Barbie and the Spy Squad: Fall in the Family

Chapter Six: The Family That Pays Together

The girls ran and ran... and ran... It could have been ten minutes? A half hour? Two miles? Ten?

All they knew was that they were physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted.

"Can we... please stop? I don't think... I can go... anymore...", Chelsea panted out while she was dragged along by the oldest sister present.

Stacie's arm hurt even more through all the pounding on the ground as she winced and breathed out heavily, "Yeah... I'm... I'm done..."

Skipper nodded and attempted to catch her breath as well through heavy gulps of air.

"Yeah... I think we're good. Let's stop here"

The three girls collapsed against a nearby tree. Chelsea flattened on the ground next to it, Skipper slumped and slowly slid down, and Stacie carefully and gingerly lowered herself to grasp at her wrist.

They've been traveling for a long time. The Roberts sisters crossed flat areas of bush, mountainous terrain, and thick woods. Skipper's heavy breathing paused for a second to ask how she was doing.

"Stace... how's your arm?"

The ponytailed girl's pained face said it all: not good. She sucked in air as she tried to move it again.

"It hurts... a lot..."

Chelsea looked up from her prone position on her back, "Do you think it's broken?"

Stacie shook her head, "I don't know... but it hurts...", she whimpered a bit. Skipper scootched next to her and tried to console her the best she could, wrapping her arm around her. Chelsea sat back up and curled up next to Skipper who suddenly took on the big sibling role.

They sat like that for a while... in complete silence... heavy breathing progressively slowed, replaced with tearful sniffling.

Chelsea whimpered, "I want to go home..."

Stacie nodded, "Me too..."

Skipper sighed as she squeezed them tighter, "I wonder what the heck those guys want with Barbie... what does she have to do with any of this?"

The other middle sister shook her head, "I have no idea... Barbie never does anything bad; I don't get it...", then sighed and squinted her eyes shut, "I hope Ken is OK..."

Chelsea sniffled and wiped a tear, "What if they're hurting him?"

Skipper tried to a positive spin on it to help her sisters feel braver, despite the dread she felt and knew in her own heart. She smiled kindly and shook Chelsea's arm lovingly, "Oh, I'm sure he's fine... he probably found a way to escape and he's on his way here. You'll see. Ken's tough, right?", she waved her hand with a smile. Chelsea sniffled and nodded.

"Ken's brave... he's got this...", Skipper tried to reassure both her sisters. When she saw their hesitant but barely-there smiles, she sighed internally.

Skipper laid her head back on the tree as the other two snuggled in. Then, she swallowed a lump in her throat threatening to make her throw up at the real possibility of what was happening to their brother-figure. She tried to stay brave for her sisters, hoping they would stay positive... just like Ken did for them back there.

So, this is what it feels like...

****

"Agent Zee? We... we have the... um... 'burglar'... in custody...", Renee spoke into the comm system soberly.

"Good work girls. Bring her back here. We need to talk."

Teresa noticed that Zoe didn't even bother to question the gender of the burglar, as if she knew what was going on. She responded in kind.