Domesticity

In Which Marshall and Fionna find their respective children

Fionna watched as Jeremy headed into the abandoned building across the street carrying a tray of food, and frowned. There was no way that it was enough for both girls. 

She dashed upstairs, rapping on Marshall's door. "I think I found Jazz." 
"Where? Is she okay?" He demanded, following her down the stairs. 
"I don't know. I think she's in the building across the street." Fionna said hurriedly. 
"Why not get the police?" 

"Because I don't have any proof besides Jeremy being weird." She huffed. 
"So... you have no proof." 
"He didn't mind when his leverage disappeared and he basically admitted to it." 
"There we go." 

They paused to hover outside of the door to the building warily, and Fionna slowly entered. Most of the room was blocked off, but the staircase was mostly free. Above them, they could hear a chair scrape across the floor, and Jazz was speaking.
"--you wait! When my father finds out about this...!" Jazz sounded close to tears, and Marshall restrained a low growl. 
Fionna and Marshall stealthily moved up the stairs, before bursting into the room. 

Jazz and Dessie were tied to chairs back to back, and Jeremy was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. "You're late." 
"And you're sick." Fionna spat back, taking a step forward. The wood creaked ominously. 

"I wouldn't do that if I were you.Termites have made this old place so unstable I wouldn't be surprised if it all went down now. One adult and two children is one thing, three adults and two children is another entirely." 
"What, as if you'll get away with this?!" Marshall spat. 
Jeremy shrugged. "Well... my kid is also tied up, isn't she? All I have to say is that Abadeer here went nuts and took both the kids, and bam. I'm a hero, and he's gone forever." 

"We already would have gone with you." Fionna growled. 
Jeremy shrugged. "Well now, let's leave that up to debate. After all, one could say that Abadeer has as much claim to you know as I do, hmm? In any case, my bonus plan was to  send the little brunette nuisance off to live with her mother. A little bit of snooping into Abadeer's personal life now means that this... Jade? She would pay top dollar for her daughter delivered to her without hassle. Getting rid of Abadeer without my further interference means that his mother would probably get her." 

"Children are not something to be bought and sold." Fionna snapped, drawing a standard issue police pistol from her waist. 
Jeremy smirked. "Really, you're going to shoot me? Really? And who is going to vouch for you that I was a madman? Your lover? Your daughter? The social justice warriors will kick up a fuss about police brutality--" 

"You're white." Marshall interrupted. 
Jeremy sighed. "--in any case, no one's going to believe you, and thus you go to jail, best case scenario. You might lose your job. I'm not quite sure. What I do know is that in this small of an area, if I duck, the bullet is probably going to ricochet, and I am quite honestly not above sacrificing your precious daughter as punishment for your actions." 

Fionna paled, slowly holstering her gun. 
Marshall narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what kind of bull you're spouting half of the time you evil mother... never mind that last part. But in any case, you threatened my kid, and you threatened Fionna's kid. And sure, one police officer might not be able to take you down, but I sure as hell didn't come up here just for you to spout nonsense and hold my kid hostage!" 
"Is that a fact?" Jeremy asked, amused. 

Marshall stepped forward, causing the floor to creak. "Yeah, it is." 
Jeremy yawned. "Now, now. The three of us might survive the impact, but both little girls will likely die, as well as the... whatever it is. In any case, that's two investments against making the floor collapse, Abadeer. You know I'm right, I'm through playing the idiot. There's just no fun in it anymore." 
"So, that's it then? We all just stay up here?" Fionna snapped. "For however long it takes? We're not leaving without our kids, Jeremy." 

"And I suppose as soon as I step foot on that staircase landing, you two will seize me and deliver me to the proper authorities?" He chewed on the inside of his cheek. "Hmm... well, the window has been painted shut for years... so if I can't go behind me, I can't go forwards, and I most certainly can't go up, left or right, that only leaves one way to go. Now, I was so hoping you two would realize that, but it's fine with me either way. I'm not going to be the one crying over the corpse of my daughter." 

"Why did you do all of this anyway?!" Jazz demanded. 
"I came back because I got curious about Fionna and this one here." He gestured to Dessie, and she let out a strangled sob. "I decided to... pursue the matter because I get jealous. I'm only human, after all. And Abadeer was touching something that I considered mine, having my happy little family. This entire situation escalated because two little children couldn't keep their thoughts to themselves and had to be gotten rid of." 

Fionna's eyes flickered to the floor, then back to Jeremy. Most of the floor was fine, but the area to the left looked weaker than most. If she could get him over it... Marshall could retrieve the girls, one at a time. And no matter what, Jeremy had to go. 

She lunged at him, pushing him down to the ground on the left side. The floorboards cracked beneath them, and they fell. 
"Fionna!" Marshall roared, grasping at the thin air where she'd been. 
Fionna heard a snap beneath her, and then there was darkness.