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Chapter Text

     “I’m sick of those rotten Warner kids! Already today they crashed a golf cart full of props, destroyed a movie set, harassed one of our actors so much she vowed to never come back to the Warner Bros. studio lot, threw Ralph into a pond, and ate an entire spread of food meant for a whole crew, and it’s not even noon! I will do anything to get those Warners under control! I don’t care what it takes!”

     Despite Plotz yelling and ranting, Scratchansniff remained calm. “Mr. Plotz, perhaps it is time we attempt to find a specialist, no?”

     “I thought you were supposed to be the specialist, Scratchansniff!” Plotz’s blood pressure seemed to rise with every word.

     “That is true, but with the Warners, I can only do so much.”

     The sound of glass breaking came from the ground below. Plotz and Scratchansniff rushed to the window. The Warners were searching for something around the shattered glass, and in Wakko’s hand was a baseball bat that was far too big for him.

     “Next time, you pitch and I’ll bat,” said Dot.

     Plotz’s face turned tomato red. “Hey!”

     The siblings looked up at Plotz. “Sorry!” Wakko called. “I hit the ball too hard!” The three of them took off before Plotz could yell at them more.

     “Perhaps we should make some calls.”

     And that’s exactly what they did. For weeks they called child psychologists, pediatricians, social workers, abnormal psychology specialists, anyone who could possibly help. But it didn’t work. Everyone had heard of the Warners, and nobody wanted to take the case. Eventually, Plotz and Scratchansniff got so desperate that they decided to put out a help wanted ad in the newspaper.

     Another week passed, and Plotz started to think that the newspaper idea had failed too. Then, as he and Scratchansniff were thinking of other possible ways to get the word out, the phone rang.

     Plotz ran to answer it. “Thaddeus Plotz speaking. Yes. Yes. Yes! Wonderful! I’ll see you at nine AM sharp Monday!” He turned to Scratchansniff. “We got an answer to the newspaper ad!”

     At nine AM Monday, Plotz felt less confident than he had five minutes prior.

     A young girl who couldn’t have been older than her early twenties stood in front of him. She had long, brunette hair and a round face. She had dark eye makeup and her clothes were casual but grunge- a tshirt, cuffed jeans with holes in the knees, black boots, and a flannel button up- but that was to be expected. Plotz told her to not worry about dressing up since whatever she wore would likely end up stained and ripped by the end of the day.

     “So, Miss Fauster, you called because you said you could help us. You’re certain you’re qualified for this job? Because I must say, you’re quite young, and the Warners can be... difficult.”

     The young woman straightened her posture. “Yes sir. I know I’m young, but based on my understanding, I think youth might be exactly what you need. I can keep up with the children and understand their needs better than someone older might. And I don’t have a lot of work experience in the field, but I did graduate with a 3.8 GPA as a double major in child development and social work.”

     “Impressive. That should get you a lot of opportunities in the field. So why do you want a job trying to make three devil children behave?”

     “I don’t believe that there’s such thing as a bad kid. I think all kids are just doing the best with what they’ve been given. When I saw your ad, I saw three kids in need. I want to help them just as much as I want to help you. That’s why I chose this career path. So I could help kids.”

     Plotz raised his eyebrows. “And the stories about the Warners didn’t scare you off?”

     “Those stories must be more local. I’m from Ohio, and I’d never even heard of the Warners before I moved to LA a few weeks ago.”

     “Well, seeing as you’re our only candidate, I suppose you’re hired, on a temporary basis. You have one week to show that you can improve the Warner siblings’ behavior, and if that happens, we can bring you on full time.” Plotz pulled a piece of paper from his desk drawer. “Before you meet the children, you’ll need to sign this waiver stating that Warner Bros. is not responsible for any damages caused to your body or mind by the Warner siblings.”

Chapter Text

     “And that brings us to the end of our tour,” said Ralph, “I thinks those are the basics of all yous will need to know! Do yous haves any questions, Lucinda?”

     “I just go by Lucy. And where are the kids I'm supposed to look after? I'm supposed to be beginning my trial soon.”

     “Oh... them. Don't worry abouts that, miss." Ralph looks over Lucy’s appearance. "You's pretty easy on the eyes and one of them is obsessed with womens. They’ll be on you as soon as they finds out about your presence which shoulds be right... about...” As he was talking Lucy glanced behind her and saw three black and white figures in the distance. They briefly look her way and start running over with toon speed. “Now.”

     “HELLOOOOO, NURSE!” The two male children jumped into her arms and gave her an obnoxiously wet kiss, before jumping back down. The youngest sibling stepped in front of them and shook her head.

     “Boys, go figure.”

     Ralph looked past Lucy. “Ooh! Something shiny!” He ran after whatever it was.

     “Ignore him. He’s just like that,” said the girl.

     “Uh, alright. You must be-”

     “We’re the Warner brothers!” The two boys said in perfect sync.

     “And the Warner sister!” The girl chimed in.

     The tallest kid pointed to himself. “I'm Yakko!”

     The boy with the hat stepped forward. “I'm Wakko!”

     “And I am,” The youngest one took in a big breath. “Princess Angelina Contessa Louisa Francesca Banana Fanna Bo Besca, The Third! But you can call me Dot.” Dot smiled, and offered to shake Lucy’s hand, but not before Yakko trampled right over her and accepted Lucy’s hand instead. He lightly kissed it and jumped back into her arms, earning a glare.

