know about the Zapfish Heist, right?"

I mean, yeah? Kinda hard not to know about it when you report the news. "Of course." Marie actually felt her confidence slightly waver at the completely flat look Agent Three gave in response. (Shit, he's good at those.)

"The Zapfish. Heist" He emphasized, leaning forward to put extra emphasis on the word.

Oh, well, that's a bit obvious, isn't it? Marie put a hand on her forehead.

"We can't!" Callie realized at the same moment.

Three nodded. "Yeah. I don't really think telling the authorities where I found them is a good idea."

"Why not just break into that facility then?" Marie asked a bit too eagerly, trying to recover from her blunder.

"I did, actually. The first few zapfish went right back into the facility they came from." There was a surprisingly upbeat tone in his voice. "The Captain's stealth training really saved my neck there."

"So you have a history of breaking and entering, then?" Marie smirked back at him.

"Legally? No."

"Well," Callie interjected, "Why not take them there now?"

"So they found the first batch of zapfish, right? They, and by they I mean, like, the judicial system, were very happy to have some of the zapfish back." He paused, purely for dramatic effect if Marie had to guess. "They were a lot less happy with another undetected break-in at the same facility."

"Ah," Callie nodded along. "Was there public backlash?"

"Not so much, actually. They kept it under wraps for a while, but just when things were starting to stir up, a cluster of companies jumped at the opportunity to score some easy PR."

"So there's an actual security budget then." Marie asked.

"A bit of an understatement, really. There's Kensaki and Hozuki money backing it."

Marie felt the world unbalance underneath her. "Kensaki? Like the company?"

"Yeah, you know. The tech slash construction group? Well, I know they do other things too, but i digress. There's not a trout's chance in the desert I could make it through their bankroll."

"We're familiar." Callie replied with a grimace. She shared a look with Marie, tilting her head slightly to ask if she was ok.

"Cool. Well they threw a billion G at zapfish security, so I'm not even going to bother trying." Three said as he turned back to the skylight.

Marie nodded back to Callie after taking a few seconds to process the new information. Of course she'd jump at that opportunity. You're a joke for not realizing sooner. A billion G is nothing, but the publicity is going to print money for years. It's arguably the biggest scandal the country had ever seen, of course she'd get hands are all over it.

Callie stepped next to her, gently grabbing her shoulder but otherwise staying silent. Marie grit her teeth and shook her head, wrapping her loose thoughts together tying the thoughts away for the time being. (I'll stew in it later.)

"There." Agent Three whispered as he set the last screw on the ground beside the skylight.

"What now then?" Callie asked, tilting her head.

"Now I'm just going to lower the zapfish inside. In the morning, the librarians will find them, and everything should work out. That way they still get where they need to, but I'm not just leaving them out on the street for anyone to find. Now, don't make any more noise, there's cameras inside."

Beside the skylight was a wicker basket with all eight zapfish from the domes inside. He pulled the rope from the burst bomb trap out from somewhere under that strange dark cloak of his, and tied it around the basket's handle. Without a sound, he carefully lowered the zapfish down through the hole, until the rope started collecting slack. He tossed it down into the hole with a careful aim, and then very quickly set about replacing the skylight.

"You don't think the camera heard us, right?"

"Probably not. I mean, I don't think the cameras even have audio." Three explained as he refastened the skylight to the roof. "Or color for that matter."

Callie gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure it'll be fine Mar."

Conversation lulled as Three finished securing the skylight, until Callie spoke up again. "So... now what?"

Three shrugged. "Rest I guess?" He walked up to the edge of the building, scanning the alleyway beside it for any people.

"Hold on." Marie walked up beside him. "I can already tell. You're about to run off to who knows where, and I don't want to hunt you down in the morning. Can we agree to meet at the cabin with you tomorrow? There's still a lot we need to talk about."

"Sure." He agreed casually, as he tossed a bomb over the edge.

