A'Cadia grumbled under her breath as she made her way upstairs. While she understood why Ziva didn't like her, the girl could at least try to give her the benefit of the doubt. She continued down the hallway, muttering to herself with her head down. Halfway down the upstairs hallway, she slammed into something solid and stumbled back.

"Ow!" She rubbed at her forehead, even though no damage had been done. The adamantium and her rapid healing kept her from major harm in most situations.

"Watch where you're walking, kid," Logan told her as he moved to walk around her.

A'Cadia gaped at him. She hadn't been alone with him since she'd gotten here a week ago. Now here he was, standing not two feet from her. Couldn't he see the resemblance between them? Hell, Ziva, Craig, and Skylar had. Words failed her and after a moment he shrugged and started down the hallway again.

He stopped moving, frowned, and turned to her. "You have a problem, kid?"

She shook her head to clear it and frowned back at him. "I just ..."

"Just what?" he asked.

She held up a fist and looked him in the eye. The shink of the adamantium as the claws came out was a distinct sound and one he knew well.

Logan's eyes went from her face to the claws with a frown, followed by a low growl. "Stryker."

A'Cadia retracted the claws. "Yes, apparently a different Stryker according to Skylar. Though I've always had them, the claws I mean, the adamantium just made me stronger."

"How?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. My mother would never tell me who my father was."

He staggered back until his back hit the wall, where he stayed, staring at her in silence. His shock was obvious. "You're ... what?"

She sighed. "My mother is Claudia ...."

"Wellington," he finished for her, his eyes wide. He remained silent after that, back still to the wall as he stared at her.

A'Cadia drew in a breath, shook her head, and turned away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. We can just pretend this conversation never took place." He didn't stop her as she made her way down the hall and knocked on Craig's door.

The door opened and Craig glared at her. "What?"

"Come on back downstairs, we think we might have an idea of where Lenny is hiding out. We need to figure out a way to escape this place to go looking for him." She didn't wait for an answer, simply turned around and headed back down the hall.

Craig followed her reluctantly. He didn't want to go back down and face Ziva again, but they had to find Lenny. His lips pulled down slightly into a frown as they passed Logan, whose back was pressed into the wall. He stood there staring into space vacantly like he was in a trance. A'Cadia ignored Logan as if he wasn't there, so Craig didn't bother to ask her what Logan's problem was, he figured she probably didn't know. It probably had to do with the curtain climbers. They continued their way down to the living room.

"All right, Sparky, I brought him back, let's talk this thing out. Figure out how to get the heck out of here."

A sizzling bolt of electricity hit A'Cadia just before she made it back to her chair. "Jeez! What in the hell?" A'Cadia looked around.

Ziva smirked at her. "I told you not to call me Sparky."

Craig caught A'Cadia before she could bolt across the room and shred Ziva. "No claws, A'Cadia! Come on! Can't you two please get along?" He felt like he was trying to separate Ziva and Lenny again.

Ziva sat back on the couch. "Declaw the kitty and everything will be just fine."

"Kiss. My As—"

"A'Cadia!" Craig shouted.

She struggled out of his grasp and growled at him, "Touch me again and I'll gut you!"

Craig sighed and looked around the room. "Wow, thanks for inviting me back, ladies. Glad to be here. You want a way out of here then you'll need to engage the help of the curtain climbers. If anyone can tell us how to get out of here, it's those three. They could also distract Storm and Logan for us."

Ziva looked at Skylar. "Talk to them. As soon as we have a solid plan for a way out, we go." She stood and left them sitting there.

"Well, this has been fun everyone. I need some alone time. Ciao." A'Caida left as well.

Craig walked over and sat next to Skylar. The tension had left the room with Ziva and A'Cadia and he was glad for that. "So, if we find Lenny, then what?"

"Hopefully, we bring him back and this ends," she said with a little sigh.

"Hopefully," he replied.

He had little doubt, however, that it would end that easily. Nothing was ever that easy. And despite Lenny's current idiotic behavior, he wasn't as stupid as everyone made him out to be. He should know, he'd been the guy's best friend.

