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Chapter Text

The scene below was utter chaos. Ants and circus bugs ran in every direction, smashing berries onto their bodies and screaming in pretend fear. Grasshoppers dove this way and that, avoiding the fake-blood-covered bugs and screaming in genuine terror as they ducked for cover. Flik even spotted Hopper among them, hiding behind Molt as though willing to sacrifice his younger brother to spare his own life from the bird swooping over their heads.

Flik let out a triumphant laugh as he watched them cower. Why didn't we think of this before? He was so busy reveling in his glory that he didn't notice the Blueberries' cries from behind were ones of fear, not excitement.

Until a certain Blueberry's voice broke through.

"Flik, help us!"

Flik spun around at the sound of Dot's plea. Red and yellow light engulfed his vision, nearly blinding him. His mouth dropped open and quickly filled with smoke, causing him to choke. Tears swam in his eyes as he took in the sight before him.

His beautiful creation, the only invention of his that seemed like it was actually going to work, was on fire.

How did this happen? was his first thought, but he couldn't dwell on it for long. The little ants' safety was his first priority. They weren't even supposed to be here in the first place, but plans had changed when the grasshoppers invaded.

Flik leaped from his seat and pushed past Dot to reach the emergency lever Rosie had insisted they install while he was drawing up the bird's framework. "Better safe than sorry," the black widow had said. Flik sure was thankful he had listened to her now as he pulled down as hard as he could. The Blueberries crowded around him like a terrified cluster of grapes.

"Grab onto something!" he ordered them, and then he heard a snap.

The world lurched forward and Flik's feet left the floor. Strong gusts of air whistled past his antennae as the sparrow began its descent. Gripping the lever for dear life, he looked around to see the girls hugging the branches that controlled the wings. Even if they all survived the crash, they might not survive the grasshoppers' wrath once the truth about the bird was revealed.

"Flik!"

Flik looked up just in time to see Dot lose her grip on the chair she was holding. A second later the wind was knocked from his body as the tiny ant crashed into his chest.

Flik fought to catch his breath as he wrapped his arm around Dot to keep her from flying into the flames behind them. He was reminded of another time he had held her like this - when the two of them were being chased by a real bird rather than falling inside of a fake one - and his grip on the princess tightened with his resolve. They had somehow made it through that time, and they were somehow going to make it through this.

"It's gonna be okay, Dot," he managed to whisper between gasps, and then they hit ground.

The impact sent them flying. Flik did his best to shield Dot's head as they collided with the chair he had been steering from moments before. Pain sliced through his skull and his vision went blurry. His antennae roared with the crackle of flames. Small arms pushed against his.

"Let me go, Flik!" Dot cried.

Flik dazedly obeyed, and the princess scrambled to her feet. Her fellow Blueberries were scattered around the floor, coughing and crying out for their parents. Dot ran to the nearest one and yanked her to her feet, her blue eyes blazing with a fire that had nothing to do with the inferno around her.

"Pull yourselves together, girls!" she barked, moving on to the next one. "Remember our training! This is no time to lose your heads!"

A strange sense of pride filled Flik's heart as he watched Dot flit to each of her friends, shouting commands and offering a hand to the ones who needed it. In less than a minute all of the little ants were on their feet, blinking away tears and covering their mouths to keep from inhaling the smoke like Dot had instructed them to do.

"Alright Blueberries, let's move it!" she cried, waving her hand like a starting flag. "Single file line, out of the bird. Go go go!"

For a second Flik forgot it was Dot who was speaking. Her tone reminded him so much of the way Princess Atta had sounded a season ago, when she was ordering the colony into the anthill before the grasshoppers arrived. It wasn't until all the Blueberries had evacuated and Dot's freckled face came into focus that he remembered it was Atta's little sister giving the orders this time.

"Come on Flik, we have to go!" Dot's fingers were tugging on his and her voice sounded much smaller now that she no longer had to be the leader.

Flik squeezed his eyes shut and allowed her to help him to his feet. A surge of dizziness overcame him once he was upright and he stumbled forward, nearly falling over the princess. He clutched his throbbing head and opened his eyes to see two tiny purple ants in front of him, both their eyes wide with worry.

