Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own Gru, the girls, or anybody for that matter, except for my OC's and the non-canon plot deviation.

A/N: Yes, I'm back, and I finally finished my History Fair paper, yeah just in time too. (Breathes a sigh of relief) Anyways, here is chapter eleven! Finally! Yep, here starts the new story arc! The last chapter was actually part of the first story arc(the one set during the movie) as a sort of wrap-up chapter, now onto the arc! REVIEW please! =)

Chapter 11: Ice Cream and Changes

Gru had left the girls in their room that night, silent about the conversation that he'd 'accidentally' overheard. Well, he was a villain, by description, eavesdropping was not below him at all.

All of them had been abandoned at some point in their lives, and the villain could only wonder about the details. He knew from dealing with people, as awkward as he was with children, he wanted to do good by his daughters.

A mere day after re-adopting them, Mr. Gru had brought the girls back to the community center where the recital had been…

He got to watch his girls dance, well, minus Ripley of course, the teen said that, 'she didn't do ballet.'

Somehow, Gru and Ripley had been dragged onto the stage, though Ripley somehow found a back corner that no-one noticed until it was time to leave. She watched her new family dance together with a bit of an odd expression adorning her half-hidden features…

The four girls also learned that Mr. Gru could dance disco, who'd have thought?

Ripley mentally catalogued that information for later, when she could hack a system and find files. She was still taking the vicodin from Kaz, but she was wide awake now, she would not give in to her emotional turmoil.

The teen honestly hated moments like these, not ones that she was spending with her new… Family… But moments when she dwelt upon her own problems…

Another small tug in her chest, somewhere deep inside, there was still that part of her that never stopped thinking…

"Ripley!" Margo's voice seemed to snap the teen out of her thoughts, gaining the thirteen-year old's attention.

"Eet's time to go!" Mr. Gru called after her.

Ripley hopped off the stage, and walked quickly after them through the crowd of minions...

"Yes Old M-" Though no-one heard her, she cut herself off anyways, "yes sir."

She wouldn't fail her… Sisters? Friends? Unofficial charges?

It was her fault, most likely, after all. So Ripley decided to be more… Polite, agreeable… The teen did not want to ruin what was likely their only second chance after all…

Ripley remembered very little of the drive home, simply going over her many previous adoption experiences… Of all of them she'd never been re-adopted before, Ripley found herself at a loss…

Treading a thin line, like back with her Mother, one mistake could cost everything one breath out of line…

'I will not screw this up…' Thought Ripley as she began digging out every experience and behavioral expectation that all her former adoptive parents had wanted in a child.

Polite, agreeable, don't speak unless spoken to, stay out of the way, do chores when needed…

'Oh God,' Ripley thought nervously, 'make a complete one-eighty in five minutes, how the hell am I gonna pull this off?'

She watched her second-time adoptive Father pensively as he drove the tank, and Agnes asked him all sorts of pointless questions…

Then Ripley noticed Margo staring at her, Ripley raised an eyebrow at the ten-year old questioningly…

Margo clearly wanted to ask, but remained silent, as Ripley had, before soon joining her sisters as the exited the tank and walked into the house…

Ripley heart hammered, walking into that house again, why did it feel like back when she was trying to prove to her Mother that she wasn't a lost cause as an agent? Back in the days when impressing her would have been the true start of her career?

Back in the days where killing people when you were told was all she wanted to do well, so that her Mother would love her…

Ripley barely repressed the bitter laugh from escaping, like hell that harpy would have ever cared about her.

Now she had to be a good kid, a not be an unnecessary burden, lest she screw up the last chance that she knew this was…

And yet she found herself wondering, when Mr. Gru would tire of them. The novelty of having kids, when would he grow bored and irritated with four girls underfoot thrust into his life?

Why the hell had the Villain taken them back?

Margo, Edith and Agnes were more understandable, if anybody was adorable enough to re-adopt or have second thoughts about abandoning , it was them.

