The Chain

Dawn

Neo's eyes were barely cracked open as she stood in front of the coffee maker.  The aroma of the coffee was starting to wake her up but she would be foggy until she got at least half of it drank.  It was for that reason that she almost came out of her skin when little hands suddenly grabbed her, and a small shriek came out of her mouth.  Phoenix laughed loudly and almost preened at having scared her Auntie Neo.

Neo narrowed her eyes at her, "Phoenix, you scared me almost to death."

Phoenix giggled, "You looked so funny!"

"What are you doing up already?" she frowned at her.

"I always get up this early!  I'm hungry, what's for breakfast?"

Neo grabbed her coffee and took a fortifying drink before answering.  "We're going to get something out before heading to the Academy.  Get changed, I'll wake up more, then we'll go."

Phoenix gave a holler before running off to the guest bedroom where she was staying.  Thirty minutes and a cup of coffee later, the little girl was back out in the living room and Neo had changed into one of her business suits.  She had showered the night before after getting back from the wedding.  She only put on a brief hint of makeup, rather than her normal spread.  She was tired and was just starting to realize that taking care of a four-year-old was harder than she imagined.  The little girl had boundless energy and she had kept her up most of the night with her constant up and down.  She was probably nervous about being in a strange place; however, it had worn Neo the hell out as she was used to going to bed at an early hour and sleeping at least eight hours.  She had got maybe four.

She was going to be frazzled by the end of the week.  She walked quietly alongside Phoenix as they made their way to her favorite diner on the way to the Academy then her Agency.  The little girl was talking a mile a minute and didn't seem to notice that her companion wasn't saying very much as they went.  Neo had to admit, though, that she was cute.  Her wavy hair was bouncing with each step, and she suddenly thought that she probably should have pulled her hair up into a ponytail, considering she would possibly be fighting while training.  She eyed the pack she was wearing.

"Do you have a hair tie in your pack, Phoenix?" she asked her.

Phoenix stopped and looked up at her.  "Maybe."  She then started looking in the pack and grinned up at her as she found one. "Yes!"

Neo took it from her and motioned for her to turn around.  She used her fingers to wrestle the girl's hair back and up.  She had some seriously thick hair.  Neo wondered where she had got that from because Sarah's hair wasn't thick like that at all.  As she held the hair tie between her teeth, she had only a slight tremor of warning before...

"Hey Angel, did you have fun at Neo's last night?"

Phoenix gave a little squeal and almost got away from Neo as she tried to move forward.  She clinched her hand around the tail she had just made, abruptly stopping the girl from springing away.  She then sent a glare at Orion before saying, "Hold on, Phoenix.  Let me tie this off."  She wound the hair tie around the tail then finally released her.  The little girl was like a bullet the way she ran towards her brother, and he laughed as he tossed her up into the air.

"Did you sleep good last night?" he asked her, for the moment ignoring Neo.

Neo wanted to groan but didn't dare show him she was annoyed with his presence.  She had thought she wouldn't see hide or hair of him while she had Phoenix.  No such luck.  She was still angry at him for what he tried to pull the night before and crossed her arms in front of her as she watched the two interacting.  It was obvious Orion adored his little sister.