"You go, Dot!" Flik said, pointing in what he hoped was the direction of the beak. "I'll be right behind you!"

Dot hesitated only a moment before nodding. "Hurry, Flik," she whispered, then scampered away.

Alone inside the fiery ruins of his masterpiece, Flik grabbed his antennae and began brainstorming ways to deal with the nightmare that surely awaited him outside. He ignored the rising surge of panic in his lungs and instead tried to be optimistic. Maybe Hopper would be so relieved it wasn't a real bird he would laugh off the whole thing as a cruel practical joke. Maybe the circus bugs could pass it off as the dramatic finale of their show. Maybe most of the grasshoppers had flown away already. Maybe…

Flik's train of thought was cut short by a sound he knew too well.

Dot's scream.

Chapter Text

Dot could feel hundreds of eyes on her as Hopper swung her about for everyone to see.

"Whose idea was this?" he roared. "Huh?"

His question was answered by wide eyes and quaking knees. The ants may have been terrified, but Dot knew it would take much more than fear for them to betray Flik to the grasshoppers and for that she was proud. But where was Flik? Was he still inside the bird? Did he make it out and find a place to hide?

She closed her eyes and tried to send her friend a telepathic message the way she had seen Manny do during one of the circus acts. Whatever happens, Flik, stay down. Who knew what Hopper would do if he found out the mastermind behind their trick?

Another beat of silence passed and no one offered a name. Hopper suddenly turned his attention to where Atta stood with Dot’s friends, stalking toward them like a spider cornering its prey. "Was it yours, Princess?" he sneered.

Dot watched as her sister ushered the Blueberries behind her. "Just get behind me girls, it'll be okay," she reassured them as Hopper advanced. Her eyes met Dot's and seemed to whisper the same promise. It'll be okay.

They were less than an inch from Atta when Hopper spoke again, this time in a low, soothing sort of voice that Dot could tell was meant only for her.

"Who was it, sweetheart, huh?" he said, reaching a clawed finger out to stroke the side of her face. Atta shuddered at his touch but pursed her lips and stood her ground.

The Blueberries watched this exchange, their frightened eyes flitting between Hopper and Atta. Dot’s best friend Daisy looked directly at her and slowly raised a shaking hand in salute, which was a Blueberry’s way of saying Hang in there, soldier. Dot mustered a weak smile in return.

"Come on Princess, you can tell me," Hopper was imploring Atta, his voice almost a whisper. "We come, we eat, we leave, right? Just give me the name and no one will get hurt."

At his last words, Atta's eyes flickered to where Dot hung at his side.

This was a mistake.

"Oh, I see," Hopper said, taking a step backward. Dot felt her heart drop to the pit of her stomach as her sister's eyes widened with horror.

"No! Put her down, Hopper. She had nothing to do with this," Atta pleaded, stretching her arm out as he continued backing away, but the damage was done. Hopper knew her weak spot now, the place where he could press down until she either screamed or bruised.

"Trying to be a good big sister, I see," he taunted, transferring Dot to his upper hand and holding her centimeters from his face. Even though she knew he couldn't see through it, that scarred eye gave her the creeps. She wrung her hands and tried to keep her bottom lip from trembling.

Be brave for Flik.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Hopper asked her, his tone different from the one he used with Atta. It was like the way her mother spoke to the newborn ants in the nursery.

"D-dot," she replied, hating how small her voice sounded.

"Just Dot?" Hopper repeated. "Why, if you're Princess Atta's sister then that makes you a princess too, doesn't it?"

She nodded.

He brought her even closer to his face, so close their noses were almost touching. "Do you know whose idea the bird was, Princess Dot?" he asked, and now his voice sounded the way it had when he spoke to Atta the first time. Was it yours, Princess?

Dot bit her lip so hard she broke the skin and tasted blood. She wouldn't give her friend away.

The pause that followed seemed to last for hours, silent except for the sounds of crackling flames and Dot’s own thumping heart. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to break, Hopper sighed and shook his head. "Loyalty runs in the royal family, I suppose," he said, then turned to face the crowd and spread his arms wide.

