#tf3ntf

The next morning started off quite abruptly, before dawn.

Ema quickly awoke to a loud banging on her door, likely Betty. She jumped up from bed, startled, and glanced over at the LCD alarm clock on her desk, the time read 04:10 AM.

"EMA, IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO LEAVE! GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT!" Betty shrieked through the door. She sounded drunk.

"..Yes ma'am..." Ema quickly replied, just loud enough to be heard.

She grabbed her packed suitcase, pulled on her jacket over her pajama gown, and slipped her shoes on.

The bedroom door was swung open before Ema could open it herself.

Betty then pulled Ema by the arm and dragged her down the stairs, and out to the front door, shoving her into it.

"Goodbye." She spat, blowing her cigarette smoke into Ema's face.

Ema didn't say anything back, just stepping outside the front door as she was told.

As soon as she was outside, she heard the front door slam shut behind her, before hearing the door lock.

She simply sighed, and found a spot near the driveway to sit and wait for her father to come.

She hoped he would actually come.

------

6 AM, Boston, Massachusetts.

Jeremy woke to his alarm, and got out of bed quickly, assuming he'd have to wake the kids up.

However, when he walked downstairs, he was surprised to see all four kids up and ready on the couch, with their suitcases in tow.

"What took you so long to get up?" Tanya questioned lightly, with a small laugh.

"Well, jeez, I wasn't expecting you all to be ready by now..." Jeremy chuckled.

"You shoulda seen the look on your face!" Tommy smiled.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it!" Tanya and Remy Jr. jumped up at the same time.

"I got it, kids." Jeremy chuckled, getting up to open the front door.

Standing there was a tired, yet optimistic looking Mrs. Pauling.

"Hi, I know I'm very early.." she began.

"Ah, no, you're perfectly alright... the kids are all already up and ready to go, shockingly. I'm the only one that's still gotta get dressed. You wanna come in, maybe have some coffee?" Jeremy replied.

"Ah, no, I'm fine. We really need to get going though. We have an extra stop we have to make. And our flight leaves at 8." Pauling continued.

"I see. Gotcha. Well let me get dressed and uh, you get the kids into the van?" Jeremy suggested.

"I can do that."

------

20 minutes later, all four kids and Jeremy were packed into a van on the way to the airport.

Along the way, they made a stop in Midwest Vermont,  just 20 minutes outside of Boston.

The Willis's were already somewhat familiar with the Doe kids. They'd met at their family's first Christmas gathering, and they'd been getting together every once in awhile ever since.

She was speaking German, and she sounded particularly peeved.

14 year old Ema Ludwig sat quietly on the living room sofa, with a book her lap, passively listening to her sisters in the other room, and her mother; Betty in the kitchen, talking on the telephone.

After another few moments of yelling, she called her name.

"Ema!! Get your ass over here, little girl!!" She shouted.

"I'm coming, mother." Ema replied, standing up quickly, and rushing to the kitchen.

She was only ever shouted at these days, never spoken to. She was used to it.

As soon as Ema entered the kitchen, Betty carelessly dropped the phone on the floor in front of her.

"It's your father." She simply said, before leaving the room.

Ema stared down at the phone reciever. Her father called occasionally, but something seemed different this time.

With a sense of dread and fear, she nervously picked up the telephone and put the reciever to her ear, before gently speaking.

"...hallo..?"

"Hallo!" Herbert responded in a sweeter tone.

"How are you doing today?"

He wasn't sure what else to say in the moment. It had been over six months since their last phone call, as Ema had been 'grounded' from the phone since then, for an unknown infraction.

Ema hesitated a moment.

She knew she couldn't tell him how she really was. She leaned against the countertop, shivering a bit.

"... I'm fine. I was just reading when you called." Her voice is quieter.

She is quieter because, even though she is out of sight, she can feel Betty's presence, watching and listening, just out of sight.

"... what did you mean to call for..?"

" I called to ask if you'd like to come stay vith me for a vhile at my place, like a sleep over if you vill, get out of zhe house und have a break from school und such."

He trailed on, she could hear him shuffling around and working in the background while he talked.

Ema pondered that idea for a moment.

Stay with her father? She hadn't considered that as an option. She'd been told by her mother all the stories of how awful and terrible he was. But at this point, all she could think was; could he possibly be any worse to her than Betty?

Afterall, Betty would probably jump at the chance to get rid of her.