***

"All right who's ready to blow this Popsicle stand?" Mellissa asked as she skipped into the room.

Craig arched an eyebrow at her. "Popsicle stand?"

"It's a figure of speech, Craig, jeez." Mellissa rolled her eyes and plopped down beside Skylar on her bed. "Now, Mother Hen has gone to bed already so we're safe there. Our problem lies with the Big Bad Wolf, he's watching TV."

"Mother Hen and the Big Bad Wolf? Mellissa, this isn't a military operation you don't need to assign everyone code names," Ziva told her with a twist to her lips.

"My mission, my parameters, deal with it, Ziva. So, here's the plan: we will distract Big Bad while you guys slip out through the garage. Once you're out, we'll rendezvous with you down the block. Gimme your phone, Ziva, so you can text us once you're out."

"What? Why do I have to give you my phone?"

"Because we don't have phones and yours has the best coverage!" She held out her hand and Ziva reluctantly handed over her phone. She did not want to know how the Curtain Climbers knew whose phone had the best coverage.

"Fine but one scratch on it and I'll zap you," she warned.

Mellissa made a small sound and waved a hand at Ziva in dismissal. "All right you three—"

"Four," Skylar corrected her.

"Four?" Mellissa asked her.

"Yes, A'Cadia is coming too. I'll go get her while you go initiate your little distraction technique." Skylar waved Mellissa out of the room and followed her out to go fetch A'Cadia.

Ziva sent Craig a slightly nervous look. They hadn't been alone together since their little argument the night before. She wasn't certain if she was still angry with him or him with her. Did she still want to be mad at him? She couldn't honestly say.

"So, uh, do you think Lenny will be at this warehouse?" she asked him in a hesitant tone.

He shrugged. "How should I know? I was his friend, but it doesn't mean I knew what he was up to every moment of the day."

"Well, I just thought you might have more of an idea than Skylar or I would. You were his roommate after all."

"Yeah, so that doesn't mean I was privy to his innermost thoughts, right? Do I look like Dr-flippin'-Phil to you?" he asked in a sneering tone.

"Don't bite my head off, Sandman! You knew him best, I just asked a simple question!" she shouted back at him.

"Hey, stop arguing you two!" Skylar snapped as she and A'Cadia came into the room.

"Yeah or I'll make confetti outta both of you," A'Cadia said with a wicked little smirk.

"Whatever. Try it, Kitty Claws, and I'll light you up like the Fourth of July." Ziva shoved past A'Cadia and out of the room.

Craig followed her out, his shoulders hunched. "Oh yeah, this is going to be a blast and a half, I can see it."

A'Cadia glanced at Skylar who appeared to be muttering what sounded like prayers, in several different languages no less, as she followed her out the door and down the hallway.

Craig came up behind Ziva as she slowed outside the door to the small study where Logan usually watched TV. They could hear what sounded like Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody—Angela's theme song—coming from the room, along with Logan's loud complaints.

Ziva peeked around the frame of the door. Logan sat on the couch, his back to them; Angela was performing an impromptu ballet recital for him right in front of the TV. Thus, preventing him from watching whatever sporting event was on the television.

Behind her Craig craned his neck to see around her, he let out a low chuckle when he saw what was going on. "Right, let's get out of here before he figures out they're up to something sneaky," he whispered and motioned the others forward.

Skylar and A'Cadia moved past them slowly and quietly, both grinned when they saw what was happening inside the room as they passed by.

Craig gave Ziva a tiny nudge forward as soon as the two girls had moved further down the hallway. "Go on," he whispered to her.

She sent him a quick look over her shoulder before moving past the open doorway. As soon as she was beyond it, she looked back. Craig smiled widely at her and jogged quickly over to where she stood.

With no warning, he pulled her into his arms, bent and planted a kiss on her lips, releasing her as quickly as he'd pulled her into his arms. It was over in seconds, barely time for her to register what he'd done.

"We did it!" he said in a whispered shout of glee. Then he dragged her off down the hallway to the door for the garage where their partners in crime were waiting for them.