Dot was again the object of all their stares and it made her want to shrink. Her eyes scoured the sea of faces until she found someone who almost made her feel as safe as Flik did. Her honorary den mother was standing with the rest of the circus bugs, looking ready to take on the entire gang of grasshoppers himself. The idea of Francis actually doing this made Dot feel a little better.

And then Hopper spoke again.

"Ladies and gentlebugs,” he announced like a ringleader about to reveal his main act. “I present to you a predicament. Both Princess Atta and Princess Dot here refuse to reveal the identity of the ant – or circus bug …" He wrinkled his nose at these two words. "…who thought this pile of leaves behind me would be a clever way to scare us off. Now, I need to know who this bug is, and I know someone who can help me find out."

There was a pause, and then Dot heard a snap followed by a sound that had given her nightmares for months.

Thumper's snarl.

The mad grasshopper lurched forward out of nowhere, landing less than a foot from them. His eyes focused on Dot and he bared his teeth in a manic grin. Third time’s the charm.

Dot screamed and twisted in Hopper's grasp as he began walking toward his pet. Thumper grew even more frantic as they drew closer, saliva oozing from the corners of his open mouth. His frayed leash and the hands of the grasshoppers holding it were the only things separating Dot from those gleaming teeth.

Hopper held her out before him as though offering his pet a snack. “You want to play, boy? Huh?”

The first time Dot encountered Thumper in the anthill, everyone had stood and watched until Flik finally stepped in and saved her. This time some of them surged forward to intervene, but they were quickly stopped by the remaining gang members.

The reactions of the crowd were drowned out by Thumper’s growls. Dot imagined Atta begging Hopper to take her instead, maybe even claiming to be the ones who invented the bird, but it was too late for that. Hopper knew she would have confessed already if that were true. He was waiting for someone else to step forward.

They were only steps from the beast now. Dot covered her eyes with her hands and waited for his jaws to close around her. Behind her, Hopper laughed.

And then a new voice cut through the chaos.

"Leave her alone, Hopper! The bird was my idea. I'm the one you want."

Flik stood beside the flaming wreckage of his bird, fists clenched and eyes narrowed, inches from where Dot was suspended from Hopper's fingers. He too looked ready to battle an army of grasshoppers on her behalf.

Relief flooded her chest at the sight of her friend. Her hero.

Then she heard another snap and Thumper pounced.

Chapter Text

The beating was brutal, even by Thumper's standards. Hopper couldn't blame him – the grasshopper had been waiting all day to get some action, and here was his first opportunity to release all that pent-up energy. Of course there was his earlier pursuit of Dot, but apparently that chase hadn't ended the way Thumper thought it had. Hopper had seen the shock on his pet's face when the young princess came crawling out of the wreckage, which was part of the reason he chose her out of all the other sniveling little ants to use as a bartering tool.

That, and also because deep down Hopper already had an inkling of who the mastermind behind the bird was. The same meddling ant who had stuck up for the princess the first time Hopper dangled her in front of his pet, the only one out of hundreds who dared to step out of line and utter those three words that changed everything.

Leave her alone.

That was moment Hopper realized it was time to crack down on the ants that had seemingly always served him and his gang without question. The grasshoppers were beginning to grow lazy, showing up to Ant Island once a year just long enough to eat a few seeds and admire the view before gathering up the remainder of the colony’s offering and returning to their sombrero. It had been years since they even entered the anthill.

Hopper hadn't even known about the Queen’s second daughter until he saw her cowering behind her mother's legs the day his gang broke into the anthill. She was an easy target to pick on once Thumper came into the picture, practically delivering herself into his waiting hand. He hadn't expected any of the ants to challenge him, even as their beloved princess sat whimpering in his palm while he carried her towards his frenzied pet.

It had almost been a pleasant surprise when one of them did.

It had also been a wakeup call: squash the rebellion before it begins.

Hopper enjoyed the gasps he heard from the crowd with each blow Flik received, the way they cringed at the sight of their fearless leader being pummeled to a pulp but did nothing to help. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dot shielding her face with her hands, horrified by the punishment her hero was taking on her behalf. Hopper knew that if he didn’t stop it, Thumper wouldn't hesitate to beat the ant to death.

