ABDL FreeCycle

Anya was thankfully quite nice when the girl complied, and instantly she let go of her ear and pulled her close to escort her to her cubicle. She sat her down and patted her head. "You either keep the pacifier in, or you come ask me for something to drink, okay?" She stated softly. "Always something in that little mouth of yours. Understood?"

“Ow, ow, ow- Mmph!” Her cries of pain were cut short by the pacifier again being shoved in her mouth. The difference is that this time, Anya was deadly serious. Her eyes, like daggers, terrified the stupid intern enough to not spit out the pacifier, for now. She instead elected to hide behind her boss, that way it was less likely she would be seen by her peers. 

Hey everyone! Just as a PSA, while this story does run mostly in parallel with Dash’s Redemption, it should also be considered the third in the trilogy of stories here. It’s really not meant as a standalone story, even though I have included details to help fill in some of the gaps for those of you electing to just read this story by itself. I know not everyone likes it that way and I was kind of using this trilogy as an experiment of kinds to test out this method of parallel writing. Now that I’ve run it and almost completed it, this shouldn’t occur again and be a problem in the future, but I just wanted to put this notion out there for some of you. Also, there are only two more chapters to go for this story. I might run into a few scheduling issues in the next two days, but barring any unforeseen circumstances, the next chapter should come out tomorrow or Wednesday. Keeping that in mind, this means that the final chapter will be out by Wednesday or Thursday. Next, as a reminder, I’m now polling between two stories to figure out what I should write next. The two choices are listed out in chapter 2, so be sure to check them out and let me know. As I will announce my winner in my last chapter, that would be the deadline for you to make your opinion known. As usual, I hope everyone enjoys this next chapter! Chapter 14: Why Did It Come to This? The trial was in two days, but it might as well have been two years. My nerves were almost completely shot by now and every time someone made a loud noise, I panicked, started to hyperventilate, and almost always ended up needing a diaper change soon after. Honestly, if it wasn’t for Jimmy and Lillian and their patience and understanding with me, I think I probably would have snapped already. Today was just like any other day though, as, to their credit, Lillian and Jimmy tried to maintain a sense of normalcy for me, despite being clearly worried themselves. Virgan was still very much part of the lower southern pro-Big area, so anyone paying the slightest bit of attention would understand that Nancy being convicted wasn’t guaranteed in the court system, fair or not. Still, everything was going according to schedule, and I was even allowed to eat my cereal by myself today from my highchair. It was slower than if Lillian or Jimmy helped me out, but considering everything else in my life that I was forced to concede needing help with, it was nice to be able to feed myself at least. “Better, hurry, honey,” Lillian noted to Jimmy. “You don’t want to be late for your sales pitch this morning. I know you’ve worked hard on it for at least a month by now.” Jimmy smiled and gave Lillian a half hug before nodding. “You’re right, you’re right. Just need to find my papers this morning,” he said, resuming his search of the loads of stacked paperwork on a nearby counter. “You didn’t happen to see them last night when you were grading papers, did you?” Lillian shook her head. “No, but…” A loud knock then came from the front door. It wasn’t gentle or slow, and I could quickly feel the tension and doom quickly surrounding me. Jimmy and Lillian both looked at each other nervously, but then he ultimately went to answer the front door while she stood guard in front of me. Jimmy soon opened the door, his fingers nearly touching the baseball bat he had stored nearby. His body language instantly changed though as he saw who was outside. “Oh, how can I help you this morning? Is everything okay?” Muffled voices could be heard but I couldn’t discern whoever was on the other side of the door.   “Wha’ is ih Lillian?” I asked nervously. Lillian looked back at me with both concern and care in her eyes. “I don’t know, honey. If they were bad though, I don’t think Jimmy would still be talking to them…” Her rationalization was very refreshing to my scattered mind, but my curiosity still burned as to who he was talking to. “Of course. Come on in. Everyone else is just in the kitchen,” Jimmy then said, gesturing to where we were. Not long after, three figures came in. The first, I recognized immediately as Agent Dawson. The second and third were both clearly the police, but one seemed much gruffer and older than the other. The older mustached police officer spoke first and took off his cap as he did so. “Ma’am… little miss…” “Oh, hello there, Chief McGinty. What brings you here this morning?” Lillian asked, quickly seeming relieved over who she was now seeing. The chief sighed. “I’m afraid to say this, Lillian, but it seems that something happened with our security cameras and jail cells last night. We’re still not sure how yet, but Nancy… she escaped.” I felt I was nearly going to pass out from the news. I almost began to shake with the sheer amount of fear I was now feeling inside. Lillian quickly noticed though and immediately came over to me to try and rub my back to calm me down. “That’s terrible, but do you at least have any leads?” The chief sighed again and shook his head. “I’m afraid not. However, she escaped the holding facility, pretty much erased her tracks as well. We might be able to figure it out eventually, but for now, I just wanted to come here personally and tell you that we’re working closely with the LPS to ensure that you all remain safe still.” Agent Dawson nodded and stepped forward. “Having known Nancy the longest and most accurately, I have been assigned the lead on this case. I know all this is a lot, but just know that we won’t stop our efforts until she is safely behind bars again, understand?” I had practically blacked out everything else going around on me and just tried to focus on Lillian’s comforting presence. I still feared for my life from my former caregiver, but at least Lillian and Jimmy seemed to be remaining strong for me. As Chief McGinty and Agent Dawson laid out their plans and reassurances to them and then left, however, I could quickly see the panic begin to set in. “Oh, Jimmy… what are we going to do?” Lillian panickily asked her husband. “Do you think she’s really going to come after us to get to Emma?” Jimmy shook his head. “No, she’s not getting to any of us. I’ll go down swinging if I have to, but it’s going to be my mission to ensure everyone in this family stays safe. For now, Chief McGinty and Agent Dawson have promised us a personal security force to monitor us during the day and here at night. Until we hear otherwise, I think we just need to act like it’s any other day and go about what were planning on doing anyway.” “Is that really wise?” Lillian quickly and seemingly skeptically asked back, a sentiment and question I shared as well. Jimmy sighed. “I don’t know if anything we do is going to make this any worse or not. If we split up though, Nancy might try to get one of us and we can slow her down or alert the authorities first. Plus, the agents and other police monitoring us should be able to help as well.” I could see that Lillian was still wary about going to the elementary school that she taught at, but after Jimmy gave us both a giant hug and a further reassurance of his own protection, I could tell that she could at least still go about her day, which is why, less than thirty minutes later, I was dropped off at the daycare as had become our routine. “Oh my,” Mrs. Gillies said, seemingly more worried now than I had ever seen her before when she greeted us in the lobby and had heard about Nancy’s escape. She then turned to the receptionist Big at the front desk. “Izzy, make sure that all the staff know what’s going on and who we all need to look out for. I’m sure Agent Dawson and Chief McGinty have the situation well in hand, but it doesn’t hurt for us to be extra vigilant as well.” “Thank you so much, Mrs. Gillies,” Lillian said, smiling as she then bent down to look at me directly. “Okay, sweetie. I’m going off to work, but I’ll see if I can get off a little early today and pick you up as soon as I can. I think Mrs. Gillies and the others can protect your pretty well in here, but just stay strong for me, okay?” I hesitated with my still wrecked nerves, but I ultimately nodded. Lillian then pulled me into a tight hug. “There’s my brave girl. I’ll be back before you know it but try and have fun today in the meantime.” I tried to take her words seriously, but everyone could tell my nerves were on edge for the whole day. Every loud noise or shuffle and I would practically leap from where I was and duck for cover. A few of the other newer Littles laughed at the spectacle I was making of myself, but Anna and Lilly still remained by my side. “Don’ listen to them,” Lilly told me after they had driven away the last of the Littles making fun of me. “They’re jus’ tryin’ to shove their own insecurities and problems onto someone else.” “Yeah, Emmy!” Anna agreed. “Befo’ you know ih, dey goin’ to be jus’ wike babies. Da mean ones always go first!” Even with as regressed as she was, it was hard to deny her logic. Mean Littles meant more punishments and that meant more time in the backroom. Even with Nurse Bee not here anymore, many Littles