Ripley herself? A bitchy, headstrong, independent-minded teen with more morbid thoughts than a fly population on a garbage barge? She was probably the worst candidate for adoption, yet…

Mr. Gru was keeping her too?

'What is he playing at?' Ripley wondered quietly.

Margo, Edith and yes, even Agnes were still a bit wary, but none the less seemed content with how things were. But for the life of her Ripley just couldn't let the thoughts go, what if he was just manipulating them? What if-?

Ripley shook her head slightly, as if trying to shake off the unpleasant thoughts, with little success. She couldn't screw it up, lie or not, the teen knew that she had no more chances after this. There would be no more second chances like this one, not ever…

So Ripley in turn, decided to trail after her new sisters, like always…

She could do this…

Whatever Mr. Gru could throw at her, she would take in stride and perhaps grow a little

OOOOO

Gru was content, pure and simple. He had his girls back, and they were happy, much to his joy.

Two weeks, taking care of children was tiring business, sometimes Gru wondered if he'd always be able to keep up…

He had narrowly avoided prison, again, because of the matter of landing his rocket in a street and the cost of the damages. Luckily, NASA had gotten interested by his homemade rocket, and bought it, no hassles. Despite the sting to Gru's pride that he had to sell the rights to it as well, it was worth it to keep his girls.

Breakfast was always interesting, getting their pancakes into those amazing shapes made them smile.

But he couldn't help but shake the feeling that his eldest was… Too quiet…

Since coming back, she hadn't yelled, thrown anything, or called him 'Old Man' like she had the entire time before he'd sent the girls back to the orphanage. Ripley hadn't argued with him or made a single smartass yet playful comment since she's entered the house to live there again.

Gru knew that teens, compared to children, were a whole different ball game. He also knew that, most likely, he was still not the best at the parenting thing, it's not like he had been given a wonderful example to follow himself…

He didn't know what to do really, with Ripley or Margo. Though Margo was slightly easier, he found that the ten-year old loved books, he'd shown her his bookshelves… After removing a good many of the more… Inappropriate texts from them...

Edith and Agnes preferred playing outside, Margo would watch and more often than not end up joining them. Ripley remained content to watch, remain silent, and then follow the three when they moved across the playground.

Gru found that, he had no idea on how to approach the teen… So, while the girls played, and Margo read, well out of earshot…

"Vhy so quiet?" Gru asked the teen.

"'M always quiet."Ripley didn't look away from Margo, Edith and Agnes, then as an afterthought, she added, "sir."

"No you're nawt," Gru said sighed, "and what's weeth dis 'sir' beezness?"

Ripley forced her muscles not to stiffen, no she would not fall into that trap again. Thirteenth adoption, world of hurt, end of story.

"Just being respectful of my elders sir." Ripley answered with a logical tone.

"We all have a free day," Gru offered with an awkward smile, "what do you vant to do?"

"Whatever they want," Ripley answered, almost sounding a little, bitter, "is good enough for me, I'm quite content with what I've been given, sir."

Gru had been about to respond, but Agnes and Edith had quickly appeared to drag Ripley and Gru into their game of tag.

Ripley breathed a mental sigh of relief, 'crisis averted.' She thought quietly.

But Gru mentally vowed that they'd finish this conversation later…

OOOOO

The girls had wanted ice cream, and Agnes's adorability was irresistible, Mr. Gru had driven them to the ice cream parlor.

It was wonderful, yet awkward.

Gru found that, dealing with Agnes or Edith was much easier than Margo or Ripley.

"Why?" Margo asked suddenly.

"Why what?" Gru asked back.

"Why did you give us up?" Margo asked in an almost-strained voice.

Ripley remained, passive. This was not the kind of conversation she could participate in, false-nicities, yes, deep-rooted conversations that could end up with her having an emotional breakdown? Hell no.

"I," Gru paused, at a loss for words, "deedn't mean to…"

"But-" Margo started before cutting herself off.

"When Miss Hattie came to get us," Edith interjected, "you let her take us."