But that wasn't his intention.

Hopper snapped his fingers and the brutality ceased as quickly as it began. Thumper whirled around, nostrils flaring. His crazed eyes landed on the tiny ant in Hopper's hand. Hopper felt the girl tense with fear and lifted his arm until one of her curled antennae was right next to his mouth.

"Still don't like Thumper?" he whispered. She flinched.

Hopper released his fingers from around Dot’s scalp and she dropped to the ground like a stone. Thumper bounded forward, eager to devour the snack that had been denied him twice now, but Hopper held his hand out to halt the grasshopper before he could come any closer to her. Thumper whined and sat back on his haunches with an indignant snort.

Chuckling, Hopper stepped over Dot and began sauntering towards the other ant sprawled upon the dirt several feet away. Toying with the princess had been fun, but now he was ready to deal with the real problem.

And then he heard a small buzz and felt something whiz past his head.

Hopper watched in astonishment as Dot landed beside her friend’s battered frame and cradled his head in her arms, stroking the side of his bruised face.

"I'm sorry, Flik," he heard her murmur. Flik looked up at her through swollen eyelids, one of them a ghastly shade of purple, and gave her a wobbly grin.

"It's okay, Princess," he replied, reaching up to clasp one of the girl’s hands in his own.

Hopper's antennae twitched at the sound of ants and circus bugs speaking in hushed tones, touched by the scene before them. Even his gang members were exchanging skeptical looksr, amazed by the little bug's bravery in spite of the fact that Thumper stood snarling and stomping his feet only inches away from her.

It was time to put an end to both of their antics.

"Oh, how sweet," Hopper exclaimed, clasping his hands together and taking another step forward. Dot sprang to her feet, glaring at him with a surprising ferocity for someone her size.

"You leave him alone!" she ordered, pointing a trembling finger at him.

Hopper froze. The other grasshoppers shifted uncomfortably. Atta and the Queen both gasped.

Leave him alone.

One disobedient ant was one too many. Two were dangerous.

Hopper rolled his eyes, careful to maintain a bored expression so his audience would know this turn of events was a nuisance, not a threat. "You're cute, sweetheart, but I'm done playing games now," he sighed, flicking his wrist for emphasis.

A bulky, grayish-green grasshopper named Carlos flew forward and snatched Dot up from behind. She put up a valiant fight at first, and Hopper was almost amused to see his gang member struggling to keep her in his grasp until he strategically placed himself right next to Thumper.

Hopper smirked and returned his full attention to Flik, advancing on him without interruption this time. "Where do you get the gall to do this to me?" he demanded.

It appeared to take all of Flik’s strength just to lift his head. "You… you were gonna squish the Queen," he replied, loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The entire colony inhaled in unison. Hopper turned to see Atta's face grow pale and slack-jawed, her mother's expression an exact replica. Only Dot and the circus bugs looked unfazed by Flik's revelation.

"It's true," the former piped up. She was silenced by a sharp growl from Thumper.

Hopper rolled his eyes again. "I hate it when someone gives away the ending," he muttered, snapping his fingers for dramatic effect. Right on cue Thumper delivered another kick to Flik's side, sending the ant's limp body skidding even further across the soil.

"You piece of dirt," Hopper spat, then corrected himself. "No, I'm wrong. You're lower than dirt. You're an ant ."

Flik blinked at the insult, his eyelids nearly black by now. This was the moment that mattered – the moment Hopper would remind both ants and circus bugs of their place. He swiveled so he was facing the crowd, smiling inwardly at their terrified expressions.

"Let this be a lesson to all you ants," he announced, strolling alongside the mass of trembling blue and gray bodies. "Ideas are very dangerous things. You are mindless, soil-shoving losers..." He put extra emphasis on this last word. "…put on this earth to serve us ."

A glorious moment of silence followed. Hopper could see his words sinking into the ants’ thick skulls, their eyes lowering in defeat. Perhaps this was all it took to remind them of their inferiority: a merciless public beating of the ant who inspired their feeble attempt at a revolution. Hopper wouldn't even have to squish their queen. He and his boys could pack up what little of their offering remained and call it quits until next year, when the amount of food awaiting them would surely be the biggest yet. Hopper opened his mouth to tell his gang it was time to ride.