still often went to the backroom and came back just a little more relaxed. The major difference was that now, there weren’t anymore ‘mistakes’ like had happened to me or at least the dozen others before. “Dank you, you two. Wiff Nancy on da loose, I jus’ can’t seem to stahp getting’ aww newvous…” “It’s okay, Emma,” Lilly reassured me. “We understan’. It’s tough, but how ‘bout a nice cup o’ tea to wash your worries away? I’m sure Carmen, Cassie, an’ Patch would love another round.” I knew our toys nearby were always up for another round of tea. “How ‘bout you, Anna?” Anna needed no further prompting and vigorously nodded her head, Carmen bobbing along by her side as well. And just like that, my two best friends eased me down and distracted me thoroughly with a nice cup of tea. Today, we decided to focus on rumors around the daycare, and I was still continually shocked by all the juiciness out there, even for us Littles. I mean, in one instance, Carl had stolen Ian’s favorite toy the other day, wrecked the playpen section of the Meadows room, and then had an accident in front of everyone. Knowing this place, we all took bets on just how much longer he was going to be able to stay in this room. Regardless, the day continued just like that, but today, instead of going straight down for a nap, the staff decided to treat everyone to a quick recess outside. The sun had finally popped out from behind the clouds, and everyone knew that winter was about to arrive. Recess would still occur during the season, but today seemed likely to be one of the last nice days we all could enjoy without bundling up tight. After several rounds of swings and slides, those with the energy decided to have some fun with a game of tag. A relatively new girl, Vivian, who had just joined us in the Meadows room, was soon up to start counting so the rest of us could hide. Counting on her lack of experience with these younger games, I crawled into a common but secretive metal tube that was part of the outside perimeter of the playground. Everyone here for more than a week knew about it, but I just hoped that Vivian would pass me right on by. The tube had one other quality that even most of the staff forgot about. It was near to where most of them gathered to watch all us Littles, and just like Anna, Lilly, and I had done during tea, most of the staff filled their time discussing the latest gossip and rumors. Today, unsurprisingly, I just happened to be the focal point of the conversation. As soon as I heard my name, my ears perked up and I tuned in more towards their conversation than the game of tag. Besides, Vivian was still counting up to 50 and was getting stuck in her 30s. As Miss Mindy went over to help her, Miss Tully spoke up. “I just can’t believe Nancy escaped. You think they would have better security in that place.” Miss Valerie scoffed. “Yeah right, Tulia. You know that place. There isn’t a fly that they don’t know about escaping or entering.” “Wait… are you saying…?” I leaned in closer, sort of getting the hint she was trying to make myself. “Well, duh!” Mrs. Carter interjected. “It was totally an inside job. You know how this area goes with the whole pro-Big movement. Sure, the city caters to most Littles pretty well, but twenty minutes outside? Littles beware.” “I never thought of it that way…” Miss Tully mused. “Better get used to thinking that way. I mean, even look at this place.” From my hiding spot below, I could just make out Mrs. Carter gesturing to the daycare. “I think we skirt way too close to the edge around here with that whole pro-Big movement nonsense.” “Wait… you’re not part of that movement?” a clearly surprised Miss Valerie asked her fellow Canopy room staff member. “Oh, heck no!” Mrs. Carter shot back. “I mean look at Nancy. All fine and normal for us Bigs at least, and then she joins that movement. Now look at her. On the run, a charge of neglecting a Little on their permanent record and then fired from her job as a result? I don’t care what the trial would have revealed. If that’s the price of association with that movement, you can count me out!” “I hear that,” Miss Tully agreed. “It all started with that darn Nurse Bee woman.” “You know,” Miss Valerie pointed out, “we can call her by her first name now, right?” “I know that,” Miss Tully noted. “I just don’t want to give her that dignity. Nurse Bee could almost be her villainess alter ego at this point to me. She’s just so wicked. I mean, you saw what she did to Fiona.” Several of the staff murmured and seemed to agree. “I don’t care what Diamond is doing to her. Can’t be worse than putting her in that locked state to begin with. I mean, we tried for what? six months to get her back. Maybe? I doubt there’s much left of her anyway for those greedy testers to poke at in the first place.” “Geez. I always forget about Fiona. Such a shame,” Miss Valerie