     “So, you new in town, lovely?” Yakko purrs towards her and wiggled his eyebrow.

     “It's 'Lucy', thanks.” Lucy answered with a sarcastic but professional tone. “And yes, actually. I've been assigned to be your au pair!”

     The three children glanced at each other, and Yakko jumped out of Lucy’s arms. “You're our what?”

     “I’m here to look after you kids. I'm sure we are going to get along really well together!”

     Yakko raised his eyebrows- or where his eyebrows would be if he wasn’t completely covered in fur- and said, “Yeah. Don’t be so sure about that, Lucy. We can take care of ourselves.”

     “I’m sure you can, but I’m also here to figure out what’s going on with you guys acting out.” The kids just stared at her, so she sighed and continued. “Look, I’ll level with you guys. I’m new at this, and I might only be here for a week. I just want to see if I can do anything to help you guys out. Truthfully, I doubt your issues are even your fault, and I want to do my best to fix whatever is wrong for you guys. And we can still have lots of fun too! So, what do you say? Can I just spend the week with you guys and see where we end up after that?”

     Yakko and Dot still looked skeptical, but Wakko gave her a small smile with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth and said, “I think that would be alright.”

     Dot thought for a second. “Yeah, me too.” She looked at her oldest brother. She had never seen him so closed off. Usually he responded to serious stuff with lighthearted humor. “Yakko?”

     “Don’t they have some kids over at Disney studios you can bother instead?”

     Dot nudged him with her elbow, hard. She had no idea why he was acting like this. “Ow!” He yelled. “Yeah, sure. But you have to be able to keep up with us.”

     Lucy smiled. “Thanks, guys. We’re going to have a lot of fun together. I promise.”

     Yakko still looked pretty upset, but Wakko cut through the tension in the most Wakko way possible by walking right up to Lucy and asking, “Hey, you want to watch me pretend to throw up?”

Chapter Text

     Dot offered to give Lucy a tour of their own, because, in her words, “The official tour doesn’t show you the fun places.”

     Lucy accepted, and each of the younger Warners took one of her hands and pulled her along, and Yakko, whose mood seemed to have improved with the help of his brother’s antics, took the lead.

     They took her to all their favorite areas on the lot: the costume department where they could try on different outfits, an alley wall with a loose brick where they would stash candy “for emergencies,” movie sets not currently in use that they liked to use as a playground, spots that always offered great shade from the blistering LA heat.

     “That’s Dr. Scratchy’s building,” said Yakko, pointing to the psychiatry building as he walked, “he’s our p-sychiatrist. We like him. Well, we like messing with him.”

     “And over there is stage twelve, where they always have the best food for the crew,” Wakko chimed in. His stomach rumbled loudly. “And just in time too. I’m starving!”

     Dot tugged Lucy’s hand. “Come on! We’ll show you how to get good food around here.”

     They stopped outside the stage. “Wait here,” Yakko said. “We’ll go in and grab what we can. No offense, but, uuuuuuh, you’re a little too big to fit under the table.”

     The three kids turned towards the stage door, but Lucy held out a hand in front of them to stop them. “Wait, are you not supposed to be here?”

     “Well, not technically,” Dot said. “But we’re hungry.”

     “Don’t you have food in the water tower?”

     “Yeah, but it’s not much, and we try to save that just in case,” Yakko said.

     “Just in case of what?”

     “In case they lock us in the tower for good again,” Yakko explained.

     A chill ran down Lucy’s spine. “They... locked you in the tower?”

     “For about sixty years.”

     “You didn’t know?” Wakko asked.

     “Plotz never told me.” Her rage and disgust grew. Those poor kids, locked up for decades, probably terrified, and with little food judging from the way they hoarded it now.

     Lucy took a deep breath. She had to stay calm for the sake of the kids. But she vowed to never let them get hurt like that again, no matter what.

Chapter Text

     Solving the children’s issues with food insecurity would take time, so the best that Lucy could do right then was make sure that the kids had enough food that they would feel comfortable eating at home.

     At the store, Lucy grabbed a cart and all three kids immediately jumped onto the edges of the bottom tray and held onto the basket, Wakko and Dot on each side and Yakko at the front. As Lucy pushed the cart forward, the kids started to pretend that they were on a pirate ship, complete with props from who knows where.

     “Avast mateys!” said Yakko, holding a telescope up to his eye, “Cereal aisle ahead!”

     “Arrr!” replied Wakko, who now wore a pirate hat over his usual red baseball cap.

     Lucy chuckled at their antics as she turned into the aisle. She stopped the cart, and just as quickly as the props had appeared, they disappeared into nothing. The kids hopped off the cart.

     “Alright,” Lucy said, “you guys go get whatever snacks you want, and I’ll get stuff to cook. I don’t have a ton of money, so just keep it under ten dollars for each of you, ok?”

     “Ok!” All three kids replied as they took off at toon speed in different directions.

     As she shopped, each kid occasionally came back to drop candy, chips, and ice cream in her cart. Wakko came back the most often. He really knew how to stretch that ten dollars.

     Lucy was looking at the canned spaghetti sauce when Wakko came around the corner. He walked slower than he had been, but Lucy chalked it up to exhaustion from running all over the store. He held up a box of twinkies.