"Why didn't you want us Mister Gru?" Agnes asked, with those adorable puppy eyes.

Ripley continued to spoon chocolate ice cream into her mouth leisurely.

"Dat's not true, I," Gru paused again, his eyes flickering over the four girls who'd wormed their way into his life, "when you were, sent back. I felt…"

"Felt what?" Edith asked somewhat .

"Sad." Gru

"But we're all together now, Mr. Gru!" Agnes piped up, before abandoning her ice cream in favor of hopping out of her chair and clinging to Mr. Gru's right leg.

"Yes, yes we are…" Gru said half to himself as Edith and Agnes got distracted by a colorful toy store from acoss the street.

He watched as his two eldest gazed at the store as well, as Edith and Agnes pulled them all towards the store.

He honestly didn't want to go into that… Brat-playland of a store, but…

The looks on his girls' faces, happiness, joy. He decided it was worth it, even as Agnes badgered the clerk for unicorn toys to pile in his arms…

Parenting was… Unfamiliar to him, to say the least, and Gru often found himself making it up as he went along, and just when he thought he had it down... His girls would do something completely new, forcing him to adapt once again, and he'd barely just gotten them back.

Margo was still a little mistrustful, far more intelligent than most people gave her credit for… But she had fallen in love with the vast amount of books the Gru had at home, but she was relaxing into their new lives as well. Edith was a little spitfire, headstrong and surprisingly devious when she wanted to be. Agnes was the sweetness, utter trust that made Gru almost afraid that he'd unintentionally break it.

He'd never cared about such things before, he'd never cared for people as much as he cared for his girls…

Speaking of, Gru then wondered where Ripley had gone, it seemed as if the wayward teen had completely disappeared…

Stifling the urge to panic and jump to conclusions, after all it had only been weeks since his daughters kidnapping.

He walked towards the front of the store, and breathed out a silent sigh of relief as he saw a quiet Ripley sitting next to a very large, fluffy teddy bear display near the cash registers.

"Ripley, you are not lookeeng weeth your seesters?" Gru spoke down to the teen, his other three girls still within his sight.

"I don't need toys." The stoic teen re-adjusted her bandanna absently.

"Not eeven dee games dat Edith says joo like so mauch?" Gru prodded, he was determined to finish conversation, Ripley was not like this.

"You're already keeping us, feeding us and putting a roof over our heads," Ripley stated, looking up at her adoptive Father with a dull, blue eye, "I don't need any more."

"So you don't vant anyteeng." Gru said incredulously, clearly not believing the teen.

"I've got enough, really," Ripley said, grinning lightly before adding as an afterthought, "sir."

"And what's weeth dis 'sor' beezness?" Gru said, "vhat happened to 'old man'?"

"You didn't appreciate it before, so I gotta call you something else." Ripley explained, her eye staring up at Gru. 'Keep it together Ripley, you can do this, for Margo, Edith and Agnes… For them, you can keep it together…'

Ripley steeled her will, she would not condemn them, she would not be a failure today.

"I don't really mind, joo know?" Gru sighed, teenagers were confusing, "just enough weeth dee 'sir' t'ing, okay?'

"Uh, sure, sure, okay," Ripley sounded, taken aback, before recovered her composure once more, "sure thing."

Suddenly, Agnes called for Gru, wanting him to get an even larger unicorn plushie down from a shelf for her.

Ripley expected him to simply walk away, content with the new understanding they'd reached.

"Ripley," Gru watched as the teen swiveled her visible eye towards him suddenly, "joo can 'ave as many toys or games as joo want, I mean eet." Then he proceeded to assist both Agnes and Edith get things down from the higher shelves…

"You can have as many toys as you want dearie."

Those words, so like one of her previous adoptive parents, you can have as much as you want, what a beautiful lie.

Ripley wouldn't believe it, those words, they always had a double meaning, leading you to believe that you can ask for everything, from material possessions to someone's time or emotional investment, only to find that everyone's gets angry when you ask for too much.

