Melody

I woke up to a sudden noise. My instinct was pure reaction. I pulled the gun I kept under my pillow and rolled into position.

That is how I found myself with my gun pointed to my father's forehead at 6 o'clock in the morning. Once I realized my mistake, I quickly lowered my gun and my father relaxed. It was Luke.

I lecture him, "Do you have a death wish? Has your brothers told you nothing? Never sneak up on Russians."

He points out, "You aren't Russian."

I roll my eyes, "Luke, we were raised Russian, same thing."

Luke shrugged, "Not exactly. I wasn't expecting it. I would have avoided you if I was ready."

I give him a playful shove, "No you wouldn't have."

He crosses his arms and glares at me playfully, "You are a ten year old. I didn't think you would sleep with a gun."

It was my turn to shrug, "A good habit to have."

And it was Luke's turn to roll his eyes, "Either way, I am trying to make chocolate chip pancakes and I thought that Leif might want to help."

I smile, "I think that Leif and I would both be interested. I'll get him."

I tip-toe over to Leif and shake him awake. I am really happy that Luke is considerate of his son. Leif would have been heartbroken if he would be ignored. If he was sad, the family was sad without his smile. 

Leif followed me back out of the room and ran into a waiting Luke. Without any words, we spoke with our eyes to head downstairs. The kitchen was beautiful and I loved it already. I loved cooking and baking back home.

Leif and Luke got the ingredients out while I got the bowls. I cringed as the metal bowls clanged together. Hopefully, no one would wake at the noise. 

It didn't take us long to prepare the batter. Luke took a bag of chocolat chips from underneath the table. He had taped it there! I could see Leif's brain working. I think that soon enough Leif's chocolate stash would be there too. Luke had just started to bake the pancakes when I heard footsteps. 

Leif whispered to me, "Go distract them."

I listened for once and headed them off at the bottom of the staircase. Like I expected, it was North. If North was anything like his son, he would throw away my pancakes. But if he was like Noah, I would distract him.

I asked, "What are you doing awake this early?"

North grunted instead of answering and attempted to push his way past me. At this, I was given enough ammunition to distract him long enough for the pancakes to be made. I made my eyes start to water and burst into tears.

North looked panicked at my expression and said, "What's wrong, Melody?"

I blubbered, "You hurt me. . ."

He actually had pushed me into a wall, but I was used to pain. If I was a regular little girl, I would be in tears, but Alec during training had pushed me farther. But North didn't need to know that. 

North looked even more panicked, "What!"

I hugged myself, "You shoved me into a wall."

He got down on his knees in front of me, "Are you okay? I don't know my own strength."

At the ruckus we were making, I heard my family waking. The first one who came down the stairs was Noah. He saw the scene and could smell the pancakes in the air. I could see his internal battle, stopping Leif vs. seeing what was wrong with me. I saw the exact moment where he chose me instead. 

Noah asked, "What happened, Mel?"

I cried a little more and seeked comfort into the arms of my brother. He hugged me, but luckily he didn't assume that it was North's fault. We stood like that for a long time. Then, I heard a whistle. It was Leif and I's secret whistle to tell me I could stop my distraction.

At the noise, I stood up, wiped my eyes and ran away. I could imagine North and Noah's confused expressions. When I rushed into the kitchen, everyone was there. I guess there were two staircases in the place to get down.

Leif smirked, "Where are North and Noah?"

I smirked back, "Distraction worked. They probably will realize what happened in about one, two, three."

At that, there was yelling, "Leif, Melody, throw away those chocolate chips!"

I skipped over to the pancakes and took a couple lathered in maple syrup, "Nope!"

Luke was full on grinning, "I love you two. North has gotten better at catching me lately. I can finally enjoy the taste of victory." With that, he took a huge bite of pancakes.

Kota sighed, "Do I even want to know?"

Dallas let out an identical sigh, "I don't."

I grinned again at the arrival of North and Noah, "Hello boys. Do you want breakfast?"

North stormed over and took all the pancakes. I tried grabbing one back, but he was too damn tall. Noah opened the trash and North was moving towards him. It was time for distraction 2.0.

Before they could complete the task, I burst into tears. All of our fathers looked panicked and all of my brothers did too. It was sweet how much they cared because no matter how many times I did this they would still panic.

Gale rushed over, "What's wrong, Mel?"

Soundlessly, I pointed at the pancakes. Everyone turned towards North and Noah who carried both equally guilty expressions. 

Gale glared at them, "Give my sister her damn pancakes!"

