Howdy! Time for another chapter of the AU I didn't think would last this long!

Ok this one and the next are the last exposition chapters, then it's on to the fun stuff- the one-shots! I'm really excited for those!

But we're not quite there yet, there's just a couple more characters to introduce.

And in case you haven't guessed by the title, our favorite hard-core sergeant is making her first appearance- though she's obviously not quite a sergeant yet- and maybe she's not as hard-core as she seems either ;)

Felix walked with an extra pep in his step.

He just couldn't wait to introduce his family (well, they were practically family) to his "lady friend," as Ralph called her, practically skipping down the street in his excitement. Tamora smiled at his enthusiasm as they strolled, though she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at the odd anxiety gnawing at her at the thought of meeting them.

Well, maybe not all of them. She figured that since Ralph and Ty were friends of Felix's she'd probably like them. And she'd seen them around school, though she'd never actually met them. They didn't look too bad.

But the one she was most nervous to meet, and most ashamed at being nervous about was Vanny.

She'd heard Felix gush about the little girl countless times, and there was no doubt that he adored her.

But Tamora didn't have a maternal bone in her body. Kids had never liked her much, and she wasn't too fond of them herself.

Felix on the other hand loved little kids. He took care of Vanny almost every day, and it was obvious just from the way he talked that he loved her like she was his own child. Even before she'd come along, Tammy knew he was a total kid-person. Heck, he even had dreams of running a daycare someday.

They seemed to be polar opposites, on very different paths. But Tammy wanted this to work out, she needed it to. She didn't think she cared about anyone as much as Felix. She might even, dare she even think it, love him. She was more serious about this than she'd been about anything. And she was a serious person to begin with.

So she had to love Vanny, and Vanny had to love her.

This had to work. She had to make it work, and go against her very nature.

Finally, after a walk that seemed to last forever, they'd finally made it.

Though she'd taken the time to get her nerves under control, Tamora found she was still slightly frazzled as they climbed the stairs to Ralph's small apartment. This was an unwelcome feeling for the teen, who was used to being calm, cool, and collected. Felix was supposed to be the nervous one.

Felix knocked politely, and after a moment Ralph opened the door, a confused look on his face at first until he realized who his company was.

"Felix! Finally!" he exclaimed, "And- Tamora," he said after a moment, calming from his excitement enough to hold a hand out to her in an attempt to be professional.

"We finally meet," he chuckled.

"Uh, yeah," she returned his handshake.

The teen craned her neck. She wasn't used to looking up at anyone like that. Of course she had tall friends, and wasn't exactly short herself, but Ralph had to be the tallest person she'd ever met. He took up the whole doorway, she noticed absently, smirking slightly at the thought of teeny tiny Felix being best friends with this giant.

"Heh- come in!" he ushered, awkwardly gesturing inside with his huge hands, his attempt at professionalism gone as quickly as it had appeared.

Tamora's smirk grew the littlest bit. She just might like this guy.

As they entered, the other two inhabitants of the little apartment paused from their little game, looking up at the visitors.

A younger teen, who she presumed was Felix's cousin Ty, or Turbo, as she was told his nickname was, was splayed out on the couch, holding the other resident up over his head.

He quickly sat up, clearing his throat awkwardly, and Tamora actually chuckled. He flushed slightly, glowering at her.

Felix laughed.

"Tammy, this is my cousin, Ty." he introduced.

"What's with all the formalities, Felix? Call me Turbo." he casually held out the hand that wasn't holding a tiny person, and she shook it.

"Oh, and this is little Vanellope!" he chirped, grinning as he took the tiny girl from his cousin, "But we usually just call her Vanny, don't we?" he asked her, and she smiled back at him, "She's my niece! Well, kinda," he added.

The baby looked warily at Tamora, and she realized that she was just as scared of Vanny as the toddler was of her.

This didn't wound her pride at all.

"Now I know you're not too fond of little ones, and Nelly doesn't always take well to strangers, but I know you'll just love each other once you get acquainted!"

