A Mission For Him

"What's going on?" Lily asks as soon as she notices the men frantically running around the estate as she and Ethan make it to the house.

"Miss Lily, once we get into the house, I will have to take you to the training hall immediately," Angelo mentions as he pulls into the garage. "Jian Jian will be there waiting for you."

Still not understanding what's going on, Lily tugs on Ethan's shirt, knowing that he will give her some sort of answer. Like usual, Ethan gives in and leans over closer to Lily.

"It seems that your father has heard about what happened at school today and is getting ready to punish Jeremy," Ethan whispers, trying to sum up the situation as best as he can.

Still unconvinced, Lily hops out of the car and follows Angelo to the training hall where she sees Jianqiao standing next to her father. She runs over to her father with her arms up in the air hoping that he would pick her up, but the beastly man only stares down at her as he rejects every impulse in his body to keep him from caving in to Lily's motioned request.

"Ethan Turnip," Lucario finally says as his voice bounces around the room.

Frightened by the sudden call out, the young boy steps forward at attention. "Yes, Father Lucario."

"I heard what you did today. You have done well to fulfill your role in this family. I commend you for that."

"Thank you, Father Lucario. I only did what I had to do to protect Lily."

Tired of feeling clueless, Lily shouts, "Can someone tell me what's going on?!"

Jianqiao then kneels down and holds out her hand. "Jian Jian's mission… protect girl… but Jian Jian asks… New leader… you promise?"

Lily quickly understands what Jianqiao is asking and sets her hand in Jianqiao's. "I promise to be the new leader when I get older," Lily answers with a wide smile. "That's why you're here, right? To make sure that I'm safe so that I can become the leader later, so I have to do my best to ensure that you aren't wasting your time here."

Grasping onto the small hand, Jianqiao stands up from where she kneeled. "Mr. Lucario… Jian Jian take girl… safe place…. As ordered."

"I'm leaving it to you, Jianqiao," Lucario comments before Jianqiao picks Lily up and leaves out the back door of the training hall. Ethan goes to follow, but Lucario stops him before he could get past Lucario. "We aren't done talking yet."

Billy holds out a sheet of paper towards Ethan. "You have to get up to speed on what's going on because you will have to be a part of it."

"What do you mean?" Ethan asks as he takes the sheet of paper. "My job is to protect Lily. What role will I be taking on your doting father mission?"

"You will be the one who will get the Johnson's to admit to their crimes," Lucario blatantly answers. "You are critical to this plan."

Ethan stops reading mid-page and darts his eyes over to Lucario who stands off to the side. "I have to get the Johnson's to admit to their crimes? How on earth would I do that?"

"Everything will be recorded by Bryle and the Meyling Food Court's reconnaissance team in order to have proof of the Johnson's crimes so that we can get rid of them for good. You just have to use the fact that the Johnsons kidnapped and did experiments on you when you were younger."

With a slight scoff, Ethan sets a hand on his hip. "I thought you don't use people to your advantage?"

"I don't use my daughter to my advantage," Lucario points out smugly. "My men are fair game."

"I am Lily's person first and foremost. Not yours," Ethan sharply corrects with a slight twitch in his eye. "Does my mother even know what you are doing to her son?"

"I have given Lucario my permission," Hailey Turnip answers as she rounds the corner of the training hall entrance. Once she approaches the group, she kneels down in front of her son. With a warm mother's touch, Hailey grabs onto Ethan's shoulders and lightly rubs them. "I understand that you have been holding back a lot of things from me regarding the Johnsons. I know that you hate them for what they have done to you… for what they did to your sister… so I want to give you this chance to get back at them. This isn't just a doting father mission by Lucario. This is also a doting mother mission by me. I don't want to hear about you crying by yourself at night anymore from your caretakers because of the nightmares that you have."

Ethan gazes into his mother's watery eyes as they fill with worry and regret. He didn't know that his mother knew about his nightmares or that he was still thinking about his sister. He thought that he was doing well in hiding his emotions and his thoughts. As he watches his mother try to hold back her tears, Ethan couldn't help but become a child in front of her.

"I'm sorry I made you worry so much, Mom," Ethan attempts to say through the swelling knot in his throat. His shoulders quiver as he does his best to stand in front of his mother. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your daughter. I'm sorry I made you lose your experience as a mother due to my abnormal mental growth. I'm sorry I couldn't just be a normal son."

Pulling her child into her arms, Hailey tightly squeezes Ethan, hiding his crying face from the world. "You don't have to apologize for anything. You did the best you could. I wouldn't ask for a different son even if I was given the opportunity to because you are my son. You are my child. So what if you aren't a normal kid? That doesn't change the fact that I did my best to raise you into the fine young man that you are right now. What happened to your sister can't be undone, but what can be done is holding those who killed her and thousands of other children accountable for their actions."

Hearing those words from his mother's mouth is all Ethan needed to hear. The genuine care and love that radiates from his mother's arms that hug him so turns him into the seven year old child that he should have been. However, sweet moments like these in the time that they are in right now can only last so long.

Regrettably, Ethan releases himself from his mother's embrace, wipes the tears from his eyes, then stands firmly in front of Lucario. Though his eyes are still red and puffy, Ethan looks up at the beast in front of him with fire in his ocean eyes. "I follow Lily and Lily only. However, I will take your orders for this mission as they pertain to Lily's future as this family's future leader. I am ready to receive the orders you have for me, Father Lucario."

"Nothing can beat the loyalty of a leader's strongest aide, so I respect the bold words that you say against me." Lucario hands Ethan the paper that he didn't finish reading. "Your mother has colluded with the members of the Senate and House in order to corner the Johnsons. Although not everyone can agree on things in that rotten building, they can all at least agree that child experiments are passing a line that should never have been created in the first place. Tonight at 8PM, the Johnsons will be trying to escape on a flight to Xinjiang in order to convince the people of the Meyling Food Court to take them back. TSA will bring them to a separate room which is where you will be waiting. Your job is to intercept them at the airport along with the agents of the Meyling Food Court that Jianqiao had rushed in."

Lucario pulls out a pen from his coat pocket and gives it to Ethan. "This is the recording device. Once you click it, it will start recording, so click it the moment you hear a knock on the door and have it either placed on the desk or in your pocket. You will only have thirty minutes to get them to confess to their crimes before the recorder automatically shuts off. Do you understand your mission?"

"What means can I interrogate them with?" Ethan quickly asks without giving Lucario time to pause.

"Any" is all Lucario responds with before heading out of the training hall.