When Claude came running for him Talon had a burst of hope. His new big brother would protect him, he was sure of it. The little boy was watching Claude with such intent he didn't notice the bully raising his foot to stomp on his chest until Claude launched himself at him and covered him with his body, taking the blow on the back. Talon watched Claudes face as he gritted from the pain and told him everything was going to be alright. Giving Claude a small nod he tried to wiggle his way out so he could help but then heard Mari coming. Talon watched Mari beat up the bully from under Claude with wide eyes. She really could take care of herself.

After the bully ran away and Mari helped up Claude, Talon shifted so he was sitting up and gave Mari his hands when she reached for them. As she began cleaning them he winced and shifted a little bit. "Ouch! Tha hurz." But he let her keep cleaning them anyways and then let her put the bandaids on. When she was done Talon got up carefully and went over to Claude. "Thank you brother. An Mari thank you to." They had actually protected him, they had his complete trust now. "Howz your back doing?

"My backs fine!" Claude lied, barely able to keep the grimace of pain off of his face. He was impressed with the way that Mari had handled the situation, and the length that she had gone for her new brothers. "Thank you Mari." He said, chuckling to himself about the girl's willful nature. "I think we should go inside now." Claude strode off in the direction of his new home, hoping that his brother and sister would follow.

Mari smiled and nodded. "You're both very welcome..." She said, looking at Talon and shrugging slightly than following Claude. "You're going to have some serious Bruises Claude." She told him, joining the older boy and hooking her arm with his in a playful manner. After showing her tought side briefly, and now being her sweet, seemingly fragile self, you would almost think that she had an evil twin who beat up the bully, not her.

Talon ran to catch up with the other two and when he did catch up he grabbed Mari's hand. The total change of Mari's personality kind of through off Talon and he stared at her. Shaking his head he walked with the both of them until they go to the front door. Dropping Mari's hand Talon opened up the door. "Afta you guys." Talon could tell that the three of them were going to be best friends and he smiled.

Exactly 20 years later

"Mari! Tal! Get your asses up! Time for breakfast!" Claude called up the stars to his slower siblings. He was leaving for the university in 45 minutes, and he hoped they'd be in the car - because he wasn't waiting. He'd made eggs and toast for himself, but there was enough for those two if they wanted too. "Get up!" He yelled once more up the stairs before returning to the kitchen.

It had been decades since Claude had been taken into this home as a foster child, and then adopted almost a year later. The awful times of bouncing around from home to home were a dim memory, mostly overlain with the happy childhood, adolescences and now young adulthood that he'd shared with his now past adoptive gramps, and his two siblings. Tal and Claude still lived in the house, now without parental supervision, and Mari had moved in permanently when it was willed to her at the death of her grandfather.

Now, the three of them lived together, with Claude keeping it all together. They were all wealthy from the estate, but he still worked hard toward his degree and eventually degree. He needed to be a brother that his siblings could be proud of, no matter what.

Claude picked the eggs up and made his way over to the table, setting a place for one and then sitting down to eat. He wasn't about to wait for his sleepy siblings!

Mari growled, she was in the bathroom, finishing her hair with a spray on gloss and fixing a few flaws in her makeup when Claude yelled for her to come downstairs. "Better hurry up before Claude wets his pants..." She mumbled grumpily to herself, but just to make sure she was still the fashion plate of the university, she checked her dress all over again.

A tan mini dress, and some brown boots and her perfect glossy curls hung over her shouldrs, her makeup done so well that you could barely tell it was even on, only the dark eyeliner she put on would really give it away, and a brown leather handbag to match.

Finished with that she put her gloss and mascara into her handbag and walked down the stairs into the dining room, heels clicking softly on the marble tiled floors as she did. "You knoe Claude, it takes time to look good for school, and after school, work." She saide and smiled, toussling his hair as she passed by and grabbing her sweet grass juice, looking more like sweetgrass pulp than anything else and ate only a few bites of breakfast, leaving the rest to her brothers. "Oh, also, this time it's your turn to pay to electricity bill." She told him, getting her Dress coat on and than putting her keys in her pocket.