He started to sit down, but got up quickly after Ralph asked (yelled) for help with a slight setback with dinner (namely that it was on fire).

"Oh boy. Sorry ladies, I think my assistance is required elsewhere if we plan on eating tonight." he quickly left, plopping Vanny on the floor.

Never one to miss out on chaos, Turbo soon followed, leaving the girls alone.

Vanny's bright hazel eyes watched them go before focusing on the stranger, eyeing her with an odd mixture of curiosity and trepidation.

"Jeez kid, you've got quite a stare, huh?" Tam chuckled awkwardly.

The teen soon switched her gaze onto the chaos that had ensued in the kitchen. That looked like fun. But it was certainly no place for a baby, and she'd apparently been put on babysitting duty.

Speaking of which, where was- she looked around. Vanny was nowhere to be seen!

Where could she have possibly gone in the literal seconds she'd been distracted?! The kid could barely even walk yet, but Tamora had managed to completely lose her!

Oh jeez she was screwing this up! She couldn't even watch the kid for five minutes!

Then she felt a tug on her pant leg. She looked down, meeting eyes once again with the baby, who was under the table for some reason. Why, she'd never know, babies were weird.

"There you are!" she sighed, relieved and a bit embarrassed at how flustered she'd gotten.

She scooped the little girl up, earning a surprised little yelp, setting Vanny beside her. Tamora found the slightest smile starting to creep onto her face. This kid wasn't half bad. Sure, she'd given her a scare for a minute there, and she was still a bit wary of the teen, but she was quiet and calm and cute, and dare she say it- Tamora might actually be starting to like the kid.

But then the smoke alarm went off.

Both of them jumped at the sudden noise, and soon the blaring was joined by frightened cries.

Tam became frantic. All the noise was doing nothing to help this, and she couldn't think straight. All of Vanny's caregivers were busy and she didn't know what to do.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and just left, bringing a still wailing Vanny with her.

It was much more peaceful outside. The evening sun cast an amber glow over the usually shadowy urban environment. Though Ralph's place wasn't in the nicest part of town, it was head and shoulders above the place where Tamora had grown up, and she was content to just look out at it all from the top of the stairs, her mind immediately starting to clear.

She bounced Vanny a bit in her arms in an attempt to calm her down (babies liked that, right?), and after a few minutes she quieted. She felt a bit silly for it, but it also seemed to help when Tamora talked to her, so she did. For a while she just talked about nothing and everything- car mechanics, her classes, how she was scared to love Felix- and Vanny was content to listen to her, the relaxing calm of the evening lulling both into an eased, albeit one-sided conversation. And after a while, Van started contributing in her own little way, babbling as if she had a reply.

The teen smiled. Despite the circumstances, this was actually going pretty well. After all, she had managed to get Vanny to stop crying all by herself. Not bad, she thought proudly.

The peace of the sunset was soon interrupted though by the panicked voices of Felix and Ralph from inside.

"Where's Tammy?!" Felix's voice rang out.

"Wait- where's Vanny?!" both voices yelped in panicked unison.

The girls looked at each other for a moment before the door swung open, revealing the frantic teens, whose expressions immediately softened at finding them.

"There you are!" Felix sighed.

Then the best friends looked at each other in disbelief.

Was Vanny-

"Wow, she must really like you to not be screaming at you." Turbo interrupted their shared thought by voicing it.

Tamora looked down.

Vanny looked up.

Vanny smiled.

Tamora smiled back.

Since dinner had been burnt to a crisp despite their best efforts, the teens decided to just order a pizza instead.

Conversation seemed to come naturally, Tamora fitting seamlessly into the usual casual banter.

"I feel bad for Vanny." Felix said, his demeanor suddenly becoming solemn as he fed the little girl.

"How come?" Ralph asked.

"Cause she's stuck with you." Turbo countered.

"No, because half her diet growing up is gonna be pizza if I don't cook for you every night." Felix laughed.

Ralph tried to glare but found he couldn't keep it, laughing along with his friends.

