Author's Note: Hey guys~ I've never really mentioned it but I just wanted y'all to know that you people rock. Now carry on.

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And indeed there were two figures standing outside the front door, the camera filming the two from above.

The taller one had dark-chocolatey brown hair, tousled and swept to the side. His skin was far more fair than the shorter figure, whose skin tone matched the color of the hair of the taller one; rich, dark brown. He had his hair in dreads, and they were nearly long enough to reach his shoulders.

A second camera logged on in correspondence to the first. This one was directly under the peephole of the grand door, leveling it with their faces. The built-in scanner was already sending the info to the main computer, which was searching their identities from every known file in the database.

However, these were not new faces that were staring back at them through the camera. Rather they were close friends.

Well, at least for Dan. Amy's relationship with the other one was not so much friendship...

Before the auto-voice on the main computer could kick in and read aloud the files on the people outside, Dan's obnoxious voice loudly and excitedly yelled, "ATTICUS!"

Ian flinched in his seat while Amy and Jonah seemed undeterred; she lived with the kid and Jonah, well, his music's never been the soft kind.

Through the comm, Fiske wisely decided to let the two in himself; it was obvious the hooligans, no matter how ruthless or slick they could be, were useless in the monitor room at the moment. His exasperated voice crackled slightly as he welcomed Jake and Atticus in.

Jake and Atticus Rosenbloom. Although they were step-brothers, their bond was as strong as can be. And as honorary Cahills, they proved their worth on several occasions during the battle against Vesper mastermind(s).

Jake, in his early twenties, was a prodigy in academics; history, archaeology, physics, you name it, he's most probably studied it. But his build was not meek either. His treks with his father, a famous archaeologist, and Amy and Dan had shown that he was more than a pretty face and brain.

Really pretty face though. Amy thought.

On the other hand, Atticus, in his early preteen years, was weak and looked fragile, but behind those thick glasses was a mind that held a massive database of knowledge. A child genius with IQ of over 200, he was a walking encyclopedia and more. 

As both walked into the hallway, they were met with Hamilton, who'd come out of his nap from who-knows-where.

Eyes still half-closed, the six foot figure yawned. When he opened them again, they widened in surprise.

Everyone stilled as they watched Hamilton's buffering reaction. Dan seemed especially excited as he waited for the comedy that was about to ensue.

After a few seconds of staring at the new guests, Hamilton bellowed, "Amester! Your boyfriend's here!"

Downstairs, Amy shrieked and clamored her way up the stairs, stammering her denial while Dan howled with laughter.

Amidst his guffaws, Dan glanced to his left where Ian sat and spotted his peeved face, which only served to fuel his happiness. But when he saw how equally perturbed Jonah seemed to be, his giggles dissolved.

His face now monotonous, Dan looked between the two, who didn't seem to notice the sudden absence of laughter. It clicked in his mind what was really going down, and with a groan of distaste, Dan made his way up the stairs too, grumbling variations of "Gross," and "How in the world..."

Upstairs, Jake and Atticus haven't yet moved a foot from where they were before; they were still one foot in and one foot out of the house, and seemed to have given up trying to advance any further.

Jake was in an intense stare down with Hamilton, who despite being younger, was an intimidating rival next to Jake with his height and muscle. After what seemed like an eternity of awkwardness, Hamilton slapped Jake on the back, a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, Atticus was awkwardly shuffling on his feet, watching the exchange behind thick glasses. When Dan emerged from the stairway, Atticus breathed a sigh of relief and ran to his friend, both running inside, probably to the game room.

Hamilton swiveled around, sensing a hiding presence. As he thought, Amy, who left before Dan, was concealing herself from view. Unfortunately for her, Hamilton caught sight of her and yelled in childish delight, "Ames!"

With a nervous laugh, Amy stepped out. "Hey Jake, it's been a while hasn't it?"

With a wide half-smile on his face, Hamilton threw his arm around Amy, pushing her forward a few steps. "Doesn't she look slammin' now?"

Amy ducked her head under a curtain of her hair, the heat of Jake's gaze burning through.

"Wasn't she always?" Jake questioned.

Hamilton whistled, "Whoa, man. Respect."

Amy fought a smile as she peered up at Jake. Had he gotten taller? And tanner?

She was about to further immerse herself in the confirmation of her questions when she heard Ian's voice, heavily accented from the tinge of annoyance that she picked up.

"Delightful that your friend is here, but I don't believe we were quite finished down there."

Hamilton and Jake looked confused. Amy rolled her eyes.

"That's not important," she said, trying to veer them away from the topic. "Anyways, aren't you more curious about why Jake and Atticus are here?"

Ian leered at Jake, the arbitrarily venomous gaze returned full-force.

"Not really." Ian said crossly.

From behind him, Jonah snorted. "Sulking, dude? Not cool."

At that, Ian pivoted on his foot and made his way back down the stairs, muttering, "Bloody entertainer," as he passed the rapper. Jonah smiled satisfactorily.