lamented. “Yeah,” Mrs. Carter agreed, “but Nurse Bee had so many victims at the end… they almost all just kind of blend in. Well, except for Emma now.” “Shhh! She could hear you,” Miss Tully said with annoyance. “We have to keep all this in house, and you never know what a Little could tell to the LPS. You heard Gillies this morning. For all we know, we could be next on her hit list of sorts.” Miss Valerie nodded. “Right. I mean, we were the ones she blamed initially for not letting Emma regress in the first place. Still a mystery how she lasted that long.” “Uh, well,” Miss Tully began to stumble, “that’s kind of my fault. Still not sure how she lasted as long as she did, but I did help her a bit.” “What?” Mrs. Carter asked, clearly surprised. “What do you mean by that?” “Well… I have a cousin who works for Diamond Technologies,” she explained. “They’re trying to find a way to counteract the Juventas formula in the first place. Haven’t made much headway yet, but the drug they do have counterbalances a few of the effects. Probably why she’s bounced back so well lately.” “Oh wow!” Miss Valerie exclaimed. “Aren’t you worried about what Gillies will do if she ever finds out?” “Well, yeah, maybe?” Miss Tully responded back hesitantly. “But Emma was my main concern. Besides, none of this would have happened if Gillies had never hired Nurse Bee in the first place. I mean, you’ve seen the recent backroom Littles. All smooth and easy for this place and only to be used as a punishment for the worst offending Littles.” “And you’re exactly right,” a voice said, nearly coming out of nowhere. “Mrs. Gillies! I… I…” Miss Tully stammered. Mrs. Gillies chuckled. “Easy, Tulia. It’s okay. I hate myself for hiring Nurse Bee in the first place, but you’ve seen our books… this place was in dire need of some cost cutting and she seemed a foolproof way out of that mess. Probably the biggest regret of my life now though.” She heavily sighed. “I started this place to help Littles find their proper place in society. If they acted up, then they were obviously too immature and needed to be taken down just a peg or two. In fact, the Burrows room was only designed to care for those who came to us already regressed, not be a place of those we regressed too far.” “So that means…?” Miss Tully started to ask. “Yes, Tulia,” Mrs. Gillies affirmed, “I already know about your anti-FOY drug. I’ve probably known about its existence for longer than you have even. The only issue with that drug is that it leaves traces in the body if used at its proper dosage and the pro-Big movements have been sniffing it out recently. If Nancy had caught on, Emma would have been lost to us forever. Now, though, we at least have a chance to make things right.” I wanted to know more, but just as Miss Tully was about to respond, another Little back in the game of tag tripped over one of the bottom anchors of the rope ladder and began to wail in pain. The staff soon departed for their various duties, and I was left in the metal tube all alone with my thoughts over what I had just overheard. Things were starting to make so much more sense around here now, and I could finally see how some of the staff could both care for Littles and yet subject them to the FOY drug in the first place. It had always felt like a conundrum to me how a place that prided itself on its avocation against usual regression practices and yet still regressed most of its Littles down to the point of requiring diapers. I had so many other questions, but before I could comb through my faded memories, Vivian soon found me. One nap and a little more coloring later, Lilly picked me up from daycare. I could see a squad car following her around, and once again, my nerves were quickly put on alert. By now, I really wasn’t sure of the depths that Nancy would go to in order to seek her revenge or at least capture me once again. Jimmy came back home from work early as well, and the three of us distracted each other quite well for the remaining part of the day and into the night. After dinner, we heard another knock at the door. This time, it was just Agent Dawson. “Hello, Agent Dawson. Anything the matter tonight?” Jimmy asked from the open front door. Agent Dawson shook her head. “Fortunately, no, Jimmy. I just wanted to say that I’m leaving an agent and a patrol car parked outside your house for the night. We’ve installed several systems that will alert us if anything goes wrong and I’ll be staying nearby. If we get an alert because Nancy has gotten in somehow, the best thing you all can do is play for time.” “Thank you, Agent Dawson,” Lilly noted, reaching out to shake her hand. “You have no idea how much this means to us.” “It’s no problem, ma’am,” Agent Dawson replied back courteously. “Just want to make sure that you all and Emma are still safe from Nancy. I’ve been there since the beginning of all