"Y'know, I think I've seen you at the arcade before." Ty said after dinner, "Up for a game?"

He didn't even wait for a response before tossing a controller to the older girl.

"Anytime. Whaddaya got?" she asked.

Felix smiled. Those two would get along just fine, they both had a wicked competitive streak.

"Hey Ralph, c'mere," Ty yelled over his shoulder, "we gotta induct her." he said with his trademark smug smirk.

Soon the teens were enthralled with their game, Felix acting as a spectator/referee when the competition got heated.

Vanny pouted. She was bored. No one was paying her any attention and she wanted to play!

Then she got an idea.

Time for dessert.

Taking advantage of her distracted caregivers, she stood up on her wobbly legs and made her way to the kitchen.

With one final glance back she smiled triumphantly. She'd made it! Granted, it wasn't that far, but for her it was an accomplishment.

After scooting a chair up to the counter and balancing several of Ralph's schoolbooks (which almost weighed as much as her), Vanny clambered up her little makeshift ladder for her prize.

The cookie jar, perched on top of the counter like a trophy beckoned the little girl, and her tower was just tall enough to reach it. Just a little farther-

Got it!

Vanny held the jar up over her head in triumph, before the books below her started to wobble. Unwilling to relinquish her grip on her prize, she couldn't balance herself and fell backwards, landing hard with a thud and a crash as the jar broke into a thousand pieces.

The four teenagers looked up in alarm at the sound of the crash. Looking around frantically, they found that Vanny was suspiciously missing. Seconds later, a piercing wail sent them all rushing into the kitchen, abandoning their game.

Ralph of course reached it first and paused at the scene.

The room was in shambles- a chair had fallen, along with all his textbooks, strewn haphazardly around.

And right in the middle of the chaos was Vanny. And the shattered cookie jar. It immediately became obvious what had happened.

He immediately picked up the still crying toddler, holding her close while examining her for injuries. Nothing. He sighed, grateful that at least she hadn't been hurt.

But then he found a tiny smear of something red on his arm.

Quickly grabbing her arm, the harsh movement making the little girl cry harder, he found that his previous assumption had been wrong.

Vanny had been hurt. It wasn't severe by any means, but it still made Ralph panic.

"Ok, ok," Felix placated both of them, taking the baby from his friend, "she'll be alright Ralph, it's just a little cut. I'm sure she's fine, just a little shaken, right baby?" he bounced her a little and she calmed ever so slightly, pausing to look at him.

Noticing the nervous teen father's fidgeting, Felix decided to give him something to do.

"Why don't you clean up, Ralph? I've got her."

He quickly left to do that, and Felix, with Vanny perched on his hip, went to get the first aid kit.

Ralph didn't like the look of that.

"It's ok Ralph, I just need a couple things out of it," he tried to help the older teen relax. He shot his cousin, who up until now was just standing around awkwardly, not knowing what to do, a look from the corner of his eye and he set to work helping Ralph, serving a dual purpose distracting him as well.

Tamora came to Felix's side, "Is there anything I can do?" she tentatively asked.

"Do you think you could distract Vanny for a minute?" he gestured to the toddler, whose wide teary eyes looked straight through her.

"Uh, sure."

She could do that, after all she'd already done it once tonight.

Vanny whimpered when she was moved into Tammy's arms, rubbing her sore arm before the older girl stopped her.

"Aw, it's ok sweetie. I know it hurts but we're gonna fix your owie right up." Felix cooed.

Tamora held and talked to her again (but of course not about Felix this time)as the other teen disinfected the cut with spray. Vanny winced at the sting, but didn't fuss, her eyes never leaving the other girl's.

After a minute the owie went away and she examined her arm.

He put a bandaid over it, and the little girl looked at it curiously before trying to pull on it.

"No no honey, you can't pull the bandaid off, it's gotta stay there until your cut's all better."

"There. Feel better?" Tammy asked, but she just looked at her.

"C'mon, gimme a smile. Just a little one?" she asked.