"Mischief managed." He sang, following the Brit down, probably to continue his so-called "managed" mischief. 

Arm still around Amy, of which Jake noticed, Hamilton spoke up, "So why are the Rosenbloom bros here?"

Jake furrowed his brows, "Nellie called us here. She said there was an 'utmost emergency' and that her 'kiddos were in danger'."

After running his eyes up and down Amy with a speculative and judgmental gaze, he added, "You look fine to me. Better than fine, actually."

Amy laughed nervously as she shied away from Hamilton's arm, shuffling through her memory in search for an explanation to Jake's appearance. When had Nellie told her about this? Had she even told her?

She had not, Amy soon concluded, and with an apologetic look to Jake, she said, "Sorry, I have no idea what she was talking about. In the meantime, come in. I'll find her."

She moved aside to let Jake in, Hamilton sliding sideways to stand beside her as Jake walked in and sat down in the comforter closest to the doorway.

"So who else is here?" He asked, looking around. These guys were loaded!

Amy blinked.

Sinead! Where'd she gone to? Last she knew, she was running, protecting her new invention of sorts from Dan's inquisitive and destructive self.

Was she. . .

To confirm her theory, Amy strained her ears.

Coming from further down the hallway, beyond the living room, were faint shouts.

Behind the gaming room's door, Atticus's voice could be heard yelling words of encouragement for Dan, who apparently was going against Sinead, whom Dan vowed to "slay." Sounds of a violently destructive video game emanated from the room.

Sinead had originally gone in to sneak some wires for her invention from the gaming controllers, but she was interrupted and caught by Dan, who hollered in fury. He'd demanded that in return for dismantling his controllers that Sinead let him have whatever she was making.

Fearful for her creation's premature death at the hands of a fourteen year old boy, Sinead hurriedly proposed a challenge; if she won at a video game of his choice, she could leave, her invention unscathed, and he'd forget about the controllers (he had extras, so she didn't see why it was such a big deal) but if he won, she would let him be first to test it out, even though he didn't even know what it would do yet.

Confident that he could beat Sinead at any game - they were all his, after all - he let her choose. A poor decision on his part as he was just figuring out now, because Sinead quickly calculated the pattern and tricks to the game.

But the others didn't know that. It was odd to them why Sinead of all people wanted to be in there. She'd much rather be brainstorming new ideas for engineering. The only thing that'd be weirder was if Ian was in there too. Willingly that is.

Leaving them be, Amy looked back at James.

"Nope. Sinead's here too, but I'm pretty sure you can tell where she is." Gesturing with a tilt of her head towards the gaming room where the shouts intensified as Sinead just beat Dan at another round of whatever game they were playing.

Jake smiled amusingly. Remembering why he was sitting in the first place, he reminded Amy with a lifted eyebrow.

"Oh right. Nellie." Amy left the living room for the kitchen where Nellie was making some food that no one's heard of before, leaving Hamilton and Jake.

"So. How you been, man?" Hamilton asked, leaning back on the wall, his hands burrowed in his jean pockets (he'd outgrown those purple sweatsuits a long while back.)

"It's been peaceful. Things really did simmer down after all that Vesper crap."

Hamilton smiled knowingly. "Like it's been boring right?"

Jake contemplated the thought. "Well, in a sense. It's pretty hard to fall back into our normal routine just as we got used to this Cahill business."

Hamilton snorted. "Trust me, you don't wanna be caught up in this mess. It's cool, yeah, to have so many awesome dudes related to you, but when it comes down to it, really drags on, you know?"

Jake nodded empathetically. What with the death of Atticus's mother, his step-mother, a series of odd events had occurred, only to be explained by the crazies of the Cahill family.

A whoop from the kitchen snapped the two's heads towards the kitchen. A wondrous smell wafted soon after.

Hamilton sniffed loudly. "Sweet! Food!"

Jake chuckled. "That's why Amy was taking so long."

Hamilton looked at him, studying him.

The sudden change in mood caught Jake off-guard. "What happened?"

"Speaking of Amy," Hamilton started, "Are you guys dating or something?"

Jake looked taken aback. "Huh? Well, no."

With a smile like Cheshire Cat, Hamilton said, "Good. Then you won't mind me then."

Two eyebrows shot up in realization. Jake was about to reply when the kitchen door swung open, and the two guys were assaulted by a wave of savory goodness.

Nellie strolled through, holding a tray of what looked like puffed-up croissants. Amy followed closely behind, looking as hungry for the snacks as Hamilton was.

As Nellie set the tray down on the table in front of Jake, she caught a glimpse of his face.

He looked shocked, his eyes still slightly wide and eyebrows still raised. His lips were puckered in concentration as he stared off into nothingness.

Nellie smirked. She knew exactly why Jake looked like a deer in headlights. Super sharp hearing paid off on many occasions.

Her job here was done.

A/N: If y'all liked it, vote? Thank you~