this practically, and I just want to see it through to the end now.” With that, we all bid each other a good night, but everything I had heard today and the threat of Nancy still out there, all kind of caught up with me. My emotions were still a mess from whatever Nancy and Nurse Bee had been doing to me, so I just couldn’t help but start to cry. Lilly and Jimmy quickly noticed. “Oh, woah, woah, sweetie. What’s the matter?” Lillian asked, quickly bending down to my sobbing form on the couch. “Yeah, please tell us honey. Is it about Nancy?” Jimmy chimed in. “If it is, don’t worry about her. We’ll be there for you all the way.” I shook my head. “No, no… iss nah dat… I jus’… I don’ wan’ to leave you aww…” I wiped my tears and snot on my sleeve, but Lilly quickly jumped in with a nearby baby wipe and finished the job for me. “I jus’… pwease don’ leave me beacaws of aww dis… I… I… Pwease don’ dink Imma pwobwen Widdle beacaws of Nancy…” I tried to continue, but my emotions were quickly becoming too much for me. “Oh no, baby. Shhh, shhh,” Lilly tried to comfort me. “No, sweetie,” Jimmy added. “We would never think that about you. We promise. Nancy is just a bump in all this. One that we’ll get by in no time.” I looked up at the two smiling and sympathetic faces staring down at me. “You weally mean dat?” Both smiled more broadly and nodded their heads. They didn’t say anything, but they just embraced me in a big hug on the couch. Nancy was still out there, but for now, I felt safe and secure. More than that, I was finally starting to feel that I had truly found my new home here. We all soon headed off to bed after performing each of our own little nighttime routines. I felt secure in the knowledge that I was well protected and safe in this house. I had two wonderful caregivers, the police, and the LPS on my side. So, my eyes soon drifted close in relative peace. *              *              * “Emma! Emma!” Lillian shouted at me from above. “Come on baby! You have to get up!” “Wha’…?” I tried rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, but it took me only seconds to realize that Lilly was back in my nursery before morning had even broken. She was standing there in her bathrobe and quickly plucked me out of my crib. “Wha’s happenin’, Lillian?” Before she had a chance to say anything, I started hearing shouting from downstairs. My blood froze as I recognized one of the voices: it was Nancy. “Come on, come on!” Lillian quickly gathered me into her arms and cradled me tightly, Patch coming along for the ride as well. I could tell that my diaper was already soaked, but the yelling downstairs just became more intense, so I felt I had some pretty massive other priorities right then. To both of our horrors though, as we exited my nursery, the yelling downstairs turned into screaming which soon turned into smashing. Lillian looked around frantically, but then down to me in desperation. “There’s no way we can both get out from up here. We need to go downstairs and see if we can get by them and out the front door. Jimmy said he tripped the alarm already, but the others might not get here for a little bit. I’m not seeing another option… unless you have one?” Fear gripped my body, but sadly, I could only shake my head that I did not. So, unfortunately, Lillian and I had no choice but to slowly creep down the stairs. The noises just became louder, and right as we reached the bottom floor, I could just make out the bodies of the agent and police outside. From their slight moving around, I felt confident that they had just been dazed, instead of outright killed, but I knew then that practically every one of my worst fears was now coming true. “She’s mine! Mine!” Nancy screamed as she hurdled right into Jimmy’s chest. I could already see his head was bleeding and a nearby bloody bat seemed to be the culprit. Jimmy quickly saw us and put up an even more intense struggle. “Run! Get out of here! Go!” Unfortunately, our presence gave Jimmy an extra bit of strength, but I saw that as soon as the disheveled and maniacal Nancy saw me, she got a boost as well. Owing likely to his previous head injury, her newfound strength was just enough to tip the scales back in her favor. With one last slam against one of the bookshelves, Jimmy was out cold. “Jimmy!” Lillian cried out. I could only whimper in terror at the situation unfolding before us. I had never been so scared in my life and seeing the carnage that Nancy had brought with her tonight, I knew there was no stopping her and no rule that she wasn’t willing to break anymore. Right then, both Lillian and Nancy spotted a revolver on the ground near Jimmy. Its pink grip clearly signaled that it originally belonged to Nancy but had at some point been knocked free of her possession. Now seeing the real danger to both our lives, but also being far away from the gun, I saw Lillian