Nope.

"Just an eensy weensy teeny weenie smile?" Ralph chimed in, taking her and nuzzling his nose into her tummy, making Vanny finally give that sweet crooked grin he loved so much.

"There it is! See, that wasn't so bad, huh?"

Felix laughed. Ralph had been almost as upset as her.

Tamora couldn't help but marvel at how Felix did it. He calmed Van and Ralph down and took care of the baby's cut without batting an eye. It was like he was their mother, she smirked.

"How about I make some more cookies?" Felix asked, already turning around to look for the ingredients.

Wow, he was more of a mom than her own mother.

Three yes's and a babble that Felix took for a yes followed, and Turbo and Tamora followed him into the kitchen.

Now that they could help with.

Ralph, however, took a moment to rest from the chaos. He didn't know how Felix always stayed so calm.

He lifted Vanny to eye level, meeting her bright eyes, now free of tears but still slightly damp.

"You scared me there, Vanellope von Schweitz," he closed his eyes as he touched his forehead to hers.

She looked away sheepishly, knowing she'd done something wrong. Her papa never called her by her full name unless she was in trouble. She'd been bad.

She whined as if to apologize.

He opened his eyes.

"Aw, it's ok kid. But you can't go doin' stuff like that. You coulda hurt yourself way worse than that," he gestured to her arm.

She reached her tiny arms out and Ralph smiled, bringing her close to his chest.

She smiled, completely content to stay there forever, and they both settled into a relaxed silence.

"Aw, how sweet, it's a moment for the photo album," came the snarky voice of Turbo a moment later.

Ralph swatted him away playfully, smirking.

"Hey, c'mere kid," the youngest teen reached down, and Vanny lifted her arms as he picked her up, giggling as he tossed her in the air.

Ralph chuckled before getting up to see what Felix was doing.

"Heh, sorry about all this," he apologized as he entered the kitchen, "it's not always this chaotic around here."

At that Felix whirled around to give his friend the most incredulous look Tamora had ever seen.

She couldn't help but laugh as Felix crossed his arms, a spoon covered in cookie batter in one hand, looking every bit like an over-it housewife.

Ralph laughed again, sheepishly rubbing his neck.

"Okay, it is usually this chaotic. But we tried to be normal tonight, we really did! We didn't wanna scare ya off right away," he smirked.

Tamora laughed. "Scare me off? This is the most fun I've had in a long time!"

The three laughed, and after a moment Felix politely shooed them out of the kitchen to finish the cookies.

Soon they returned to their game, this time keeping a close eye on Vanny, which was easier now that she was occupied with licking the batter from the spoon Felix had given her.

And soon enough the oven beeped, and Felix laughed as four people simultaneously turned to look at him. They looked like they might eat him if he didn't get the cookies out soon.

So he did, letting them all have at it. Before they knew it the whole tray was gone.

"There's no cookie jar to keep them in anymore, so we might as well finish 'em," Ralph joked, poking Vanny, who smiled sheepishly.

Tamora laughed too, before her eye caught the clock and her heart sunk.

Was it really that late?!

Felix followed her gaze and was just as surprised.

"Oh gosh, I've gotta get you home Miss Tammy!" he fretted, "Your father's gonna kill me!"

She laughed, "You'll be fine, my old man's all bark and no bite."

"I dunno, he seems awfully bite-y to me."

Tamora chuckled, standing up.

"Well, it's been a crazy night, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Seeya boys," she gave a salute.

Ty and Ralph saluted back, laughing.

She felt a tug on her pant leg.

"Bye kiddo," she scooped the little girl up, and Vanny smiled, "don't go getting into too much trouble now, give your poor dad a break." she smirked at Ralph, as Vanny babbled sweetly. No promises!

Just before they left, as if it were an afterthought, Tammy gave her a teeny hug, kissing the top of Vanny's hair lightly when she thought no one was looking.

But unbeknownst to her, Felix was looking, and it took all his strength to keep his eyes from watering.

His favorite girls did love each other!