It was nine in the night, and I was just finished getting ready. I was in a little corner of our mini hideout and looking in a cracked mirror. I was finishing tying my mask around my face, but I was struggling a little. "You need some help?" Dad offered.

I jumped a little. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry, door was open." Dad walked over to me and replaced my hands. "You look beautiful, darling."

I smiled. "Thanks, dad. You know, you clean up well yourself."

Dad chuckled. "I've never been so uncomfortable in my life."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't you once have to wear women's yoga pants?"

He put his hand over my mouth. "We promised to never speak of that." I laughed under his hand as he spun me around and put his hands on my biceps. "Are you ready for tonight, princess?"

I nodded. "We're gonna get Rick and mama back."

"Yes, we are." Dad agreed. "But no matter what happens, you prioritise your safety. You don't die for this, you understand me?"

"You know I gotta do what I have too so we can bring them home." I gently reminded him.

"And I gotta do what I can to bring you all home. Just promise me, okay?" Dad asked.

I nodded. "I promise."

"Good girl." He whispered, pulling me into a hug. "I love you, baby."

"I love you, dad." I smiled.

"Come on, I gotta go give the same talk to Sophia and Carl." Dad pulled back. We went to where everyone else was and saw Sophia approaching. "You look beautiful, sweetheart." Dad smiled, pulling her into a hug. I could hear them talking quietly, I knew he was saying the same thing to her. I walked over to Rosita who was packing padlocks and chains into a bag.

"You look gorgeous." I grinned at her.

She looked to me, and her eyes softened. "So do you. You should wear dresses more often."

"We should fight for our lives less often." I countered, sitting on the table. "How you gonna sneak that in?"

"Before we head in, I'm gonna push it through an open window a couple corridors away. The windows too small for any of us to fit through, apart from the bag. When me, your mum, Chris and Sophia slip outta the ball, we'll grab it. Start chaining and locking all the doors."

I picked up one of the sticks of dynamite that Sophia and Carl had found. "How you using this?"

"I'll connect them all using a special wire. If shit goes sideways, you light that baby up and run. Maybe do it anyways, makes sure that none of them have a chance of escaping. Only problem is that if not all the old folk are out? They can't escape the blast." Rosita explained.

"Hence it being plan B." I realised.

She hummed, before speaking. "Mi amor, I just want to warn you... Rick, may not be what you remember, okay? It's been a very long time. Going on six years that he's been locked up in there. He might be different."

I let out a breath. "I realise that, but it doesn't change anything. I don't care if we have to drag his ass outta there. Mama and Rick are going home."

Rosita smiled at me, taking my hand. "Yes, they are. So are we. And the old folk."

"And Chris Evans." I grinned.

Rosita laughed. "I still just don't believe that of all people... Chris Evans was here."

"We deserved some good luck. He's my good luck." I smiled.

Rosita laughed. "Now that I've seen him in person? I see why."

"Padre got some competition." I wiggled my eyebrows, jokingly.

Rosita scoffed. "God no, that would basically be breaking girl code."

"Amen to that." I laughed.

"You ladies ready? I wanna make sure we meet Chris' time." Carl stated.

"I think we're all good to go." Mum agreed. 

Rosita and Carl came back from chucking the bag through a window. I had a thigh holster under my dress, my gun and my boomerang were tucked away in it. In my bra I had spare magazines of ammo and a pocketknife. Dad watched his watch, and finally lowered his arm when it hit ten. Not even a second later, the door opened and revealed Chris freaking Evans in black tie and a black mask. Without thinking, we all walked in and instantly started blending with the party as Chris closed the door. The others would have to subtly lock that later.

I spotted the door we needed to leave through and looked around to see I was alone. Everyone had dispersed. Suddenly, I felt a hand on my back, I looked to see dad. He took my hands and we started to slowly dance. He lowered his face to the side of my head. "They got the exits blocked off."

"Now what?" I questioned.

"Me and your mum will go first, say we need the bathroom or something. Then Sophia and Rosita. Chris can go himself, he got clearance. Then give it a minute before you and Carl go." Dad responded.

"And if we get caught?" I asked.

"You won't. These people don't know what danger is. Not really." Dad replied, stepping on my toes. 

"Ow." I complained.

"Sorry, angel. Dancing ain't my thing." He chuckled, spinning me around and catching me again. 

"It ain't mine either but you don't see me stepping on your toes." I retorted, huffing slightly.

He laughed quietly. "I'll catch up with you later." Dad said, letting go of my hands and walking away.

Sophia quickly picked up his slack as the two of us started dancing. "What's going on?"

"Mum and dad are gonna slip out first. Start locking the doors. You and Rosita will go next. Then Chris. Finally, me and Carl." I answered.

She nodded, letting out a breath. "This will work."

"Of course it will." I agreed. "We got this, Soph."

Sophia smiled. "Yes, we do, El." She then laughed quietly. "I can't believe we're really gonna see them again. Tonight. After all this time."

"Miracles really do happen." I nodded.

"Not to us they don't. So, it's about time they do." Sophia agreed. "We deserve this. We deserve for this to work. We've been through too much crap for it not too."

I smiled, squeezing her right shoulder and left hand, which was were my hands were. Her left hand was on my waist, while her right hand met mine. "I'm gonna go get a drink before we do this. I need a little pick me up."

I laughed. "I'll see you later, Soph."

"See ya, El." She smiled, before walking over to the open bar.

Mum came over to me and picked up right where Sophia left off. "So much dancing." I complained.

"We've been her five minutes, sweetheart." My mother laughed.

I nodded. "And I stand by my point."

"I just came here to say good luck. Be careful with Rick though. He's been here a very long time, we don't know how he'll react. I doubt he'd even recognise you if it weren't for your scar." Mum reminded me.