Watching him so freely use NSS equipment out in public made part of her brain misfire, but she managed to keep her mouth shut. Three stories down, the bomb burst into a large spray of orange ink. When did he change his ink color? She didn't get the chance to ask, as he vaulted himself over the ledge, leaving a small smear of orange ink behind where his hand had been. He safely splashed into the puddle of ink a few moments later.

"Wow, he's gone, just like that, huh?" Callie asked from behind her.

"Yeah. C'mon. We'll talk about it in a minute." Marie matched her ink color to the orange smudge and jumped over the ledge herself. Is that why he left it behind? There was a lot about Agent Three that still perplexed her; he was so stiff towards them, but he also did things like this. She chewed on her thoughts as she dropped into the puddle of ink. Callie landed behind her a few moments after she stepped out.

There was no trace of Agent Three anywhere. Even the bomb frame had been recovered.

Both Squid Sisters stayed silent as they quickly sprinted away from the library, shifting their ink colors after they were about a block away. There's a good chance all the ink will have evaporated before anyone found evidence of their crime, but neither of them were going to take the chance of being seen nearby with orange ink. A few more blocks away, they slowed down.

"Phew!" Callie lightly sighed, falling into step beside her cousin. "Nothing like a little bit of action to finish off the day, right?"

Callie's words made Marie feel a hundred times more tired. "Oh my cod, it's all just been one day hasn't it? It feels like it's been a week."

"Ha! Plus, coming off the end of the last six months... Cod, I'm tired."

"Let's get home. It's only a few more blocks away."

The walk through the city was surprisingly pleasant, despite the dawning awareness of the ache in her legs. Hardly anyone else was outside, and it seemed none of the stores were open either. The Historic District wasn't exactly known for its massive crowds though, and the late night air was starting to border on frigid, so the empty streets weren't really a surprise.

"I like him." Callie finally said, breaking the silence. "He gives me good vibes."

"He was kinda rude though." Marie countered. "Especially up there on the roof."

"In his defense, our first meeting wasn't exactly... ideal. We did broadcast the location of his hideout and nearly get all three of us caught."

"Yeah..." Marie paused for a moment, weighing her words. "I'm glad you were there to catch him, though. I don't think I could have done that."

"Oh my cod, I'm just happy he let me. He looked like he needed someone so badly..."

"He's really spent the last month doing solo missions."

"Ohh..." Callie slowed, grabbing Marie's hand to slow her too. "Marie, he blames himself too much. I hardly know the kid and I'm sure he'd launch himself off a cliff if it would 'make up' for his perceived failure."

He's not exactly innocent, though, is he? Marie chewed on her thoughts, keeping her face neutral and her mouth closed.

Callie easily read her bluff, stopping on the spot and giving Marie one of the fiercest scowls she'd ever seen.

"Marie. It is not his fault. You know how gramps operates, there's literally no way Three could have helped him."

"I know! But Gramps was taken because Three got caught!"

Callie's face darkened. "You and I both know that's not true. Even if it was, it's not his fault. He had no way to know what was going to happen when Gramps brought him into this."

"I KNOW, I know that. It's just... why did he have to get involved in the first place?" Marie ran a hand over her face, trying to find an outlet for the stress. "If he wasn't there to run missions, Gramps wouldn't have been there to be caught."

"I—" Callie stopped herself for a moment and took a deep breath. "You and I both know, if Gramps hadn't found someone to look in the domes for him, he'd of been down there himself. There's not a thing on the planet that can stop that man, and we ought to be thankful that he found someone like Three instead."

Marie couldn't argue with that. She admitted defeat with a sigh and a slight down tilt of her head.

Callie pulled on Marie's arm, forcing eye contact between them. "He's already put himself through too much torment over this. I don't care how you have to hide it, if you genuinely feel that way, you do not let him know."

"He genuinely thought we would hate him..." Marie quietly thought out loud. She balled her fists. "He wasn't entirely wrong." Beside her Callie moved to interject, but Marie continued before she could. "I know it's irrational, it's just me lashing out at him because I'm worried about Gramps. I hate that my first response is to hate him. I hate that that's what my brain wants to do first. He doesn't deserve it." She sighed finally, and leaned against the closest building. "That was... too much. Sorry."