     “I know you said only ten dollars, but-” he stopped and put his hand up to his head. “Uh oh.”

     Wakko dropped the box of twinkies and slumped against the shelf, his hand still to his head. Lucy didn’t notice it before, but Wakko’s hand had been shaking slightly. Now his whole body shook. His forehead began to sweat.

     “Wakko?” Lucy crouched down to his level. “What’s wrong?”

     Wakko didn’t answer. He just looked at her with glazed over eyes, like he wasn’t really seeing her.

     Lucy didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even know what was wrong with him. The only thing she could think to do was yell for his siblings. She yelled as loud as she could, “Yakko! Dot!”

     The oldest and youngest Warner rounded the corner and saw their brother looking sick. “Wakko!” Dot shouted.

     Yakko rushed to Wakko’s side. “Are you ok?” When he didn’t get a response, he turned to Lucy. “How long has he been like this?”

     “Only a minute. What’s wrong with him?”

     Yakko didn’t answer. He grabbed the box of twinkies from the floor, opened it, and said to Dot, “Give me a juice box.”

     Dot handed him the juice, and he turned to Wakko. He helped Wakko sip the juice and then eat the Twinkie, speaking to him softly to encourage him. After a few minutes, Wakko looked a little better. He was still shaking and leaning against the shelf, but he looked more alert.

     “Feeling better?” Yakko asked.

     “Yeah. Just a little dizzy,” Wakko replied.

     “You should sit down. Come on. I’ll help you get in the cart.”

     Wakko was small enough that he could comfortably sit sideways in the child seat of the cart. Once he was in the seat and Dot had handed him another juice box, Lucy asked him, ”What just happened? Are you ok?”

     “I’m hypoglycemic,” said Wakko. “I get episodes like what you just saw when my blood sugar drops.”

     “You’d get less of them if you told us when you start to feel bad, like you’re supposed to,” Yakko scolded.

     “Sorry. I forgot.”

     Yakko crossed his arms. “How did you forget to tell us something that important?”

     Wakko shrugged sheepishly. “I got distracted.”

     “That episode came on faster than usual. You need to be more careful.”

     “I’m just glad you’re ok,” Dot said.

     “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help,” said Lucy. “This is something Plotz should have told me about.”

     Yakko looked up at her, his eyebrows furrowed. “Seems like there’s a lot Plotz didn’t bother to tell you.”

     “Yeah. I guess so.” And since Plotz wouldn’t tell her anything about the children in her care, she decided that she would have to do her own research.

Chapter Text

     The worst part about Wakko’s hypoglycemia wasn’t being hungry all the time or needing to check his blood sugar levels. It wasn’t the dizzy spells or the shaking when he went too long without food. The worst part was how after an episode, Yakko would fuss over him for the rest of the day.

     He appreciated that his big brother cared about his health, but it did get annoying when Yakko insisted that he take it easy no matter how many times Wakko said that he was fine. He felt better, and he wanted to play outside. When he did finally convince Yakko that he was well enough to go outside, Yakko would still check on him every five minutes. It was sweet, but very annoying.

     Which was why Wakko was grateful for bedtime that night. He hoped that things would be a little more normal by the morning. Not just with Yakko worrying about his health, but with their new guest too.

     The couch they had set up as a temporary bed for Lucy was currently empty. Lucy had left the tower when Yakko said that he and his siblings should turn in for the night. She didn’t say where she was going, but she promised that she would be back in a couple hours.

     As Wakko put on his pajamas and got into bed, he thought about the day’s events, and about Lucy. Wakko wasn’t sure what to make of her yet, but he wanted to at least be nice. She had been nothing but friendly and helpful to them, after all.

     Wakko was so deep in thought that Dot’s voice startled him when it came up from the bunk below his.

     “What do you guys think about Lucy?”

     As usual, Yakko had more than his fair share to say. “Do you guys really want her to stay a whole week? We could get rid of her quick. Play tricks on her until she leaves, or if that doesn’t work, Wakko, you’re handy with a mallet, or-”

     “Why?” Wakko interrupted. “She hasn’t been like our ‘special friends’ so far. She’s been nice.”

     “So far. But what happens when she decides that she doesn’t want to be nice anymore? When she runs to Plotz behind our backs? I bet that’s what she’s doing right now. Filling Plotz in on everything that goes on with us so he and Ralph can catch us easier and lock us up again. You know that’s what she was hired for, right? To lock us up, or to dezanitize us, just like Scratchy. But at least Scratchy is up front about it. I don’t trust her.”

     “I know you don’t, Yakko,” Dot said, “but she’s only here for a week. She can’t do too much harm in that time.”

     “She could be here for longer,” said Wakko. “She said that she might only be here for a week. And she said that she wants to help us. The kind of help that we need would take longer than that.”

     “Come on, Wakko. You really think that she will be able to stand us for more than a week?”

     Yakko scoffed. “And she doesn’t want to help us. Nobody does. All we have is each other. That’s the way it’s always been, and that’s the way it always will be.”

     Wakko and Dot had never seen their brother so pessimistic. Even when they were locked in the tower for decades, he did his best to be positive and keep their spirits up.

     Yakko’s words settled over them. None of them said anything else, and one by one, they each went to sleep.