"Oh, so I can thank Isabella for one thing." I grinned.

She laughed, nodding a little. "If she hadn't given birth to you, none of us would be here right now. So, you can thank her for your life as well."

"Which she tried to take." I reminded her.

Mum nodded. "Yea, nevermind. Fuck her."

I laughed. "Good luck to you as well. Ask the seniors about what medication they're on. You'll need it in a few years."

Mum shook her head, laughing lightly. "How old do you think I am?"

"Laugh now, but I'll be the one laughing in five years when you're old with arthritis and bad knees." I smirked.

"Better watch out, Ellie. You're turning nineteen next year. It'll be you who's getting old." Mum countered.

I laughed. "That makes you ancient."

She hummed. "Guess so." She looked over to my dad. "I better go now. Your father's gonna start looking first, you meet up with him when you and Carl sneak out." She pulled me into a hug. "Good luck."

"You too. I'll catch up with you later." 

She smiled and nodded. "See you by the busses." Mum said, quietly, before walking over to my father.

Rosita stood by me as we watched them leave. We started dancing to look less suspicious. "They got really good food." She told me.

"Noted. I'll eat some before me and Carl take off." I grinned.

"That's my girl." Rosita smirked. She let out a heavy breath. 

"You okay?" I asked her.

Rosita smiled at me. "Just a little nervous. It's a good plan, but the amount of things that could go wrong are unbearable." 

"I don't want to say nothing will go wrong. But, nothing that we can't handle." I assured her. "We got this. Listen, if we could handle being dragged to church by abuela every Sunday? We can handle a little mission. This is nothing compared to the shit we've dealt with. And, think about all the stories we'll have to tell Coco when she grows up? She'll love them."

Rosita nodded. "I have a feeling I'm raising a little you."

I smirked. "Oh, you definitely are."

Rosita laughed. "Which means I'm gonna have my hands full."

"Full of success, awesomeness, badassery, comedy. Man, I could go on if we didn't have a mission to complete and lives to save." I grinned.

"Speaking of, I better go over to Sophia. You find Rick and Michonne, yea? Bring them home, mi amor." She smiled, softly.

"I will." I nodded. She kissed my forehead, smiled at me, before heading over to Sophia. I walked over to the food table. I picked up a mini cake. No, not a cupcake, it was smaller. I then placed it in my mouth. "Hot shit." I smiled, tasting how good it is.

"You heard the plan?" Carl asked, appearing beside me.

I jumped. "Holy shit." I breathed out. "Yea, I've heard it." I put another mini cake in my mouth.

"Sophia and Rosita are leaving now." Carl commented. I turned and watched my sister and Rosita talk shortly with the guards, before they diassapeared around a corner. "Chris should go in a few minutes, then we'll take off."

"You remember the directions?" I asked.

My brother nodded. "I've been memorising them all day. I won't let anything go wrong."

I smiled. "Nothing will, Carl. You don't have to worry."

"Just try not to cause unnecessary violence." Carl warned me.

I put my hand over my heart. "I'm offended you'd even suggest it." I spoke. Carl raised an eyebrow at me, so I grinned. "Fine, fine. I won't kill anyone... Unless it comes down to it." I mumbled, trying another cake. Carl stared at me. I picked one up, and offered it to him with my mouth full. "You want one?"

Carl shook his head, struggling to fight off a smile. "No. This is serious. We don't have time for distractions." Carl said, eyeing as Chris easily left the ballroom.

I shrugged, eating the cake myself. "Your loss. We're about to do some important shit, hence why I must be fuelled. Don't you agree?"

Carl scoffed. "I'd agree with you, but then we'd both be wrong."

I let out a bored breath. "You wanna dance or something?"

"You don't like dancing." Carl pointed out.

"In the seven and a half minutes I was doing it, I discovered I do enjoy it. I think it's my new life passion." I joked, grabbing his hand and pulling him out.

"Your new life passion?" Carl asked.

I hummed. "We should host our own balls when we get back, so I can show people my new skills." I said, grabbing  his left hand with my right while I put my hand on his shoulder. 

Carl sighed, putting his hand on my waist as we started to slowly move. "This is not what I saw happening when we first met."

"What? Dancing on a top secret mission to find your father and our substitute mother? I had this whole thing planned out from day one." I responded.

"Oh, you did." Carl nodded.

"Hell yea. I had this whole thing predicted from when you still had both eyes." I joked.

"Hah, Ellie, you're a comedian." Carl deadpanned.

I shrugged. "I try."

Carl couldn't fight the smile off his face for much longer. "Chris is gone. Let's give it another minute."

"Enjoying dancing with me too much, Harry Potter?" I smiled.

Carl ran his tongue along the inside of his cheek, shaking his head and laughing slightly. "Listen... I'm sorry I've been kinda a dick recently. I forgave you, I did. But, finding out that my dad's alive? It changed something in me. I need him back, Ron Weasley."

I slowed to stop dancing. "Then let's go get him."

Carl glanced over to the door and nodded. I let go of him before we started walking over to the door. He put his hand around my waist and whispered in my ear. "Act drunk." He then looked back up as we finally got to the guards. As we stopped, a tiredly leaned my frame into his. "Excuse me, fellas. Do you mind letting us through? My girl's had one to many."

I giggled. "Why are there four guards?"

The two guards chuckled. "Sure, man." The one of the left nodded.

"Oh, you both so... Oh, very nice." I smiled as Carl dragged me from the room. Once we rounded the corner, I stood up straight and laughed quietly as we began to run down the hallway.

"You're a very convincing actor." Carl told me.

"I learnt from Isabella." I grinned. "Except... I was less whacky whacky and more laughy laughy."