Operation Opossum

Not My Home Anymore

She raised her hand to knock, hesitating as it neared the wooden surface. It took her a few knocks before the sound of footsteps neared from the inside.

Skyler felt herself panic as the curtain behind the window shifted. Someone's face flashed across the glass, and quickly disappeared before she could get a good look at who it was. 

What would they say? She thought wearily. What will they do? What if they throw me out? What if they hate me? What if-

The door swung open, and out came Braxton who, besides his new haircut and mustache, looked the same as ever. His eyes were widened to the size of golf balls, hands shaking as he held a granola bar in a tight grip. 

"Wh-" 

Skyler couldn't stop herself as her bottom lip began to tremble and a few unshed tears formed at the corners of her eyes. 

"Braxton..." She cringed at the vulnerability in her voice. But she couldn't help it, she missed him too much. 

Skyler stepped back at the side of his eyes which had rolled to the back of his head, before the rest of his body flopped forward, causing her to lunge towards him and grip his arm. 

He'd feinted. 

~

"SKYLER!"

She felt a tug in her stomach, and whipped around to see an achingly familiar face pouncing onto her in a tackle from the couch after she'd set poor Braxton back down in a sleeping position. 

"NIKOLAUS!"

Skyler caught him in one sweep, staggering from the sudden impact. His hair had grown out a bit more, brushing the tips of his eyelashes in a swirl, covering half of his ears. 

"Skyler, YOU'RE HERE!"

He couldn't stop shouting as she patted his fluffy head and bending down onto one of the other couches they'd gotten. They were a hideous green with little stickers attached to the wooden arm rests. She could only imagine what else Nikolaus had done to the house. 

Skyler laughed. 

"I missed you so much, kiddo." 

Nikolaus pulled back from her shoulder to look her in the eyes. His eyes shined with tears of joy, and she felt herself break. 

"But they told me...i thought-"

"I'm okay, I came back. It's okay. Hey, I'm back." 

He didn't stop talking, blubbering in her arms. 

"They said you were dead! DEAD! I thought you were gone Skyler! I didn't....I'm sorry! We didn't kno-"

"Hey, Nik, It's fine. Stop - Hey, I'm here aren't I? Calm down. How about I go and grab you some wat-"

"NO!" 

She jumped in alarm, surprised as his arm held hers in a fierce grip. 

"Please don't leave me again! Where are you going? I wanna come too!" 

Skyler blinked in shock. She didn't know he'd miss her that much, especially since he was never this clingy last year.

Okay...only a little, but not this much. 

"...and Cooper can stay here to take care of Johnny- Oh! He's my new goldfish! Do you wanna see him? He's in my room, but sometimes he'll jump out of his bowl and- Oh, you know, one time, he jumped out and landed on Bumper's leg while he was sleeping, and-"

"Whoa, whoa, kiddo! Hold on a second, where's everyone else?" 

Nikolaus didn't seemed to mind that she'd interrupted him, glad that she wasn't talking about leaving anymore. 

"Oh, they're all at work." 

Skyler felt herself frown. 

"They have jobs? All of them?" 

Nikolaus nodded. 

"You want to know a secret?" He didn't wait for an answer before going on. "Braxton has a girlfriend!" 

Skyler choked on air. 

"Are you serious?! No way!" 

Nik nodded, eager to fill her in on everything she'd missed, contently sitting on her lap for the next couple of hours, while she waited for Braxton to wake up and the others to come home. 

Lousy guardians, she thought, rolling her eyes. 

"...police man showed up...I had to go to the bathroom....Cooper and Bumper wouldn't let me pla-"

Skyler snapped to attention.

"Hold on, what?" 

Nikolaus shrugged, scratching his arm.

"The police came today. He said he was looking for Braxton, but Copper and Bumper were here instead."

"Why were the police here?" she asked, dreading the answer.

He leaned on her shoulder once again, tired from talking so much.

"They were looking for something, and wanted to know if Braxton knew where it was. I think they thought he had it. But he didn't. Cooper told them to leave. I was grounded too! I didn't do anything bad, I swear! I-"

"It's okay, kiddo. When did they come here?" 

He stared at me thoughtfully before jumping up. 

"Oh! They came here before you came!" 

Skyler felt her blood run cold, eyes widening. 

Nikolaus, oblivious to her reaction, continued to absentmindedly tug at her hair, studying the colored tips. 

"What happened to Braxton?" he asked, finally realizing Braxtons unconscious state. She couldn't help but laugh, and ruffled his hair. 

"Nothing. He just fell asleep," she said, a smile stretching across her face. 

But on the inside, she was cursing herself for being so messy and stupid. She wasn't as careful as she'd hoped. Why was she just so careless? She's just put the people she loved in danger, all because she wanted to see them after a whole year of missing them. Skyler just couldn't catch a break, could she? The universe just loved to throw things at her. 

She just wanted a day. 

A day to savor the time she had with them for now, until tomorrow, when she would leave them once more. But this time, she was going to return sooner them before. Problems could wait. 

She was going to enjoy this trip, whether the universe liked it or not.