A hoarse voice from behind stopped him in his tracks.

"You're wrong, Hopper."

Are you kidding me?

Hopper turned around to see the ant Thumper had almost killed rising from the ground. It was a painfully slow process, but Flik had more determination in his scrawny body than seemed possible. Once he was upright, he took a deep breath and fixed Hopper with an intense scowl.

"Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers," he said, simply.

Hoper felt his fists clench and his upper lip twitch with suppressed fury. He began striding toward the foolish ant, wordlessly daring him to continue.

Flik accepted the challenge. "I've seen these ants do great things," he continued, balling his own hands into fists. "And year after year, they somehow manage to pick food for themselves and you."

Every word Flik spoke sent sharp bolts of anger through Hopper's spine, bringing every nerve in his body to life with rekindled rage. Beside them the makeshift bird continued to burn, its flames reflected in the ant's eyes. Hopper could feel the heat on his own skin growing with each step he took, though it wasn't all from the fire.

"So… so who's the weaker species?" Flik demanded, his chest heaving with the effort it took to make this speech with his broken body. "Ants don't serve grasshoppers! It's you who need us !"

Hopper could feel the waves of shock resonating through the crowd at this claim. Then, he heard them: the mumbles, the whispers, the turning of a new leaf of thought as the ants began to process Flik's words. Began to look around and realize for the first time just how many of them there were. How few the grasshoppers were in comparison.

The seed had been planted. The idea had taken root.

It was too late to squash it.

Hopper was only a few inches from the ant now, but he didn’t know what to do next. He felt his jaw come unhinged, for once at a loss for words. Flik noticed and pounced on it.

"We're a lot stronger than you say we are," he declared, pointing his finger for emphasis. Then, in a soft voice, he asked a question that caught Hopper off guard.

"And you know it, don't you?"

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement, a fact.

An accusation.

The anger reached its peak. Hopper drew his arm back and swung, his hand connecting with the side of Flik's skull. He dropped to the ground and stayed there, his weak attempt to rise cut short by the pressure of Hopper's foot against his head. Hopper waited a moment to make sure Flik was down for good, then lifted his leg high into the air.

"No!" Dot cried, wriggling in Carlos's arms. The rest of the insects were stunned into silence.

Hopper grinned. This would show them. This would show all of them.

He brought his foot down.

Chapter Text

She was staring at the sole of a foot larger than her head.

For a heartbeat it was suspended in midair, frozen in time like everything else in that moment. Atta could feel the tension radiating from hundreds of insects behind her as they waited to see if Hopper would bring his foot down. He may not have squished the Queen, but wouldn’t the heir to the throne be the next best thing?

Atta swallowed audibly and mustered up every drop of courage she had left to fix him with (what she hoped was) an intimidating scowl. You have to go through me to get to him.

Hopper’s heel grazed her nose and for a second she was sure this was it. This was how it would end for her and Flik. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about how being squished to death would feel.

Then Hopper lowered his leg and planted his foot on the ground, his curved toenail tapping the dirt with irritation.

There was a unanimous sigh of relief from the crowd. Even some of Hopper’s gang members seemed glad he hadn't gone through with it, especially his flaky brother. Atta could see Molt clutching his heart beside the grasshopper holding her sister. Dot didn't appear to be in immediate danger like Flik, but all Atta wanted was to fly over there and pry her little sister from the bastard's arms.

"Well . . ." Hopper sneered, yanking her attention back to the matter at hand. The venom in his eyes betrayed the grin on his face as he took a step forward, forcing her to take one back. "Princess."

Atta dug her fingers into her palms and gritted her teeth behind her lips, bracing for whatever came next. Her skin felt like it was burning with the bird, even though the flame was too far to reach her. Hopper’s good eye glinted as he began to raise his foot again.

"Uh, Hopper, I – I hate to interrupt but . . ."

Hopper swiveled at the sound of Molt's stammer. Atta watched his expression morph from annoyance to amazement, then she turned to see for herself. Tears – the good kind – pricked at her eyes.