Ripley had done her best in so many tries, be the perfect child, something no-one wants to give up, how did that serve Ripley? Too greedy, too aloof, too clingy, she failed, every. Single. Fucking. Time.

Which only further solidified the fact in Ripley's mind, that even if Mr. Gru wasn't consciously looking for flaws, subconsciously, he must be.

How many slip-ups could Ripley afford? She'd already misjudged how she was to address him, she was sure that he would prefer a respectful address, rather than a more, familiar one. How long would it be until Ripley really fucked things up? Ruined all her chances, and possibly Margo, Edith and Agnes's?

How long would this farce last? How long before…

'Oh my God,' Ripley was suddenly aware of the wateriness in her eye, and swiped at it angrily, 'I can't fall apart, keep it together damn you!'

Then there was the possibility that Mr. Gru was sincere, the possibility hurt in more ways than one. If he was sincere, that meant that he viewed her as fucking, normal. Then later he'd figure out how fucked up Ripley really was, then she'd be back in that hellhole of an orphanage, again.

Oh Ripley wouldn't even make it back to the Orphanage, she promised to finish what she'd almost done back in the backstage closet of the community center, just before Vector had kidnapped her and her new sisters.

Ripley then realized that she had to at least get something, so she wouldn't insult the generosity that Mr. Gru was showing her. Something big enough to look good, but still cheap enough to not be missed.

She picked a cheap art set, it came with a black sketchpad, three pencils, an eraser, and six colored pencils.

Compared to the six unicorns, two game consoles, lots of videogames, books and other odds and ends, it was hardly noticed.

'Shit my ribs hurt…' But, she refused to take another vicodin, even if it was time to take another one, she'd definitely fall apart if she did.

Something in Ripley really longed to take Mr. Gru's word at face value, but…

"Come on Ripley!" Margo's voice pulled the teen's attention away from her aching ribs, "hurry up!"

"I'm going, I'm going, keep your shorts on!" Ripley answered characteristically.

"Ees everyone here?" Mr. Gru asked the girls as they buckled themselves in.

"Yep." The four chorused.

No, Ripley would not take a chance, it just wasn't in her nature. Not with something like this at stake…

Honest to God, Ripley couldn't let this go…

It was a trick, it wasn't real, maybe she was already dead and this was some sort of twisted heaven created to taunt her with her own paranoia…

But for tonight, she settled for letting Edith beat her at 'Marvel vs. Capcom', discreetly of course, on the new Xbox, while Mr. Gru had conceded to Agnes's Unicorn adventure…

Agnes's laughter, Margo's soft smile, Edith's determined smirk… Oh God she couldn't do this…

"Edith, play alone for a bit," Ripley got up suddenly, before calling over her shoulder, "nature calls!"

The one-eyed teen then proceeded down the hall, and upon entering the bathroom, locked the door behind her. There, she proceeded to vomit her stomach's contents into the sink, it tasted horrible and made her throat feel terribly raw afterwards…

Ripley then looked at herself in the mirror, and thought, 'shit I need sleep.'

Her eye was on the verge of developing dark circles and for the life of her, she could bring herself to smile or grin to at least keep up appearances…

Hell, was she starting tearing up?

The act she'd been thriving on for years was coming apart, in pieces.

Sad thing was, Ripley didn't even know why it hurt anymore. Everything seemed to hurt now, just simply watching Gru interact with them was a reminder of what she'd always wanted at her… Sisters' ages…

No it was a lie, a farce, or at least only temporary… Borrowed time, like always…

Everything was changing, and Ripley just couldn't be sure if it was for better or for worse. It was odd enough that the villain, Gru, had taken them all back in the first place.

'I mean, seriously,' thought Ripley as she washed out her mouth with tap water, 'who adopts FOUR girls for keeps?'