Chapter Text

     Ralph didn’t usually mind the night shift, but right now he was bored out of his mind. Everyone had gone home for the night, so the only thing to do was watch the small tv on his desk. During the day he was usually more active and alert, but when everyone left and the Warners went back to their tower, there just wasn’t much to do.

     He must have been even less alert than usual that night, because he didn’t notice anyone approach the gate, and when a voice behind him said, “Hi,” he nearly jumped out of his skin.

     He turned around to see the Warner children’s new au pair. “Duh, hello, Lucy.”

     Lucy tried to stifle an amused smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

     “That’s ok. Hows was your first day with the Warners?”

     Lucy’s smile faltered. “It was... interesting.”

     “The kids gaves yous lots of trouble, huh?”

     Lucy shook her head. “Nah. They’re hyper, but they’re good kids. No problems with them. Well, I don’t think Yakko likes me very much yet, but that’s not the problem.”

     Her response surprised him. He didn’t think he had ever heard anyone refer to the Warners as “good kids.” Anyone who knew the Warners knew that they were troublemakers. “Then what’s the problem?”

     “I realized that Plotz didn’t tell me everything about the situation. He didn’t even tell me that they were locked in that tower. That’s why I’m here, actually. I was hoping you could fill me in on what Plotz didn’t. You know the Warners pretty well, don’t you?”

     “Yes, I does!” Ralph said. “You knows, my grandpa was the security guard at Warner Bros. when the Warners was first drawn.”

     “That’s great! What can you tell me about them?”

     Ralph thought for a second before responding. “I can tells yous that they was crazy from the very beginnings. The movies they made didn’t make sense, so they got locked in the studio vault, and so did all the videos abouts their histories at the studio.”

     “Videos about their history?” Lucy pressed.

     Ralph nodded his head. “Yeah. Newsreels of the Stars and a couple of others, I thinks.”

     Finally, something that might actually be useful in Lucy’s search for information! She leaned against the doorway. “You think you would be able to get me those videos?”

     “Duh, I don’t know. I could gets in troubles if I gets caught.”

     Lucy smirked. “Who’s going to catch you? Security?”

     “Duh, maybe.”

     Lucy had already realized that Ralph wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box, but this took it to a new level. “Ralph, you are security.”

     “Oh. Right.”

     Lucy returned to the tower with a box full of old film reels and a projector to watch them on. A box full of answers, she hoped.

     The kids had been about to go to bed when she left, which meant they would be asleep by now. She opened the door as quietly as she could, and tiptoed through the dark towards the kitchen, which, aside from the bathroom, was the only separate room in the tower. She set up the projector, turned off the lights, sat down, and started the film.

     “Newsreel of the Stars!”

     A few videos later, and she was on to one that detailed how the studio rented the Warners out for extra money in the 60s during a financial crisis.

     They guest stared in a cartoon about a lunch box stealing capybara, and one about a team of ghost hunting teens and their dog. In both cartoons, the Warners caused chaos, and in Lucy’s opinion, made the cartoons about ten times funnier.

     After starring in both of those cartoons, they were returned to the studio. A tow truck was shown quickly pulling in at the front gate to the Warner lot, with the Warners hanging in a net from the back. Lucy felt sick to her stomach seeing that.

     The Warners were released from the net, smiles back on their faces, and they planted a kiss on Ralph before running away through the lot. Before they could get far, though, another net was dropped on them. The children cried out for help as they fought to get out of the net and-

     Lucy stopped the video. She couldn’t watch anymore. The sound of those poor children’s screams for help as they were trapped against their will was too much. How could anyone treat kids like that? She put her head on top of her knees.

     “Lucy?” A quiet voice came from the kitchen doorway.

     She turned to see Wakko standing in the doorway with a concerned look on his face. For once, his tongue wasn’t hanging out of his mouth.

     Lucy quickly composed herself. “Oh, hey. What are you doing up?”

     “I came to get a glass of water. Are you ok?”

     “Yeah. I’m fine,” Lucy said.

     “You’re crying,” Wakko pointed out.

     It was true. Lucy hadn’t noticed, but a tear had slipped down her cheek. She quickly wiped it off of her face and forced a smile for Wakko’s benefit. “It’s nothing you need to worry about. Get your water and go back to bed, ok?”

     Instead, Wakko walked over to Lucy, sat down next to her with his legs crossed, and looked up at her, indicating that he was ready to listen.

     “Really, it’s nothing,” Lucy assured Wakko. “I was just watching some old films about you and your siblings and some of the stuff you guys have been through got to me a little.”

     “It made you cry?”

     “A little. It was just hard to watch. I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

     Wakko shrugged. “It’s ok. We’re used to it.”

     Lucy’s heart broke for them a little more. “You shouldn’t have to be.”

     Wakko looked away from her. “It’s weird.”

     “What is?”

     “Me and my brother and sister never really had anyone care about what happened to us. I mean, besides us.”

     Lucy felt another wave of sympathy for them. “Well, now you do. I’m going to do my best to fix things around here for you guys. I don’t want anything like what you went through to ever happen to you again.”

     Wakko continued to avoid looking at her. “Dot thinks you won’t be able to stand us for more than a week. Yakko thinks that you’re part of some plan to lock us up again.”

     “Yeah, I noticed that they’re pretty closed off. Especially Yakko.”