Noah sighed in defeat, "Fine, but only Mel can have two."

I pulled out my puppy eyes and North sighed, "She can have as many as she wants, but no one else can."

I stopped crying and went over to them, "Thanks."

Owen took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "Is she always like this?"

Leif grinned, "Mel is really good at getting what she wants, but she only does it for food or missions. Everyone loves her and wants to do things for her. That's why Mom uses her for missions."

Nathan spoke up, "Sang put you on missions!"

Neal shrugged, "Mostly Melody, but yeah. Mom couldn't go in if there were Academy people, so Mel was used. She would be a daughter of someone or another. People talked around her like she wasn't there."

Samuel laughed in memory, "I remember her second mission when she was five. Her job was to pretend to have lost her mom and listen in. Mel was good at remembering exactly what she hears. Mom found her in the arms of a ruthless mafia leader of Chicago. He was here to make a huge weapons deal. He was actually pretty nice and cares about Mel very much."

Silas chocked on his coffee, "Basically where ever you went there was some involvement with the criminal base."

Seb nodded his head, "Yeah, Mel is known around the world. She is also Melissa or any other sort of names that have the nickname Mel."

Sean looked troubled, "I am hoping you are not the same Mel who was known as the adopted daughter of the leader of a well-known mafia in L.A. We had taken a mission there to find the Mel and see if she could help us take him down."

I giggled, "Are you talking about Ryder?"

Sean replied, "Yes. During that mission, the one thing that didn't add up was the fact that when ever the famous Mel was there, the Russian mafia was there and the Chicago mafia too without bloodshed."

Vincent added, "Mel was beloved by everyone. Mom wanted to make sure to have an increasing amount of exposure to have friends in high places. We would help them get rid of Academy moles every once in a while."

Victor frowned, "Why?"

Neal gave him a look, "Academy is not to be trusted and it is corrupt. We don't want them spying on our friends."

Oliver cleared his throat, "Before this becomes a full on argument, we need to refocus on the task at hand, Mom and Volto."

Owen said, "Today, we have one last meeting with Dr. Roberts where he will tell us everything and for us to retire out."

I nod, "Okay, my brothers and I will need to rest some more. We will stay here until you get back."

Kota asked, "Do you have anything that might help before we head out?"

Dallas volunteered information, "Volto must have just found us recently or else he would have striked sooner. There were two people to kidnap Mom and they must have been watching her since they got her the moment her bodyguards left."

Noah offered, "He brought her back into the US we think because that is where it all started. Uncle Aleksandr and Uncle Alec would find her in Russia. Ryder would find Mom in California. I think that Volto is in Charleston because of the symbolism with their past."

Owen nods, "I agree. We will bring that up at the meeting too."

We quickly finished our breakfast and our fathers left. I honestly liked our fathers. All nine of them complimented each other and worked together just like my family. I could respect that. My brothers split up, some going to gym and others to the TV. I was in the front of the house.

Knock, Knock.

Thinking it was one of our fathers coming back because they forgot something, I opened the front door. I should have checked, I should have had my weapon, but I didn't.

That is why I got hit with a dart so easily. I went down without a sound. The dart seemed to contain some type of paralyzing agent, but it didn't knock me unconscious. The men were wearing masks, but there were at least 12 of them. 

I strained my ears to hear what was happening in the rest of our house. I heard as struggle take place nearby, but it seems that the masked men won. One by one, each one of my brothers were brought to the front of the house paralysed. Soon, there was only Leif that was missing.

I was internally cheering him on. In hide-and-seek, no one coule ever find Leif. Sadly, the masked men did even if it took them a better part of an hour. I was impressed with Leif despite myself. 

When I saw Leif paralysed, the drug had worn off on me. In Russian training, different drugs are put into our systems to make our bodies build up an immunity for it. They must have used one of those. 

The moment those bastards back's were turned, I lunged forward. I didn't get one of their guns, but I got ahold of a vase. I snuck behind one of them and slammed the vase on his head. He was dead because I could see his brain.

At this point though, I had lost the element of surprise. I stabbed one of the men who got too close with a vase shard and kicked another in his balls. I didn't see one of the men sneaking up behind me. He put me in a choke hold that I could not get out of.

The lack of oxygen to my body was going to make me pass out. At least, I put up a fight. I wonder how they will break it to their boss that their team mate was killed by a seven year old girl. 

I heard one of them say, "Put them in the van. Volto wants them."

My last thought was oh shit.

Then darkness.

***

Word Count : 1972