Hearing his brother yell for him Talon groaned and rolled out of bed. Shuffling over to his bathroom he hopped in the shower and took a really quick one. Getting out he dried himself off then walked back to his room. Walking over to his closet he pulled out a pair of dark jeans and a black tshirt. After putting on some sock he pulled his motorcycle boots on then went back to the bathroom. He dried his short hair some and just left it like it was, all messedup looking like he just rolled out of bed. You could see part his tattoo's on his arms under his short sleeves. Done in the bathroom Talon jogged down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Grabbing food and putting it on a plate he went and sat at the table. "Morning guys." He said to his siblings. Then began scarfing down the food on his plate.

Claude was almost finished by the time his truant brother and sister arrived in the kitchen. He shook his head and stood, walking over to the sink to clean his dishes. As he was finishing up in the kitchen he looked back over his shoulder at the pair, "oh, and Valerie is coming over again tonight so that we can study." He said, with a silent warning of "and you two better act civil." The siblings had always been close, and for most of their lives had been all the friends one another needed. So, when Claude brought his friends over to study they were always given the cold shoulder, even though he didn't return the favor to their friends. "She special guys, just don't say anything if you don't have anything to say!" He finished, laughing as he used the phrase their grandpa had said so often.

Breakfast dishes cleaned up, Claude dried his hand and walked back to the breakfast table where he dropped a kiss on Talon's head where he was seated and hugging Mari as he passed by her. "I'm driving to Uni now if anyone wants to come?" He asked, as he left the kitchen to grab his bag and throw on a coat and shoes in the foyer.

"Can you drop me off at my academy on the way?" she asked him, easily reaturning the hug.The same every morning, she had to ask. and the thing about nthe study date gave her the chills. "She?" she asked with an arched eyebrow now and looked at Talon. "How come I always get hugs and no kisses! No fair! I should shun you for this!" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

She looked over at Talon and gave him a hug, making sure that she squeezed him extra tight just because she liked to know she was still strong, even though she dressed like a weak, soft, fragile girl.

After receiving his morning kiss on the head from Claude and a hug from Mari, Talon stood up with his plate. After setting it in the kitchen he followed Claude into the foyer grabbing his leather jacket and putting it on. "I'll probably be home late anyways, I have to stay after class and talked to a doctor about my bright future. So don't worry about me ruining your 'study group'." He said making quotations with his fingers. "I'm riding my bike today so I don't need a ride." Then leaning back he spoke louder so Mari could hear him. "And you don't need to prove your strong to me by squeezing me every morning! I get it Mari, your big and tuff." He said with a laugh.

Claude had to laugh to himself about his siblings squabbling. The same lines every morning, and it never got old. "Mari, I'd give you a kiss but I don't want to get any of the fake circus paint on my face," Claude said, poking fun at the girl. "And of course I can drop you off." He added, pulling on his black pea coat and slipping on his converse. "Everyone make sure they have their keys, and their wallets!" Claude called in a mocking tone, reminding them all of their grandpa who had said that every single time anyone left the house, without fail. Out of habit Claude padded down his own pockets, finding all the necessities present.

"And Talon, make sure you wear your helmet!" Claude added, hugging his brother once more before he let the door close behind him. Claude made his way down the steps to the side of the house where he kept his black Lincoln, a classic car that suited his tastes just fine. "Mari come on!" He called again before sliding into the drivers seat and kicking on the engine. "See you tonight Tal!" Claude called as he began to pull out of the driveway, hoping to give Mari the incentive she needed to kick it into high gear.

While he waited for his sister to make her appearance Claude let his mind drift to Valerie Green. Beautiful, smart, into him, Valerie Green. He wanted them to hang out at his place tonight, partially because he wanted to give her the opportunity to meet his siblings, the most important part of his life. She had a great personality. And soft lips. Claude snapped himself back to the present, laying on the horn, trying to get Mari's attention.