Then it occurred to her once more, that little hopeful thought that Ripley should've quashed before it even came into being, lest it get her hopes up…

Adults could not be trusted, they always lied to you, backstabbed you in some of the worst ways possible, made millions of empty promises, abandoned you, broke your heart…

Ripley knew how this would go, things would be great for a while, all happy daisies and peachy-keen days. Then everything will either descend into complete crap or something will happen and everyone will be back to where they started…

And once again, Ripley could just feel the utter exhaustion settling heavy in her limbs, as she swiped away the moistness that threatened to spill over her eyelid. She was so tired of the emotional upheaval, emotions were messy business…

Then another question came forefront to Ripley's mind, 'can you just let yourself be happy?'

Happy? Happy about what? The fact that the warmth, even the care, fake or not, was going to end all too quickly? That every kind word her soul longed for was going to turn out to be nothing but an inevitable lie?

And if it wasn't… Well, Ripley had no contingency plans for when her life wasn't burning in a giant flaming pyre of miserable shit.

But Ripley knew that everything was changing, that was the only thing she was really sure of at the moment…

She just wasn't sure if her sanity would survive it…

None the less, about six minutes later, Ripley rejoined her sisters in the living room, her composure regained once more…

'I really hope that these emotional breakdowns won't become a habit…' Ripley thought quietly as she let Edith win by a hair once again.

"You were gone an awfool long time Reepley," Gru commented with a hint of… worry? "Are you alright?"

"I'm good, I'm good," Ripley found herself grinning convincingly, a reflex she'd always found to be like second nature to her, 'familiar address', Ripley reminded herself before adding, "don't be such a worrywart Old Man."

"I am not old!" Gru smiled though, which kept Ripley from panicking over verbally overstepping boundaries again.

"Suuuuuuuuuure you aren't." Ripley answered back good-naturedly.

"Are you sure dat joo are alright?"

"Of course," Ripley lied straight through her teeth with a calm-yet-cheery expression, "I've never been happier or more peaceful."

Gru seemed to be convinced, and Ripley mentally congratulated herself for another crisis averted and a job well done…

In truth though, throughout the entirety of her thirteen year lifespan, Ripley had never felt more conflicted…

And then she shivered lightly, as she realized that she would have to do this… Happy, polite, yet somewhat-snarky as to not raise suspicion, thing every, single, day…

Her ribs then picked that very moments to throb painfully as Edith tackled her playfully…

'Shit, I need vicodin…'

A/N: As you guys can see Ripley is really conflicted right now. So far, all the adults in her life have failed her, abandoned her, treated her like crap, or made promises that they never intended to keep, so she has no real concept of happiness, or joy which is long-lasting. Ripley is like an emotional volcano waiting to explode basically. She's also afraid of pulling Margo, Edith and Agnes down with her, and she's actually a little peeved that they've become so important to her actually. Eventually, that strong-façade will crumble, or shatter, and when it does you guys better believe that there'll be fireworks. Ripley is simply having trouble believing that Gru is sincere about keeping them, herself included. Remember that Ripley was sent back many times for a plethora of reasons, some of them were actually very shallow reasons, some were just cases of bad luck or bad timing… But yeah, I'm going to focus on the other girls too, don't you worry.

Also, as you will notice, Gru isn't completely buying Ripley's polite-act, he knows something's bugging her but he's trying to dig without being to invasive. Unfortunately, Ripley also has a habit of modifying her acts to convince different people, so some/oftentimes Gru will believe her. As well as the fact that Gru is trying to get the hang of the parenting thing, and there will be more bumps and potholes in the road than he'll really care for, but he's learning.

Margo is perfectly aware that Ripley can act like no-one else's business and can lie through her teeth, and often offers some of the only emotional support that the teen will accept, along with Edith and Agnes. Margo is far more emotionally grounded than Ripley is, therefore more stable. I'm not saying that Margo doesn't have her issues, such as trust among others, but she helps Ripley stay grounded when she can. Though Margo is NOT aware of Ripley's emotional breakdownS, YET.

PLEASE REVIEW! I love you all, sorry for making you guys wait! Tell me what you think please! Constructive criticism is preferable, NO FLAMES!