     “He’s not usually like that. I don’t know what’s wrong with him right now. Even with our special friends, he’s usually more playful.” Wakko busied himself by looking through the box of film reels.

     Lucy tilted her head to the side. “Special friends?”

     Instead of answering, Wakko pulled out one of the film reels and held it up. “Hey! I haven’t seen this in forever! Can we watch it, please?”

     Lucy hesitated. “I don’t know. We have to be up early for your psychiatry appointment. You should probably go back to bed.”

     “Please, please, pleeeease?” He begged. “We’re never allowed to watch our old cartoons! They’ve been in the studio vault since the 30s!”

     Lucy looked at the clock. She supposed it wasn’t too late, and what was the harm in Wakko staying up a little later to watch something that was obviously important to him? She sighed. “Ok. A few cartoons, then back to bed. Deal?”

     “Deal!” Wakko said as he set up the reel in the projector.

     Wakko hadn’t seen his cartoons since before he and his siblings were locked away, so he was practically bouncing with excitement.

     They watched “Yankee Doodle Warners,” “Warners Take the Homefront,” “Ragamuffins,” “Kitchen Krazy,” and a couple of the Buddy cartoons, with Wakko providing commentary the whole time. He wasn’t usually this talkative, but he wanted Lucy to have the full experience.

     “I directed this one!”

     “Dot kept messing up here and we had to redo it 15 times!”

     “You can hear Weed Memlo yelling at me if you listen!”

     Lucy laughed at all of the cartoons, which Wakko thought was a nice change from how people usually reacted to seeing them.

     “You really think they’re funny?” Wakko asked as “Outback Buddy” ended.

     “Yeah, of course! The way you finished Buddy’s song after smashing him was hilarious.”

     “Most people think our cartoons are weird.”

     Lucy shrugged. “Well, yeah. They are a little weird, but that’s part of what makes them fun.”

     Wakko pulled “Babblin’ Bijou” out of the box. “Can we watch one more?”

     Lucy looked at the clock again. “It’s pretty late. Tell you what, though. I have to return the cartoons in the morning, but I can talk to Ralph and see if he will let us borrow them a different night. Then your siblings can watch, too. How does that sound?”

     Wakko thought for a second. Watching the cartoons with his siblings would be more fun, and she was right about it being late. He was starting to get tired. He nodded in agreement with her plan.

     He said goodnight and went back to bed. As he climbed the ladder to the top bunk, he reevaluated his thoughts about Lucy. A few hours ago, he hadn’t been sure what to make of her. Now, he had seen her cry because of their pain and laugh at their stupidest jokes. He realized that she was different than most of the other adults he knew. She actually cared about them. And he was sure now that he wanted her to stick around.

Chapter Text

     Most mornings, Dot was the first one of the trio to wake up. She liked to get up to watch the sunrise and enjoy the peaceful mornings before her rambunctious brothers awoke (not that she didn’t enjoy their chaos, and even contribute to it, but she needed alone time, too).

     This morning, though, as she climbed down the ladder from the middle bunk, she noticed that both of the other beds were empty, and she realized that she must have overslept. Oh well, she thought as she sat down at her vanity and began removing her curlers, nothing wrong with a little extra beauty sleep.

     She took the time to make sure her curlers were in their proper spots on her vanity before getting dressed in her usual pink skirt. Once she had done that, she went to the kitchen, where the smell of bacon and the sound of chatter came from.

     The first thing Dot noticed was Yakko sitting at the table, pouting with his arms crossed in front of him. She had hoped that his emotional state would have improved overnight, but that didn’t seem to be the case. She sat next to him and asked, “What’s got you in a mood?”

     Yakko gestured to Lucy and Wakko at the kitchen counter. Lucy cooked bacon at the stove, while Wakko mixed something in a shallow dish, his tail wagging excitedly.

     “Like this?” Wakko asked, showing Lucy the mixture.

     Lucy glanced at it. “Perfect! Now dip the bread in on each side, and sprinkle in just a little more cinnamon before each slice of bread.” Wakko beamed with pride at her approval and got to work.

     Lucy turned and noticed Dot sitting at the table. “Morning!” she said with a smile. Dot didn’t say anything, but returned her smile, if only to be polite. As soon as Lucy returned to cooking, Dot dropped the happy expression.

     Yep. That was a problem. Not that they were making breakfast together (Dot was starving), but that Wakko looked like he was enjoying Lucy’s company. He was at risk of getting attached, and when she was inevitably gone, Wakko’s heart would be broken, and Yakko and Dot would be left to pick up the pieces. Again.

     Dot nodded knowingly towards Yakko, confirming that she understood his concern. She and Yakko made eye contact, and there was a silent agreement that they had to stop it before Wakko had the chance to get too close and get hurt. Wakko might have been her big brother, but she protected him just as much as he did her.

     Lucy put the bacon on a plate and went to pour a cup of coffee from the pot. She turned towards Yakko with a friendly smile. “You want one?” When he didn’t answer, she poured a second cup and placed it on the table along with creamer and sugar and said, “Well, it’s there if you want it.”

     Yakko looked at the coffee cup for a second, then stood up from his chair. He walked over to the coffee pot and grabbed a mug, pouring his own cup. He looked back at Lucy with a smug grin and took a sip before heading back to his seat at the table.