She rolled her eyes. "Says the person who by now should be big as a barn with how much her eats!" she called after Talon in a joking tone, replying to a txt when her other brother, Claude began the hurry up routine. And he knew it annoyed her more than anything.

She took her precious time getting to the car, notcing his dreamy gaze and glaring at him, the usual 'uh oh... whats he up to now!' going through her mind as she made sure she had her pepper pray, and her mini gun hidden somewhere in her jacket, completely unnoticable than checking for her wallet, which was in her purse, and keys, in her hand.

She was about to begin walking again when he honked the horn at her, making her near jump out of her skin and she ran into the car and punched his arm. "That's rude! And by the way, It's makeup, not facepaint, and almost every girl in the world wears it. GET USED TO IT!" she told him moodily.

Talon waved back to Claude and laughed at Mari's words. It was true, with how much he ate he should be as big of a barn. But that's what working out and a fast matabilism was for. After watching his two siblings bicker and leave Talon made sure he had his wallet. Picking up his helmet and keys he locked up the house and walked over to his street bike. Getting on his bike Talon pulled his helmet on and started his bike. After reving the engine to warm it up he took off, easily passing Claudes car. He knew he'd probably get greif later for it but it was so fun. Talon made his way to the college to start his day.

"Ouch Mari, don't punch me." Claude said as he swung an arm over the back of her seat and craned his neck in order to back up. When Talon's bike sped past he only suppressed a smile. Every morning without fail. And every night Claude would scold him about it. "And so what if most girl's wear war paint, you look better without it." He added, as he fully pulled the car out of the driveway and swung the car around. Claude began the drive to the academy, going the maximum safe speed and kicked the radio on to his new favorite band. Coincidentally Valerie's favorite band too. Coincidentally one they were going to see together this friday night. Claude allowed his mind to drift slightly as he hummed along to the music.

It was only a few minutes before he arrived at the academy that Mari attended, and pulled to the front where all of the parents were dropping their kids off. "You know I give you a boost in cool factor everyday right? By the fact that a sexy older man driving a classic car drops you off, rather than a middle aged woman in a minivan?" He asked laughing, ad the car came to rest beside the curb. "Have a good day Mari, you know the rules. Be nice to everyone, don't talk to boys, listen to your teachers. Things like that." Claude said, leaning over the center console to hug his sister.

"You deserve it sometimes Claude." She told her older sibling. Claude and Talon were the only ones who knew, and she meant really knew, how to pull her string and make her scream, or cry, and right now even though Claude didn't know it, she was close to tears. Why couldn't she try to be a normal girl every once in a while. Wear make up do her hair, look nice, and not constantly be teased and pordded about it. Sure she hated being a complete and totaly girly girl, but still, she'd like to try and forget she was a seven degree black belt, who knew almost every kind of hand to hand ombat and could name every high tech gun and knew the details of every car in the world. It wasn't he fault that she liked doing some of the things guys could do, it was just how she was and sometimes she felt like the two boys expected her to be like the other girls at their academys. Well she wasn't. And they'd have to deal with it.

"I can talk to who I want, Claude." She said with a shaky voice. It was actually the first morning ever the Claude seemed to make her cry. It's as if she had the words 'say this and I'll cry' marked on her forehead for him and it bugged her. "And I do listen to my teachers I get good grades and I stay on top of most of the bills, and I could care less who drops me off as long as I don't end up going to cvlass with tear streaks." She said, and it was obvious that she was going to shun him for the rest of the day as she shrugged off his hug and got out, grabbing her books and her purse and walking into the overly fancy academy, as always, the glam slam head turner or the academy, all the soon to be CSI agents, who were gorgeous in every way, always turned to say good morning to her, though she only hung with two people, her friends Kale and Honey, who joined in behind her after she walked through the doors of the academy.