"No, it's good that you can recognize that! I shouldn't have pushed you like that through."

"I needed that, really. I'd spin myself in circles for a week trying to sort my mind out without you here."

"That's why we're a team!" Callie cheered. She looked around the streets for a second. "Maybe this wasn't the best place to have this talk."

"Mmm, probably not, no." Marie agreed with a smirk.

"...You think Brine's Bay is open?" Callie asked.

"Oh, cod I could kill for a drink right now. It's not even two yet, there's no way Scout's closed."

"Let's stop in to say hi then!"

They walked another block over, until they were at the bar's entrance. Unlike most places in the city, Brine's Bay had a tunnel cut through the corner of the building, effectively creating an awning out of the second floor. The sign and front door were about halfway down the tunnel. It was a cozy little mid-end bar, not so expensive you felt the need to dress up any, but not so cheap that just anyone would walk in. Scout, the owner, was a close friend with Callie's dad, so the two would often stop in to say hello, even before they could legally drink. It had recently become their place of choice to crash after a show, and after such a long day, ending the night there felt fitting.

Unfortunately, as they walked up to the front door, the bar appeared closed. "Damn." Callie swore under her breath. "Even his sign light is off. There's no way the place is like, closed closed, right?"

"No chance, we'd have heard about it one way or another." They turned and walked back out of the tunnel as Marie thought. "Maybe he's traveling or something. You know how he'd always talk about hiking Mt. Nantai."

"True, true. Either way, I hope he's back soon. I was kinda hoping to close out the night with a shot or two. It's symbolic, you know?"

"I was just thinking that! Man. Oh, well. We'll have to send it off with the stuff at home then." Marie shrugged as they walked.

The remaining trip was uneventful, save for an odd realization. All of the lights across the visible city were off. No store lights, no window lights, even all of the street lights off. They could still hear the humming of AC units though, and a peek through a store window showed that the coolers were still working. The entire experience was just odd. It was easy to understand it was because of the Zapfish's disappearance, but actually seeing the effects of it was surreal.

Relief flooded Marie's system as they finally approached their apartment. The thrice-renovated building was built up in Inkopolis's hay day, when the city was just starting to grow beyond being a port town. Stepping into the lobby felt just as much like stepping into the past as it did returning home.

"We're back!" Callie lightly called to the front desk attendant. He was a kid named Chuck, only a few years younger than they were. He started working just a few weeks after they had moved in, and had basically been a permanent fixture of the building since.

"Long time no see you two! How was everything?" He looked up from whatever it was he was doing on his computer and smiled at the pair.

"Oh my cod it was horrible." Marie sighed.

"It was amaaaazzzing!!" Callie cheered at the same time.

There was a pause as the pair locked eyes, and then broke apart with a bout of laughter.

Marie recovered first. "I'm so tired. We're just gonna crash. Send our mail on up if you get bored, no rush on it."

"Sure thing Miss Cuttlefish! I'll get it up there soon enough."

"Thanks Chuck. It's good to see you."

"Rest well you two! You look like you need it."

They stepped into the building's rickety elevator with surprisingly high spirits. The thing was as old as the building was, and liked to make a show of it. Most rides were spent trying to keep your balance as it rose, while the light cut in and out often enough to make you wonder if it was on in the first place. Still, despite the elevator's spirit, it was still a familiar comfort after so long without it.

The state of the building was most obvious in the hallways between the apartments. Despite the obvious repairs and renovations from the building's nearly 100 year lifespan, it still looked nice, though Marie would admit she might be a little biased. The walls kept the rain out, the heat in, and people from looking at her, it did all she could want it too. It had surprisingly good internet too.

Callie unlocked the door. A wistful "Oh..." was all she said as she looked over their darkened apartment.

Marie playfully sighed, not bothering to hide the smile on her face as she gently pushed her cousin out of the doorway. "Be relieved somewhere else, I'm trying to get inside too."