     Lucy sighed defeatedly and turned back to the stove, starting to cook the French toast Wakko had prepared. Wakko watched her cook, but got quickly distracted. He eyed the coffee still sitting on the table, and left his position at the counter to go pick it up. He sniffed it and took a small sip before pulling a face and shouting, “Blegh!”

     Though Wakko would eat just about anything, there were a few things he wouldn’t: oatmeal, certain types of rocks, and now black coffee, apparently. Dot giggled at her brother.

     Lucy glanced behind her to see what Wakko had gagged at. When she saw what had happened, she let out a small laugh of her own. “Try adding cream and sugar. It’ll taste better.”

     Wakko did as she suggested, adding cream and sugar little by little and tasting it each time until he was satisfied.  He sat down beside Yakko, on Dot’s other side, and looked at Yakko before imitating his position exactly: both hands on the mug, elbows on the table, one leg crossed over the other.

     As upset as Yakko was about their situation, he couldn’t hold back his amused smile. Where most people would be annoyed at their sibling copying them, Yakko and Dot knew that it was a sign of Wakko’s admiration.

     Lucy loaded up each plate with bacon and several slices of French toast before sliding one in front of each kid. Yakko looked at his in disgust and said “Uuuuuuuuuuh, I think I’m good with just coffee.”

     Dot realized that this was the first thing she had heard him say all morning. He must have been really upset. The only other time she had ever seen him this silent was in the first couple weeks after they were locked in the tower.

     “Come on, Yakko,” Wakko said, squeezing the ketchup bottle as he spoke (yes, he was topping his French toast with ketchup, nearly making Dot gag). “I worked really hard on it.”

     There was no resisting the sad puppy face that Wakko gave him. Though Dot would never allow either of her brothers to claim her title as “The Cute One,” she had to admit that Wakko did have an adorable puppyish charm.

     Yakko took a bite of the French toast, then begrudgingly admitted, “It’s really good.”

     Wakko went back to focusing on his own breakfast, content with Yakko’s approval. Dot had to agree with Yakko. It was delicious, easily one of the best meals they had eaten in a while. She practically had to restrain herself from licking the plate clean when she finished, but maybe that was just an old instinct from years of not knowing when her next meal would be.

     As they finished eating, Lucy glanced up at the clock and gasped. “We’re going to be late for your appointment!”

     Lucy hurried the kids out of the kitchen and towards the front door, telling them that they would have time to clean up the dirty dishes when they got back and that they needed to go now. Dot didn’t have to be told twice. She was looking forward to blowing off some steam by messing with her favorite psychiatrist.

Chapter Text

     Heloise looked over the schedule at her desk again to make sure she had the time right. The Warners usually arrived early for their appointments, allowing enough time for the boys to ogle at her and for Dot to complain about it, but their appointment was about to start and they were nowhere in sight.

     The door burst open, and in came the three Warners along with a pretty brunette woman. The two boys caught sight of Heloise and jumped right into her arms with their usual greeting of, “Helloooooo, nurse!”

     “Dr. Scratchansniff is ready to see you,” she said, gently placing them on the ground so she could open the door to his office.

     “Glad we found the right place,” the brunette said. “I’m still learning my way around the lot.”

     Yakko crossed his arms over his chest and rolled his eyes. “It’s not hard to find. The sign outside says p-sychiatry.” Before the woman could respond, Yakko turned on his heel and led his siblings in the door to the office, leaving just the two young women.

     The appointment went as expected. Scratchansniff tried to psychoanalyze the Warners, they tormented him, and by the end, Scratchy was several steps closer to a nervous breakdown. The usual. Yakko knew that he was being a little extra hard on Scratchy today, but he had to release his frustration somewhere, and where better than on their favorite psychiatrist?

     At the end of the appointment, the siblings planted a kiss on Scratchy. They left his office to find Hello Nurse and Lucy chatting like old friends.

     “So he jumps into the lake after her, and then-“ Lucy stopped her story when she noticed that the kids were back in the waiting room. “Hey! How was the appointment?”

     “Productive,” Yakko said flatly. “Really made some breakthroughs.”

     Lucy stood up from her chair. “Ok, looks like it’s my turn to talk with the doctor. Do you guys mind waiting out here for a few minutes?”

     Wakko gave her a confused look. “You have a p-sychiatry appointment with Scratchy too?”

     “Not exactly. I just need to talk to him so I can get an idea of what he’s doing to help you guys. It won’t be very long. Just wait out here.” Lucy entered the office, closing the door behind her.

     Yakko locked eyes with Dot, and they had a silent understanding. Now was their chance to talk to Wakko without Lucy overhearing. Yakko just hoped he would listen before he got hurt.

     The siblings sat down in the waiting room chairs. Yakko glanced back at Hello Nurse to make sure she wasn’t listening, but she had busied herself with something at her desk. He turned to Wakko and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Wakko looked up at him, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

     “We need to talk about Lucy, baby bro.” Yakko’s voice was surprisingly gentle.

     “What’s wrong?”

     “You’re getting attached, and you can’t do that. At best, she’s only here for a week, and at worst, she’s working against us.”

     Wakko’s tongue now stuck straight out instead of at the side of his mouth, like it did when he was thinking hard about something. “I think you might be wrong about her.”

     “Wak,” Dot started, “We just don’t want you to get hurt.”