stare at the busted open door. I didn’t like where any of this was headed, but in seconds, Nancy lunged for the gun and Lillian dashed to the door. Nancy was first. A single shot rang out and just missed us, hitting the wall only about half a foot away from where we were standing. “Not another move!” Nancy shouted out, blood trickling from her mouth. “I won’t miss next time!” Looking at my former caregiver now, she was quite the changed woman from when I had last seen her. Her usually well-maintained hair and nails were grungy and overgrown. Parts of her makeup had clearly run down her face, and she was already starting to sport bruises on her arms and legs from her fights previously tonight. Her cracked and blackened nails curled around the grip of the revolver, and she jerked it toward the couch. “Over there! Move it! Now!” Not wanting to tempt fate, Lillian had no other choice but to comply. “Okay, okay,” she said shakily. “No need to wave that thing around. I’m moving.” “No need? No need?” Nancy spat. “Oh geez, lady! There absolutely is a need. See, Emma was mine first. I’ve come to get her back. I’d say that was a big need!” I whimpered, still clinging tightly to Patch and Lillian. “Pwease, Nancy… pwease jus’ go. Dere’s no need ta do dis… I jus’ wanna be happy. Pwease go…” Nancy lowered the revolver and smiled at me. It was the same smile I had seen thousands of times before, but now, it just crawled under my skin in a way that I didn’t like at all. “Awww, hello there Emmy baby. I was just about to get to you. See, baby, my happiness is you, sweetie. I definitely know that one hundred percent now after all the time we’ve spent apart. That’s why I had to break out tonight.” “And how did you do that exactly?” Lillian asked. “Shut up!” Nancy screamed, pointing the revolver back at Lillian, her emotional state seemingly able to fluctuate now at the drop of a hat. “I didn’t say you could speak, lady! This is just about me and my Little… my baby.” Officially consigning her to having gone over the deep end, I actually wanted to know the same thing. I had been thinking about it all day and after the conversation I overheard with the daycare staff, I had wondered if Jimmy, Lillian, and I were actually safe tonight. “Okay, okay, Nancy. Jus’ put down da gun, buh I wanna know too. How dih you get out?” Nancy smirked over my interaction with her and fortunately lowered the revolver back down. “Well, it wasn’t easy, baby, but I have a few friends at the station. It’s amazing the connections you can make when you join a few political meetings. It might shock you to know just how many pro-Big members there are in this city alone. All it took was a little loyalty and bam! I was out of my cell! I mean, they all told me to get out of Virgan and even Libertalia, but I just couldn’t leave without my baby. A few disagreed, but most understood.” Unfortunately, at that notion, her resolve only seemed to increase, and she raised the gun once more to Lillian. I could feel Lillians grip on me tighten and wrap me even tighter. “So, I’ve come here tonight instead to collect what’s mine. Come over to me now, Emma. In fact, I promise… I won’t hurt Jimmy or Lillian anymore tonight if you do so willingly.” She then reinforced her gun’s positioning and aiming at Lillian. “Refuse, and things might get a little… messy.” I looked back up at Lillian and I could tell she didn’t want me to leave but sighing and placing my hand on her face to reassure her while also not seeing another way out, I whispered. “Ih will be okay. I pwomise…” Sighing with the weight of eternity and out of options, she soon let me down like I wanted in order to give into Nancy’s demands. I knew she wasn’t bluffing, and while I wanted to do anything else than comply with her, I didn’t want to see Lillian or Jimmy get hurt because of me.   So, taking a deep breath in to try and somehow calm my nerves at least a little bit, I started walking over to Nancy slowly. Nearby, I could still see the unconscious form of Jimmy slowly moving around just from his breathing. I was thankful he wasn’t more hurt, especially considering that Nancy had brought a gun, but I knew we still weren’t out of the woods yet. As soon as I got to the feet of Nancy, she beamed down at me and smiled once more. The past few minutes had nothing to make that smile feel any warmer to me. To be blunt, if anything, I now just felt it resembled more of a smile from a hunter who had finally caught their prey after so long. “Well, hello again there, little one. Miss me at all?” she questioned in her usual tone meant solely for babies and pets. At one time, I actually found it comforting, but now… it just reminded me of all the bad times with her. So, instead of answering her, I just cut to the chase. “Okay… I’m hewe… wha’ now?” Nancy didn’t seem to appreciate me brushing off her previous statement, but