Skylar was scowling when they arrived. "What took you so long?"

Craig snatched the keys for the Escalade down off the hook by the door. "Nothing, we're here let's go."

"Why can't we take the Acura?" Skylar immediately asked him, her upset over the delay forgotten.

"There's too many of us this time," he told her.

"Oh, yeah right." She sent the MDX a wistful look as they passed it in the garage.

"Did you just kiss the Acura?" Ziva asked her.

"Uh, no, no of course not!" Skylar protested.

"She did, I saw her kiss her hand and then pat the car," A'Cadia told Ziva as she pulled open the back door open on the Escalade.

Ziva rolled her eyes at Skylar before she turned and stepped up into the front passenger's side of the vehicle. "You have an unhealthy obsession with that car, Skylar, we need to get you a boyfriend."

Skylar stuck her tongue out at Ziva's back. She turned to Craig who grinned at her and held open the door for her. "In you go, Sky." He shut the door behind her once she was in and then climbed behind the wheel.

Ziva punched the button for the garage door; Craig started the car and pulled out of the garage. When they were down the block, Skylar sent the curtain climbers a text to let them know they were out and waiting on them. Ten minutes later the munchkins were climbing into the car, scrambling over Skylar and A'Cadia and in the back.

A'Cadia glared at them. "What took so long?"

"I had to change into my camo tutu. I couldn't go in the pink sparkly one, come on, it wasn't suitable for the mission!" Angela told her, giving her a look that said she should have known that.

Ziva twisted around in her seat. "Phone. Now."

Mellissa wrinkled her nose at Ziva. "Wow, such trust, the cockles of my wittle heart are warmed."

"Just give it," Ziva told her.

Mellissa handed the phone to Skylar who passed it forward to Ziva.

Ziva inspected it. "Good, it's still in one piece. You can live."

Craig pulled away from the side of the road and headed for the warehouse.

***

"A black SUV is parked outside," Brittney said rather cheerfully as she fluffed one of the pom-pons she held.

Lenny rubbed at his forehead and stared at her. Once a cheerleader always a cheerleader, he thought with a frown. "So, go handle it!" Imbeciles! He was surrounded by them!

"What am I supposed to do? Give them a parking ticket?" she asked him.

He sent her a 'duh' look. "No! Get rid of them!"

"Oh, riiiight! I'll go do that!" She gathered her two cohorts and practically skipped out the door and down the hallway.

He swore she got dumber by the hour. He snorted, it was a definite possibility.

***

"Awww crap ..." Ziva stopped walking.

Craig crashed into her back. "What the hell?"

Skylar tripped into Craig. "Ow!"

A'Cadia stopped before she added to the train wreck. "What are you idiots doing?"

Zvia pointed down the hallway. "We've got company coming."

Spread out across the hallway were the Barbie Triplets, strutting toward them like it was a Milan fashion runway instead of a deserted warehouse.

At the back of their group, Stevie hit play on his iPad and Fabulous from High School Musical 2 started up. A'Cadia turned a glare on him. "Shut that off you twit!"

The Barbie triplets stopped, Brittney flipped her hair over her shoulder and they waited.

"But it's their theme song!" Stevie told her in a whiny voice.

"Why are you three even in here? Didn't Ziva tell you to stay in the car?" she asked him.

"Maaaybe," he replied.

Brittney gave a loud, dramatic sigh. "This is all very interesting, but we're here to make you leave."

A'Cadia shoved her way to the front of the group. "Listen, you three plastic Barbie look-a-likes; we don't have time for this." She followed her speech up with the metallic shink of her claws releasing. "Back off!"

Barbie gave a tiny whimper of fear and backed up a step before disappearing completely. Tiffany shook her head and smirked at A'Cadia. "You don't scare me; you can't stick those claws through my shield."

Brittney moved behind Tiffney and stuck her tongue out at A'Cadia. "Sheath your claws, you can't get us!"

Craig rolled his eyes at them and shot a glance toward Skylar, but she had vanished. What the ... where had she gone? He nearly cursed when she appeared behind the two remaining Barbie's with Mellissa and Stevie. They all watched as Stevie unceremoniously jammed a finger up his nose, yanked it free, and ran around the two girls while shouting with glee.

