A/N Sorry for the wait everybody! (I know, I know, I did it again) but school's nearly out (less than two weeks) and if my parents don't make me get another jobs then hopefully i'll have this story wrapped up before too long!

I finally got around to the light RJ/Stella, sorry if it seems to come out of nowhere. I also tried to use more characters that I feel I've kind of been ignoring. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!!

x x x

Stella didn't take it very well. She chased after RJ, throwing anything within her reach at his head. The skunk was furious with him for leaving Tiger behind. Eventually she fell silent, stopping to sit in the middle of the clearing. She looked incredibly forlorn, even though she kept casting dark glances at everyone. Verne, fortunately, handled it much better. The first thing he did was call a family meeting. They gathered around RJ's tv area, speculating loudly over what was going on. Verne stood in front of them, looking very much the part of a worried father.

"Everyone, settle down. Guys! Look there is nothing to worry about, we just have a little emergency on our hands." he had meant to quiet the group, but his rather poor choice of words had only succeeded in fueling their talk. He sighed and turned to RJ and Luby, who were perched on opposite sides of the carseat with Hammy bouncing between them. "Let me get this straight...You two, and Tiger, went off to do a little raiding and didn't bother to tell anyone."

"It wasn't anything major. We didn't want to bother anybody about it." RJ defended. The turtle frowned at him. "There's safety in numbers, RJ! To be honest, I'm disappointed with you." The raccoon sunk down next to Hammy, who patted his ear cheerfully.

"It wasn't his fault, it was my idea to go."

"Nobody is to blame here." Ozzie spoke up. He rose and stood next to Verne. "This sort of thing was bound to happen eventually. It's a risk that we always take." Everyone was listening now.

Heather, who was sitting with the silent Stella, glanced at the skunk before asking hesitantly. "So, what's going to happen to Tiger?"

"We're going to go get him, right there, Verne?"

"Of course we are, Lou."

"When?" Stella stirred, speaking for the first time in perhaps an hour.

"As soon as possible." She looked to RJ. "Right?"

"...Yeah." he nodded.

"Look, I know you didn't want to leave him there, and you wouldn't have if there was any way to get him out without getting caught yourself. It's just..." she trailed off, for once lost for words. The silence around the clearing went unbroken until she sighed and sat back down next to Heather. Verne, seizing the opportunity to speak, called the group's attention back upon himself.

"That's it, then. We'll aim for tonight if we get everything worked out by then. Now, we've got some plans to make." The family scattered. They knew well by now who would be needed for the planning stages of any operation. Very soon, RJ found himself alone, save for the little group of Verne, Ozzie, Velma, and Luby. Stella and Heather had stayed in their seats. He ignored the larger group, instead moving over to the slightly smoldering skunk.

"Stella?"

"What?"

"I uh..." he faltered a little under her glare. "I'm sorry about Tiger." a pensive silence fell over them as he stood there expectantly. It was the sort of thing that needed to be between the two of them. Heather took a moment to realize this and sat looking from one to the other.

"So...are you guys going to, like, talk or anything?"

"Heather!" Ozzie called from the group. The young opossum made a sound of annoyance and left to see what her father wanted. Her absence made Stella a bit more comfortable, and she sighed.

"I was surprised."

RJ looked at her. She was practically deflating in front of him. The glare was starting to fade from her eyes. She just looked...sad. He took Heather's place next to her. "You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah. I was just a little startled by how worried I was. I guess you can't know how these things feel until you got to deal with them yourself...I hope Tiger's doing okay."

"Hey, I'm sure he's fine. He's lived with humans for most of his life, he knows how to handle them." It was an attempt to console her, and he was relieved to see her small smile as it crept onto her face.

"That's true...RJ? I'm sorry too."

"Not nearly as much as I am. You know I'd never mean to do anything that would hurt you, Stella..." the smile disappeared as she turned away from him.

"RJ..."

"I know, I know."

"I wish you'd stop doing that."

"Been doing better with it." he smiled at her, but she smirked at him.

"I noticed. You've been following that Luby girl around ever since you bumped into her. I like her."

"Me too." RJ frowned, thinking about what he had said. He hadn't admitted it to himself and now here he was admitting it to Stella. She had a way of doing that to him...getting him to talk. Possibly it was her brutal honesty. She always called things as she saw them, and when you were around her long enough it began to rub off.

"You like her!" she laughed. The raccoon was tempted to scowl, but he was glad she seemed happier now. It always thrilled him when Stella laughed. She did it so seldom, it seemed to him something to be happy about. He liked Stella too. Liked liked. She knew very well, too, though she did not return the affection. It had started early on, in that first week. All though the summer they had skirted around it. It was seldom brought up now, and even then neither of them would be very direct about it.

Besides, she did have Tiger...and he might have had Luby, had she not been meaning to leave.

"...You're going to rub this in my face, aren't you?"

"I don't know. I think I might just leave you to dwell on it." she was definitely cheering up. RJ smiled inwardly.

"You're a cruel lady, you know that?"

"I do try." she grinned at him. "Now come on, let's go find out what's happenin' with Tiger!"

x x x

He hadn't realized how much he missed it. Granted, he wasn't quite so used to it as he once was, so he was a little on edge, but it wasn't all that bad. Tiger chuckled to himself, licking the tuna taste from his lips as he lounged comfortably on the couch in the front room. The young Kirkpatrick boy stroked his back lightly, eliciting a low purr from the Persian cat. He wasn't staying long, just until someone left a window open, but he supposed he might as well behave and hope there were no trips to the pound in the near future.

"I just can't believe this!" Tiger's ears perked up at the sound of Mrs. Kirkpatrick's voice from the kitchen. He closed his eyes, smiling to himself. This was probably the way everyone reacted upon finding their recently raided kitchens. Disbelief. It was amusing, in a way, how upset they became when their nice, neat shelves and pantries were violated. It was. It was very funny.

Unless, of course, they realized that he was part of the party responsible.