she also seemed determined to leave here as soon as she could. “Now, baby, you come with me, and we leave this country all together. I’m thinking maybe Catalon… or Honshu? I’ve heard the weather is wonderfully quite pleasant there this time of the year.” I could only nod and accept my fate. I knew that once out of the country, even with the best and most advanced resources of Libertalia trying to find me, they never would. Other countries, particularly those two with their stringent Little laws, made it difficult to locate another Little. It was one of the reasons that kidnapping Littles to other countries had proven so popular before. It was only after huge reforms that the problem had died down, but the loopholes were still there if one knew where to look and for the right price. Nancy then bent down to pick me up, but just as she got me settled into her arms, I could hear the whirring and purring of motors and engines from nearby. “What’s that? What’s that?” Nancy asked as she waved her gun around in the air, clearly paranoid now of anything disrupting her plans to get me back. She didn’t have to wait long to find out. In moments, from the front window, we could see numerous squad vehicles show up from both the local police and the LPS. Our rescue party had finally arrived, but that’s when everything went from bad to worse. Clearly panicking, Nancy paced back and forth with me still in her arms. Lillian tried several times to talk her down and to just surrender. “Please, Nancy. Just give in and all this can be over. There’s no way out of here. You have to know that by now.” “No! Nothing is over!” she screamed back as she pointed the gun more menacingly back at her. Lillian just held up her hands in surrender. Unfortunately, I think right then, Nancy had an awful idea of the few things she actually did still have. “I have a gun…” I wanted to try and talk her out of whatever she was planning, but at that very moment, the front and rear doors burst open, and several agents and officers surrounded Nancy. I wish I could say otherwise, but clearly not seeing any other way out, Nancy hugged me tighter and aimed the gun right at me. “Back off! I get out of here now. There’s no way I’m leaving without Emma. Either we both go, or neither of us does!” “Easy, Nancy. Easy there,” Agent Dawson tried to calm her. “There’s no reason this has to end this way.” “Yeah,” Chief McGinty agreed. “Just put the gun down and we can talk. There’s still a way out of this where we all get out of this safely.” “I don’t believe you!” Nancy shouted back at them. I could hear the desperation and panic begin to set in her voice. I didn’t like where this was heading. “Pwease, Nancy,” I pleaded, still in the tight grip of her arm. “Pwease don’ do dis…” Nancy looked down at me and swore I could see tears in her eyes. “Why, Emma? Why? Why did it come to this? We could have been happy… I just… I just wanted my little girl back… Is that really so bad?” My heart broke for her a little bit, but I could never forgive her for what she had done and was continuing to do. Maybe that meant that I was a bad person as well, but by now, I knew that we could have been happy together. Like Jimmy and Lillian had shown me, it was still possible to connect Bigs and Littles together and not force the Little to be regressed. Nancy could have just helped me out with my growing regression and that could have been the end of it. Instead, everything had led to this. I then looked over at Agent Dawson. She stared intently at me, and I could quickly tell that she was trying to give me a signal of sorts with her subtle facial tics. I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but I knew something was there for sure. Fortunately, Nancy was too distracted in her tsunami of emotions right then to notice what was happening right in front of her. So, seeing my chance and feeling there weren’t many other options or opportunities to end this, I nodded to Agent Dawson, who then quickly signaled to Chief McGinty. It was a risk, but I just hoped everything would be over quickly. The mustached elderly cop twitched for a moment, and then squinted his eyes at the two of us. He breathed in and out and stated in a clear and unmistakable voice, “Take ‘em.” A shot rang out. I fell to the ground.

“Um… I-is it really okay…?” She said, her nervous smile was plastered all over her face. Francine chuckled and then gave an affirmative nod which prompted Dahlia to gently start washing Francine with said sponge. Cautious to a fault, she did it just as lightly, like porcelain, to gauge her girlfriend’s reaction to being washed. 

Francine finished washing up her partner, then she handed over her sponge. "Would you do me the honours?" She asked and gestured to her own body. She was anxious to have her baby get just a bit bolder. She didn't want her to feel like she was ONLY a baby.