"Ewwwww! That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen!" A'Cadia made a gagging sound, stepping back.

Craig had to admit it was effective. Booger rope. He grinned, the two girls were tied securely together.

Mellissa laughed and aimed a well-placed kick to the back of Brittney's knee, which sent the two to the floor. "Booya! Time to move on folks!" She spun about and marched down the hall. Stevie right behind her, Mellissa's theme song blared from his iPad.

They burst into the main room of the warehouse and Stevie immediately switched songs LMFAO's Sexy and I know it began playing.

Craig sent Mellissa a startled look. "Please tell me that isn't Lenny's song?"

"Oh, but it is!"

Lenny spun around when he heard the music. "I love this song!"

Ziva stared at him. Blinked. Stared. And then blinked once more before rubbing her eyes as if that would clear up what she was seeing. It didn't. "Are you wearing a Burger King crown?"

He reached up and adjusted the paper crown on his head. "Yes. You love it don't you?"

Beside him, Barbie rolled her eyes heavenward. "He like wanted a fancy, jewel-encrusted crown, but like then he found out how much one of those would cost, so he had to settle for this one."

Lenny threw a glare her way. "Shut up! No one asked you!"

"No one asked you!" she mocked him in a snide voice.

"I'm ignoring you." He turned back to his former classmates from Xavier's school. "Now, what are you doing here?"

"Trying to stop you from doing whatever it is your doing," Craig told him.

"You can't stop me, I have an entire army to back me up. All you have is three little rug rats," Lenny snorted.

"Hey, we aren't just rug rats!" Angela protested.

"Yeah, we're mutant rug rats!" Stevie told him proudly as he puffed out his chest.

"Great. Goodie for you," Lenny said.

Craig sighed. "Lenny, you know we can't let you do this."

"I don't care what you can or can't do. When you all leave I will simply continue with my plans." He shrugged and turned away from Craig, he gave his crown a small tap to nudge it back into place.

Craig sent Ziva a look; she gave a subtle shake of her head. He frowned at her, she opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, Lenny spun back around and ripped the water pipes from the ceiling, pouring water down on them. It was cold, a bit yellow with rust from the inside of the pipes, and it smelled slightly of sewage.

Ziva screeched and pulled herself to her feet as soon as the water stopped flowing, looking around for Lenny. He'd fled the scene, probably as soon as he'd let the water lose on them. "I am going to kill that evil little fish stick the next time I see him!"

Craig sat up on the floor beside her, spitting out water. "I'll be more than happy to assist you! Let's get out of here and back to the school before Logan realizes that we're gone."

They slogged back to the Escalade and drove back to the school.

"Where have the seven of you been?" Logan snarled at them as they came through the door from the garage.

"They took us for ice cream!" Angela told the lie with a large grin as she skipped past Logan.

"Then why are you soaking wet?" he asked skeptically.

"There was a small incident with the sprinkler system at the ice cream place," Ziva said in a small voice.

Logan arched a brow at her before shifting his gaze to Craig. "You two should be more careful. Sprinklers," he snorted before he spun around and stomped off.

Stevie looked at them with a frown. "What did he mean by that?"

"Nothing, get your butts to bed," Craig told him.

Mellissa snickered as she shoved Stevie in the back to get him moving.

Skylar yawned, waved to them, and headed off. A'Cadia made a half attempt at a wave and she too left for bed.

Ziva turned and tried to get away before Craig noticed.

"Oh no, you don't!" Craig snatched her arm up and held her wrist in a firm grasp.

"Let me go!" she snapped at him.

"No. I wanted to apologize for the fight the other night. I think we both got a little out of hand. All right? That's it, good night, Ziva" He bent and brushed a quick kiss across her lips before he released her and disappeared off down the hallway.

He left her standing there staring after him. That was it. She'd expected him to want to have some big talk about feelings and—stuff. He'd only apologized. She touched her fingers to her lips. And smiled.

She really needed to get out of here.