Really, Marie was just as happy to be home. There was no hotel suite or dressing room in the world that could ever match their humble little apartment. They'd never have the Chirpy Chips posters that were ripped out of the back of old magazines, or the pink blankets draped over the couch that were so fluffy it took them two days to air dry after being washed. No pay-per-view catalog could compete with their racks of beloved DvDs, or the games on the shelf right beside it. Multi-thousand dollar fancy mattresses had nothing on the crumpled little blue pillow that's just the right amount of firm to ease the soreness in her back after a day of slouching. Over the last several years, they had truly made this place their own.

And make it they had. Almost every visible space had something, be it a shelf, hook, or nail holding a picture. Splatsmas lights were strung around the top of the walls, mingling with Splatoween lights, and other colored strands that they'd picked up at some point. Posters were stuck to the roof, with glow-in-the-dark stars circling each one. Pictures taken with other bands, friends, and family filled in the gaps between the posters and trinkets. There wasn't an inch in the apartment that hadn't received some kind of personal touch.

A sizable TV and the shelves lined with game consoles underneath it marked the only stretch of wall without something on it. Across from the TV was a large couch which was well past its prime, covered in blankets to make up for it. They each had a chair to the side of that, similar to their ones back at Cuttlefish Cabin, though these were made within the turn of the century so they were a bit nicer.

The kitchen was probably the nicest part of the house, as they had paid to have it redone a year or so back. A new set of appliances crowded the wall, with a large counter island to make up for the lack of counter space. It might have been slightly inspired by Gramps's setup back in the cabin. Oh, cod. I would kill a fish in cold blood to be woken up for pancakes tomorrow.

"Ah, shit." Marie quietly mumbled to herself as she worked her arms out of her jacket.

"Hmm?" Callie asked with a tilt of her head.

Marie didn't answer immediately, she was too busy letting her mind wander while hanging up her disguise through muscle memory. Mask on the hook, hat on right after it. Set the jacket on the lower hook... Shoes off on the ground below everything else.

It took a moment, but Marie's mind finally caught up with the real world. "Hmm?" She asked, turning to face her cousin.

"That's what I said!" Callie laughed. "What's got you murmuring to yourself?"

"We don't have any food stocked. No pancakes in the morning..."

"Oh, you poor thing. We'll have to order breakfast or something. I don't think any stores are open right now."

"That sounds fantastic. For now though..." Marie trailed off as she walked up to the cabinets beside the fridge. With the help of a step stool in the bottom cabinet, Marie took a bottle of cheap, grocery store wine from the top cabinet and brought it back over to the counter island. "Let's celebrate a successful, exhausting tour!"

Callie cheered as she started fighting her way out of her cardigan. Marie popped the cork and poured them each a shot, taking just a moment to savor the bittersweet smell before recorking the bottle and setting it on the counter.

"Ohh! You grabbed the good stuff, eh?" Callie sarcastically drolled when she saw the bottle.

"With Scout down the street I really wouldn't call this the good stuff, but it is the more expensive of our two bottles, yes." Marie smirked as she grabbed her shot glass.

Callie did the same. "To the worst tour of our lives!" She cheered, tapping her glass against Marie's, and downing the shot. Marie followed a moment later, taking a moment to savor the bitterness on her tongue, and the mild taste of berries that lingered after the fact.

Finally done. Marie sighed wistfully, finally having a 'back-home' moment of her own. It's almost relaxing enough to forget about the domes. She stood in place, slightly swaying side to side as her thoughts drifted aimlessly around.

"Hey, Earth to Marie!" Callie's sudden words were accompanied with a light push to her shoulder. "Let's get to our beds before we fall asleep."

"But—"

"And I know you Marie. You're going to bed before you decide to stay up for the next two days." Callie grabbed her hand and started pulling her towards the hallway beyond the kitchen. "We've got important things to do tomorrow! I'm not letting you be grumpy.

A fond smile slowly crossed Marie's face as she let herself be led across the room. "Ok fine, I'll sleep, but you have to as well."

"Deal!" Callie agreed without hesitation, as she pulled her cousin down the hall.