During the course of Flik's speech, the ants had slowly transformed from a trembling mass of blue and gray into a colony united by its newly discovered strength. The inventor’s words had ignited a spark in each of them, a spark that was engulfing their hearts like the flame from P.T.’s match engulfed the bird they had built alongside pretend warriors who turned out to be the truest fighters Atta had ever known. Even as their hard work burned to the ground, the ants were finally beginning to see that they never needed a fake bird to face their enemies for them. All they needed was each other.

Pride bloomed in the princess's chest as Hopper scrambled to recover from his shock. "You ants stay back!" he ordered, thrusting a finger at them for emphasis.

The colony's response made Atta's eyes well again. Instead of obeying Hopper's command, every member of the crowd—harvester, council member, queen, child, and circus bug alike—linked arms and took a step forward. Atta watched as row upon row of her beloved subjects and friends moved towards Hopper in a wave of defiance, a direct challenge to the authority they had slaved under for far too long. They were water behind a dam, threatening to burst at any moment.

Now it was the grasshoppers' turn to take a step, only for them it was backwards. Fear lined all their faces as they backed away from the angry mass before them. Atta heard Molt mutter something about a bad idea as he stumbled over his own two feet in his haste to get away.

She recalled the day the gang had invaded Ant Island in the spring, breaking into the anthill and wreaking havoc among its terrified inhabitants. At one point Hopper had forcibly sat her down in front of her colony, speaking to her like a patronizing teacher reviewing a basic lesson with his naïve student.

It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, Princess. One of those "Circle of Life" kinda things. Now let me tell you how things are supposed to work. The sun grows the food, the ants pick the food, the grasshoppers eat the food . . .

Atta had never felt less like a queen than she had in that moment. But now, as she looked out over the sea of narrowed eyes and joined elbows – an army awaiting the signal from their leader – she didn't feel like a queen or even a princess.

She felt like a warrior.

Atta was at eye level with Hopper before she realized her feet had left the ground. He blinked at her, the sudden turn of events rendering him speechless. She decided to fill the silence.

"You see, Hopper, nature has a certain order. The ants pick the food, the ants keep the food, and the grasshoppers . . ."

Here she flew forward so their noses were almost pressed together, relishing the flicker of fear in the bully's eyes as she uttered her final word.

". . . Leave."

The dam broke. Hundreds upon hundreds of ants charged forward, arms raised and mouths open in an enraged battle cry. Within seconds over half of Hopper's gang had taken to the skies with their tails between their legs. The few that lingered looked frantically to their leader for assurance, but he was too busy calling after those who had fled.

"Where are you going?" he shouted after their retreating forms. "They're just ants!"

Within seconds of this reminder, a stampede of said ants mowed him to the ground like dust beneath an earthworm.

Figuring Hopper wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, Atta turned her attention to the ant that started it all. She reached down and gently grasped the part of Flik’s arm that looked the least bruised, helping him to his feet as quickly as she could without hurting him more.

"I'm so proud of you, Flik," she whispered, slinging his arm over her shoulders and looping hers around his waist. It was the first time she had ever said those words to him. Even in his pain, Flik managed to give her a grin that broke her heart.

Meanwhile, the chaos around them heightened by the second. Though most of the grasshoppers were nowhere to be found, the handful that stayed were half-heartedly fending off the ants' advances. While the ants' strength was in their numbers, the circus bugs were finding clever ways to put their unique skills to use in combat. Atta and Flik observed their shenanigans together with laughter.

Slim camouflaged himself as a twig to trip two grasshoppers as they ran, then summoned Rosie to bind them with her silk before they could escape.

Gypsy flaunted her mesmerizing wings and Manny summoned hypnotic powers from beyond to distract the tougher grasshoppers until Heimlich and Francis swooped in with toothpick swords they had salvaged from P.T. Flea's wagon.

Tuck and Roll simply barreled about the battle scene in tight little balls, avoiding the good guys and knocking the bad ones down like bowling pins.

Dim was a force to be reckoned with all his own. All it took from him was one mighty roar to send even Thumper flying.

Her amusement was interrupted by a nudge from Flik. “Atta…” he murmured, pointing to the sky. “Look.”