Pulling into the parking lot Talon parked his bike and shut the engine off. Getting off his bike Talon pulled his helmet off and began walking towards the campus. When he got inside Talon walked into the locker room they had and went over to the tall cubby that was assigned to him. Putting his helmet on a shelf he grabbed some stuff and went to his first class.

((Not really sure what to put haha, never been to med school^^))

Claude saw Mari's anger and hurt, but couldn't understand it. "Mari! Mari!" He called after her as she walked away, though she didn't look back didn't look back. Shit. His sister was mad, and he couldn't pinpoint how to respond. He whipped out his phone and wrote her a text.

"Mari. You know I didn't mean to hurt you. I was just trying to tell you you're beautiful. And protect you. I'm sorry." He typed quickly, and then sent it off to Mari, hoping that she would see it and understand better.

Claude went through the rest of his day normally enough, but with his stomach still in slight turmoil over the confrontation with Mari. By the time he was leaving his last class and heading toward his car, he was ready to head straight home and resolve issues with his sister face to face. He was, intercepted however, by an arm snaking around his waist. Within a moment his thoughts of Mari were gone, replaced with only his head over heels crush on Valerie.

"Hey Val, you ready to head over to my place?" He asked, guiding the woman to his car.

Mari hitched a ride with a few friends, she knew her brother had texted her but ignored it for most of the day, concentrating on her classes and staying at Honey and Kale's condo and they sat down, doing their studies together than talking about things over a glass of wine and a few finger foods Before she had Honey drive her home.

"See you on saturday, remember we have plans, no quashing them or else!" she said and smiled.

"I won't promise. See you then!" she said waving and driving off.

sighing, Mari suddenly wished for the first time that she had her own ride, but as always, she had to have everything to her taste, so the car that she was supposed to get wouldn't be there for the next few weeks, and she just couldn't wait to get behind the wheel of that hot silver acura with automatic doors and ghost flames on it, as well as surround sound speakers, wifi and other cool things she had her workers putting in it.

Pushing aside her thoughts of her car she walked inside the house and went into the kitchen. She wanted to make something good tonight, as it was one of the rare nights Mari felt like cooking. And her cooking, as her grandfather told her before, was near to the food of heaven, the way she balanced the flavors perfectly.

She felt tears sting her eyes but she held them back and focused on a nice smoked steak and buns, some mashed potatos and a few other odds and ends. Her desert though was something the boys often attacked. Her triple chocolate fudge cake with ice cream in the middle, and it would be gone within only two hours as always.

Waiting for her food to finish she went into the dining room and sat down to read a book.

Coming into the driveway at mock speed Talon screeched to a stop where he always parked his bike. In a car port thing he bought to protect his bike. Shutting the engine off Talon made his way into the house via the front door. Walking inside he set his keys and helmet down then paused. Sniffing the air Talon ran at full speed to the kitchen coming to a stop in the doorway. Looking over to the dining room Talon saw Mari reading a book. "You better have made it huge Mari, I mean huge! You know its my favorite." Talon of course was talking about the cake she was making. Walking over to Mari he fell into a chair and propped his booted feet on the table. "My meeting with one of the Doctors got canceled so I'm home early! How was you day?"

When Claude pulled the car into the driveway and parked, he quickly hopped out to open the door for Valerie. The two then made their way up the front steps and into the house. Claude took his keys out and left them by the door, kicking off his shoes as they went. Claude was then hit with the smell of his favorite food in the entire world, Mari's homemade cake. He began to blot to the kitchen to ask Mari about the specific dimensions of the cake, then argue with Talon about their respective portions, but Valerie grabbed his hand.

"Aren't be going to study, Claudy?" She asked, pouting out her lip slightly, and teasing it slightly with her teeth in a way that made him lose all of his appetite for food.

"Of course, let's go up to my room." He replied to her, leading the way up the stairs.