After a long moment of silence, she answered.

"I... I think I'd like that. To come stay with you. If you can convince my mother to allow me to go."

" if you could hand zhe phone back to your mother I can do just zhat! "

He said cheerfully, far more cheerful than Ema was at this moment.

"Right.. give me a moment." Ema replied a bit flatly.

She placed the phone receiver on the counter, before turning to call for her mother, who was just walking back into the kitchen as she did so.

"Phone." She said, sternly.

Ema just quietly handed it to her and quickly stepped out of her way.

She sat back down on the couch, trying to be as quiet and unbothersome as possible as she listened in to the conversation in the kitchen.

Betty seemed rather apathetic as she spoke to Herbert over the phone, and after a fairly quick exchange, she heard Betty slam the reciever onto the telephone stand.

Ema then watched Betty walk out of the kitchen, and pull out a plain, empty suitcase from a closet in the hallway, before dropping it onto Ema's lap, knocking her book onto the floor. She froze, barely reacting out loud.

"I'm sure you're aware of what's happening already. Get your crap packed up and ready to go. You leave here tomorrow." Betty spoke with a tone of disdain.

Ema just quietly nodded, getting up from the couch with the suitcase in hand.

As soon as she was in her room, she cried silently to herself as she packed her belongings.

All is quiet in the Willis Household, until the silence is suddenly broken by the ringing of the house phone in the front room.

A groggy Jeremy Willis just so managed to shuffle down the hallway and pick up the phone.

"....'ello..?" Jeremy Mumbled into the phone, trying to rub the last remnants of sleep from his eyes.

"Hello, so sorry I have to wake you this early. Can I speak to Jeremy Willis?" A familiar voice started on the other end, which Jeremy recognized almost instantly.

"... Miss Pauling...?" He questioned in disbelief.

"Yes, this is me, is that you, Scout? - I mean, Jeremy, sorry." Miss Pauling continued.

"Yep, still me.... so uh... I- just to clarify, I really can't take a job for ya like old times, I gotta look after my kiddos, ya know. So, uh, sorry 'bout that." Jeremy answered.

"Yes, well you see, actually, we need your kids to come along with. This isn't a job like old times. I'm not allowed to say much more over the phone, but I need you and your four to be ready at 8 tomorrow. We have a long drive to Arizona, so I'll have plenty of time to explain everything then." Miss Pauling explained, an air of urgency in her otherwise calm tone.

Jeremy took a moment to process all that, before answering.

"Well. We can do that. See ya then."

"Thank you so much for picking up, Jeremy. I'll see you tomorrow." Miss Pauling replied, sounding somewhat relieved.

With that, she finally hung up the phone, leaving Jeremy standing there, just sort of processing everything.

"...Well. Here we go again..." He mumbles to himself with a sigh, before heading back upstairs.

--------

about a half-hour later, once all four kids had gotten up and eaten breakfast, Jeremy gathered his brood in the living room to talk to them.

"Alright, kiddos. Here's the deal."

about a half-hour later, once all four kids had gotten up and eaten breakfast, Jeremy gathered his brood in the living room to talk to them.

"Alright, kiddos. Here's the deal. My old boss- you remember Miss Pauling, right?"

Tanya gave him a nod. Jeremy continued.

"She just called me a lil bit ago, with a job. And uh... she wants you guys to come with. Apparently there's some program, they're gonna teach you like, some self defense skills or whatever, and you'll do a bit of school stuff supposedly."

"So what, are we travelling on a work trip with you?" Remy asked, his tone already full of anxiety.

"Yeah, but we're not killin' anyone as far as i've been told. It's pretty much like a camp. Figure you guys might as well do something... unless you'd rather continue having your grandma homeschool ya."

"I'm in." Tanya immediately jumped up. "Love her, but I'd rather die than listen to her try to read a history book again."

"You said it!" Tommy joined her.

Her sister Mara sighed, only just now looking up from the journal n her lap where she was sitting on the sofa. "I suppose I have no choice."

Remy shrugged and stood up. "How long should I pack for...?"

"Probably just enough for a few weeks... two or three should be good. But pack light, and don't bring all your toys and junk. Just important stuff, okay guys?"

"You got it." Remy nods.

With that, the four teens split off to their rooms to start packing their bags for the long trip ahead, and so did Jeremy.

This was going to be an interesting trip.