She looked and felt a sudden stab of fear. The sky had turned a menacing black and the air was heavy with oncoming rain. If the bugs didn't seek shelter soon, they could all drown before the battle was over.

Atta's eyes sought her mother, wanting the Queen's approval before giving the executive order to retreat. She doubted the few grasshoppers that remained would be much of a threat at this point, especially with Thumper being gone . . .

Thumper.

Atta's heart throbbed with horror. "Flik!" she cried. "Have you seen . . ."

"Dot!"

She spun to see her mother hobbling towards her with panic in her eyes and Aphie cowering in the crook of her elbow. Atta ran to meet her, fear rising with every step she took. Her mother grabbed her outstretched arms and took several sharp breaths before asking the question on both their minds.

"Where's my baby?"

Before she could answer, the first bolt of lightning pierced the sky above them. Flik's body jolted against hers, but it had nothing to do with the storm.

"There!" he shouted, pointing.

Atta looked past hordes of frantic ants until her eyes finally landed on a large green figure running in the distance. It was the same grasshopper who had gotten hold of Dot after she stood up for Flik. Her little sister was still squirming in his arms.

The fear Atta had felt before was quickly replaced by something that burned white and hot inside her chest. “Mother, take care of Flik,” she said, transferring the protesting ant into the Queen’s arms.

She then took off after the grasshopper, wings beating furiously behind her as she flew over the heads of colony members who had sensed the coming storm and were making a mad dash for the anthill. Everyone besides Flik and her mother seemed oblivious to the fact that their youngest princess was being carried off to who knows where, the smell of rain sending them into a senseless frenzy. Only the circus bugs remained calm amidst the madness, assisting the council members in taking a head count as the ants hurried underground.

Atta was within a foot of him when she realized where he was taking her sister and felt her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach. At some point Hopper had slipped away unnoticed and hidden himself in a clump of grass near the still blazing bird, probably hoping to scan the crowd for Flik from a safe distance. He had yet to notice the gang member running towards him with his hostage, which worked to Atta's advantage.

"Put her down!" she shrieked as she came within earshot of the grasshopper. Dot's antennae perked at the sound of her voice, and she managed to wrench her mouth free of the hand still clamped over it just long enough to cry out her sister's name. Her captor cast a backwards glance at Atta and quickened his pace.

"Boss!" he shouted, gaining Hopper's attention. "I still got the kid!"

Hopper's good eye lit up at this unexpected twist. "Give her to me!" he ordered, extending an arm towards them.

"NO!" Atta screamed, still too far away. Hopper swiveled his head and flashed her a smirk that curdled her insides and gave her an impossible burst of speed. Don't you dare touch her, you monster.

The other grasshopper saw that she was quickly closing the space between them. Frightened she would reach him before he got to Hopper, he decided to throw Dot to his boss. The little princess somersaulted through the air and stopped short just beyond Hopper's grasp as her own wings sprang to life.

"You idiot!" Hopper snarled at the dumbfounded grasshopper as Dot soared away from them and towards her sister's outstretched arms. She crashed into Atta with a triumphant giggle just as a high-pitched whistle filled the air around them.

There was a deafening explosion and then Atta was flat on her back, gazing at the stormy sky through blurry eyes. Her antennae rang as she tried in vain to regain the breath that had been knocked from her lungs. She was soaked from head to toe with beads of water so heavy they pinned her body to the ground, but she managed to lift her throbbing head just high enough to see the large glob of water in front of her.

It took her a second to recognize the light purple figure inside of it.

"Dot . . ." Atta moaned, trying and failing to lift her waterlogged limbs. Her sister stared back at her with panicked eyes, tiny fists beating in vain against her prison as bombs of water landed all around them. A towering form emerged from the darkness behind her, his features illuminated by the streaks of lightning above them—six limbs, countless spikes, one scarred eye.

Atta's lungs were still too weak for her to yell for help as she watched Hopper stroll up to the raindrop encasing her sister. He crouched down and observed with mock concern as she pushed against the wall of water with all her might, unaware of his presence.

"Hello again, Princess," he greeted her with a soft chuckle. "Are you stuck in there?"