She smiled and looked up at Talon, laughing and than pushing his feet off the table. "Manners! We eat there Tal! And it's big enough." She told him and laughed lightly. "Sometimes, Talon, I think you don't really have a lot of care in the world about your future career." She told him, about to answer his question when she heard Claude come in.... With a girl.

Mari jumped up and hid by a wall, where she could see them but they couldn't see her and listened, watching. She wanted to see if Claude would come in and at least say hi, but now. The barbie he'd brought with him gave him the eyes and he seemed to forget their existence.

Mumbling profanities at him she plopped down in her chair again. "Not even a 'Hi Mari, sorry about earlier, came to check in so you know I didn't get in a crash and die!" she said and clenched her fists. "You get Claude's share of cake tonight, and between me and you... i didn't make enough for his girly friend either... Kind of forgot she was coming." She said with a shrug.

Talon laughed when she pushed his feet off the table. Claude and Mari always did that, they hated when he put his feet up on the table. When Mari jummped up from her chair and hid by the wall so she could watch Claude and his girlfriend Talon supressed a smile. When she came and sat back down by him he raised an eyebrow at her and spoke after she was done talking. "First of all I do care about my future, why do you think I'm in med school. Second what in the world was that Mari? What happened this morning? And third hell yes! I'm getting his share of the cake!" After laughing for a second Talon spoke again. "But really whats going on Mari?"

Claude and Valerie had only just become situated in his room when she asked him to use the bathroom. "Sure thing Val, it's down the hall. Second door on the left." He said, his smile wide and pleasing in front of her. The girl thanked him and left, leaving her bags and other items as she did so. A few moments after she left Claude's mind began to drift from the task at hand to the events of the day. His mind flowed on, drifting from one topic to another until his mind caught on his interractions with Mari.

"Shit! Shit! Mari!" Claude exclaimed aloud, shooting to his feet and rushing to the door, Valerie was there, returning from the bathroom but Claude blew past her. He reached the top of the stairs and tumbled into the living room, den, and finally into the dining room where Talon and Mari sat.

"Mari. I totally forgot about this morning. I'm so sorry." He said, catching his side while he breathed in deeply, catching his breathe with a few deep intakes. "Please tell me we're good. You know it was just a big misunderstanding right?" He asked, coming closer to his sister, looping his arm around her shoulder and pushing her head closer to his stomach. "Right, baby sis?"

Maripaused for a moment, than took a breath to say something but than just shook her head, considering her wording for another few moments and was actually about to say something that time when Claude came in and she rolled her furious brown eyes at him, saying nothing, even though usually she would have said they were even, unfortunately there was something about that day that she thought made Claude and unforgivable person, and she didn't know quite what it was.

She pushed Claude away, getting up and going to the wine cabinets and grabbing thick blood red wine and sat down, pouring her some and staring at Talon, her eyes asking if her wanted some, and for the first time she gave Claude her cold shoulder. One that was colder than ice, and burned worse than dry ice or flames, or white hot metal. "Dinner, Talon? Before it get's cold. The cake is done and iced it's chilling and afterwards we can sit down and watch some movies while eating the cake." she said, taking a sip of the intoxicating wine and looking at Claude. "Don't keep your girlfriend waiting, Mr. Jackson." She said and than went about her business, getting plates and such set, all except one.

Talon sat in silence and disbelief. Usually he was the one saying sorry for something and the one receiving the cold shoulder. Whatever Claude did must have been a big one. Before he could reply to the wine question Mari gave him with her eyes she went on about dinner was ready and the cake, then walked off to set the table. Shooting his gaze over to Claude he raised his eyebrows what in the hell did you do was the message. Then looking at Mari he grabbed the wine glass and bottle and poured himself some. "Dinner would be lonely Mar and I have nothing better to do so movies and cake it is!" He said with excitement. Talon was going to try and cheer up his sister tonight. "So what did you cook Mari?"