     “And besides, when are we ever wrong about someone? Were we wrong about that director who worked us for 36 hours straight? I told you both when we met him that we shouldn’t work with him.”

     “You were right about that, but-“

     “And what about that actor in ‘32 that I told you would be a jerk when you wanted him to sign your autograph book? Was I wrong about that?”

     “No but-“

     “See? I’m good at reading people, and I’m telling you that Lucy-“

     “YAKKO!”

     Yakko stopped mid-sentence, stunned. Wakko had never yelled at him like that. Wakko wasn’t one for yelling anyway, and especially not at his siblings. That was more Dot’s thing.

     Wakko’s expression immediately turned guilty. “I’m sorry for yelling. Really, I am. But you don’t understand. You didn’t see how Lucy cried. She cares. She’s different.”

     “She cried?” Dot asked.

     Wakko nodded. “About us, after watching our old films.”

     Yakko raised an eyebrow. “How do you know she wasn’t faking?”

     “I saw her before she knew I was in the room. She really was crying.”

     Dot bit her lip while she contemplated Wakko’s words. “I don’t know, Yakko. Maybe we weren’t fair to Lucy. Maybe Wakko is right about this one.”

     “No way. I don’t like her and I don’t trust her,” Yakko said as he shook his head.

     “You’re so stubborn, Yakko!” Dot snapped. “Even if you don’t trust her, maybe you can put some trust in our brother.”

     “It’s my job to protect you both, and that includes from people who want you to feel safe with them.”

     “If Wakko is right about Lucy, then maybe you won’t need to protect us so much anymore.”

     Dot’s words felt like a punch to the gut. Hurt and rage bubbled inside Yakko, and he climbed down from his chair before his siblings could see the tears forming in his eyes.

     “I’m going to take a walk, he said, looking away from Wakko and Dot.

     “Yakko…” Wakko said softly.

     “I’ll meet you back at the tower.” Yakko left the waiting room just as the tears started falling down his cheeks.

Chapter Text

     Yakko walked along one of the more hidden backstreets in the studio, where he knew he wasn’t likely to be interrupted by anyone passing through. He kicked a little stone in front of him for several yards until it rolled out to the far left, way out of his pathway. He sighed and kept moving.

     Something occurred to him. Something he never thought he would have to consider, but try as he might to suppress the thought, it made sense given his circumstances.

     As much as he wanted to believe Lucy didn’t have their best interests at heart, he knew that wasn’t true, and it wasn’t the real reason he didn’t want her there. Lucy had taken his place as Wakko and Dot’s provider, their protector, their guiding hand, and if she hadn't yet, she was well on the way there. His siblings didn’t need him anymore. And if his siblings didn’t need him, there was no point in sticking around. Maybe it was time to set out on his own. He didn’t know where he would go or what he would do exactly, but he had enough talent and celebrity status to make it somewhere. Maybe he could go to Disney Studios, or star in independent films. If he was really going to do this though, he needed to get back to the tower and pack his things before his siblings had time to find and stop him.

     “Thank you, Dr. Scratchansniff. You’ve given me a lot to think about,” Lucy said before opening the door to the waiting room. She felt more concerned than ever, and was so distracted that she almost didn’t notice two kids where there should have been three. “Where’s Yakko?”

     “He needed some space. He’s probably just back at the tower,” Dot replied.

     “What happened? Is he ok?”

     Wakko looked down at the ground guiltily, his shoulders sagging and his hands folded in his lap. “We hurt his feelings.”

     “Ok. We can go back to the tower and talk to him about whatever happened. No big deal.” She ushered Wakko and Dot out the door.

     “Yakko?” Dot called as she entered the tower. “Yakko, are you home? I’m sorry about earlier!”

     Wakko headed straight over to their bunkbed and pointed at the bottom bunk. “Dot? Lucy?”

     The girls walked over to the bed to find it stripped and with a note sitting on it. Lucy picked up the note. It said:

     Wakko and Dot,

     I’m sorry to leave like this, but you were right. You don’t need me anymore. I’m going to find a new place to live and try to make a name for myself as an actor. I know you will be ok with Lucy looking after you. Don’t worry about me, and please don’t come looking for me. I love you both.

     Love,

     Yakko

     “All his stuff is missing,” Dot said.

     “Come on. We need to find him,” Lucy said, heading back for the tower door.

     "Ralph!" Lucy, Wakko, and Dot yelled as they approached the gate. Ralph turned at the sound of his name.

     "Ralph, have you seen Yakko today?" Lucy asked.

     "Duh... yes. He went that ways about twenty minutes agos." Ralph pointed beyond the gate.

     "Did you ask where he was going?"

     "Yes, I did."

     Lucy waited for him to continue, and when she realized he wasn't going to, she asked, "Where did he say he was going?"

     "He just said that he didn't knows, but that he would miss me even though I'm stupid and in..com..pe...tent," Ralph said, sounding out the last word slowly.

     "Ralph, Yakko ran away and we need to find him fast."

     Ralph gave a salute and said, "Yous can counts on me!" before running the other direction.

     "We need to hurry," Lucy said, grabbing each kid's hand and rushing towards the gate. "He could be almost anywhere in Burbank by now."

Chapter Text

     After the first several hours of searching, they still had no leads on Yakko’s whereabouts. They had called his name, given his description to anyone who would listen, and called all of the children’s contacts on a payphone to see if Yakko might have stopped by.

     Wakko put his head in his hands and started sobbing. “We aren’t going to find him!”

     “We will. We just need to keep looking. He couldn’t have gone too far,” Dot said, putting a hand on her brother’s shoulder.

     “Hey, there’s a crossing guard over there!” Lucy said, “If Yakko came through here, he had to have seen him!”

     The crossing guard was just leaving for his break, which gave them the perfect opportunity to talk to him. They approached him and Dot tugged on his vest. “Excuse me, but my brother is missing. He looks just like my other brother here, but taller and wearing pants. You haven’t seen him, have you?”

     The crossing guard thought for a second. “Actually, I think I did, a little while ago. He was going east, so maybe to the bus station over on Oak Street. That’s my best guess anyway, because of the luggage he was carrying.”

     Dot turned to Lucy and Wakko. “We need to get over there before he gets on a bus to who-knows-where!”

     “Hey, here comes a taxi now,” the crossing guard said. “Let me see if I can get it to pull over for you. It’s faster than on foot.”

     The taxi did pull over, and as Lucy, Wakko, and Dot climbed into the backseat, the crossing guard handed the driver a fifty dollar bill and told him where to go and to get there as fast as he could. Before the taxi pulled away, the crossing guard looked into the back seat and wished them luck.

     “Thank you so much for your help,” Lucy said. Before the crossing guard could reply, the driver sped off.

     They arrived at the bus station in less than ten minutes. Lucy quickly thanked the driver and she and the kids hurried out of the taxi. They went straight to the ticket booth, where Lucy questioned the person behind the counter about whether they had seen Yakko. As she spoke with them, Dot and Wakko looked around the station. A familiar pair of black ears caught Dot’s eye.

     “Yakko!” Dot yelled, and she and Wakko ran to him at full speed.

     Yakko had just enough time to turn around before his siblings crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.

     “Sibs?” He asked as he sat up, rubbing the part of his head that had hit the concrete.

     “We looked everywhere for you!” Wakko said, wrapping his arms tightly around his brother.

     “Don’t ever scare us like that again!” said Dot, doing the same.

     Yakko stood up, brushing Wakko and Dot off of him. He looked away from his siblings, but they could still see the tears in his eyes. “Didn’t you see the note I left? I told you not to look for me.”

     “Yeah,” Dot said, “And you also said that we don’t need you anymore, but we do.”

     “You said yourself that you don’t.”

     Dot rolled her eyes. “You really need to work on your listening skills. What I said was, ‘we might not need you to protect us as much anymore,’ because now we have an adult that can protect all three of us. We still need you because you’re our big brother.”

     “We love you, Yakko,” Wakko said.

     “I love you too, sibs.” Yakko hugged Wakko and Dot. “You’re sure you want me to come home? Even after all the trouble I caused you today?”

     “Of course we do,” Dot said.

     “And as for running away,” Lucy chimed in as she sat down next to the kids, “Don’t worry about it. You’re not the first kid to do it. I actually did it a few times myself.”

     Yakko raised his eyebrows. “Really? What for?”

     Lucy looked away as she figured out the best way to explain it to the kids. “I was in foster care for a couple years before I met my parents. I lived a lot of places in that time. Every foster parent I had said that I was too much trouble and passed me on to the next place. I started getting into more trouble, and each foster parent passed me along sooner than the last. Then when I was seven, I went to stay in a new foster home. This couple that had a little farm and some kids of their own. They understood why I acted out and they were the first ones to keep me longer than a couple months, and I started to really love them and love living with them. When I was eight, they asked me how I felt about them adopting me. I said yes, because I really did want that, but then I started to feel guilty, like I might hurt my biological mom’s feelings- not that she ever cared about hurting me- and I wasn’t used to people caring about me. It was new and scary, so I did the only thing I could think to do at the time. I ran away. Five times, actually. My parents found me every time, and they still loved me when they brought me back.”

     “I didn’t know you were adopted.”

     Lucy shrugged. “It never came up. Anyway, I just think of them as my mom and dad. I just met them a little later than most kids.”

     Yakko really looked at Lucy for the first time. She had freckles all across her face. Her deep brown eyes never stayed exactly still, flitting from one thing to the next, like she was trying to take in as much as she could. Her nails had chipped black polish on them and the ends were jagged, like she had bitten them off. Instead of tying her shoes, she had just tucked the laces into her boots, and the holes in her jeans looked like she had ripped them herself. The only makeup she has on as far as he could tell was was some dark eyeshadow and eyeliner, both on her eyelids and under her eyes. He could see why older people might have labeled her as a troublemaker.

     “I think I should have given you a chance. Could we maybe try again?”

     Lucy smiled at him. “Of course we can.”

     “Hey, move out of the way!” They all looked up at man towering over them. “You’re blocking people!”

     Lucy and the kids stood up. “Sorry. We were having a little bit of a crisis. It’s time for us to go back home anyway,” Lucy said.

     “Freaks!” The man said as he walked past them.

     Yakko whipped around. “What did you just say?”

     “I said you’re all freaks! What are you going to do about it?”

     “Oh, I’m not going to do a thing. My brother on the other hand...”

     Wakko pulled out a giant mallet and swung at the man.

     “That takes care of that,” Yakko said. “Ready to go home now?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 11 will be up soon!