Dot whirled around and shrank away from the distorted reflection of Hopper's face surrounding her. With one quick tap of his finger the dome around her burst, sending the princess tumbling backwards. She picked herself up from the ground and leaped in an attempt to fly, but her wings were weighed down by water and she remained earthbound. Her terrified blue eyes met Atta's just as Hopper's hand closed around her scalp.

Through the ringing in her antennae Atta thought she could hear the thrum of Dim's wings coming closer, but it wasn't fast enough. She summoned every ounce of strength left in her for one last, desperate plea. The words came between gasps.

"Hopper, please . . . leave—my sister—alone."

Tears brimmed in Dot's eyes and mud dripped from her ankles as Hopper lifted her easily into the air. His lips stretched wide in a cruel smile as his own wings roared to life. "If you want her, come and take her," he said.

Then he shot into the sky.

Chapter Text

The storm intensified by the second, making it harder and harder for Hopper to navigate the raindrops whistling by them. In his lower arms he clutched the princess, one hand pressing her to his thorax and the other cupped over her head to shield her from the elements. He ducked his head to see her curled up like a purple pill bug, her body rigid except for the occasional tremor.

Hopper felt a stab of pity. Dot may have been a brat, but he never intended to drag a child into his affairs with the colony. Sure, he had threatened to feed her to Thumper a couple of times for show, but in his heart of hearts Hopper would never let actual harm come to the kid. That was nothing more than an intimidation tactic, a reminder to the colony of their cowardice as they witnessed the mistreatment of their own royalty without a word of protest.

Except that there had been a word of protest. Three, to be exact, spoken twice by the same damn ant.

Leave her alone.

Hopper's eyes narrowed at the thought of the troublemaker who had made their routine trip to Ant Island into a messy ordeal. Atta and her little sister had spunk, but spunk could easily be crushed underfoot with the right amount of pressure. Flik had ideas, and ideas were much harder to kill once they'd been planted. The queen's life had been spared thanks to the scheming ant and his horde of circus friends, but Hopper knew now that he would have to snuff out the rebellion at its root.

Princess Dot, once again, was just a pawn.

They were entering a thick tangle of tree branches now, which provided some shelter from the rain. Hopper slowed his wings and allowed himself to hover for a moment, scanning the empty air beneath his feet for any sign of Flik or Atta. He had no doubt they would come for Dot once the latter recovered the breath knocked from her body by that drop of rain, but he had to at least give them a fair chance to catch up. Then the real game would begin.

"We're not picking any more food for you, you know," a small voice piped up.

Hopper blinked down at his young hostage, surprised by her sudden vocalness. Dot glared up at him, her arms crossed and her lower lip jutting defiantly. There was only the faintest of quivers in her voice when she spoke again.

"No matter what happens, we won't pick food for you grasshoppers anymore,” she repeated. “We know better. Flik taught us that."

We know better.

Hopper's eyes narrowed into slits as a familiar sense of rage swelled in his chest and pounded in his temple. Dot was only a child, yes, but that meant her mind was still malleable. He thought of all the other ants her age that had come streaming out of the fake bird's beak after it crashed, at least a dozen more minds tainted by Flik’s speech about the colony's strength in numbers. The older ants who had grown up under the grasshoppers' rule could be bullied back into submission once Flik was gone, but the younger ones would be much harder to mend now that they had been exposed to the radical thought of freedom.

And this ant would one day be their queen.

Hopper lifted the hand holding Dot and squeezed just enough to make her squirm. He gazed coolly into her eyes, noticing for the first time they were the same color as Flik's.

"What did you say, Princess?" he whispered.

At that a flash of lightning illuminated the fear Dot had hidden behind her brave words, scrawled across her face like the freckles on her nose. Hopper chuckled darkly.

"That's what I thought."

Chapter Text

Flik clung to the crown of Dim's head as water crashed to the earth on either side of them. After Atta left him with the queen, the two of them had watched everything unfold in slow motion:

Hopper’s emergence from behind a blade of grass.

Dot's triumphant moment of flight.

The sweet embrace between the royal sisters.

The huge raindrop that cut their reunion short, imprisoning one and knocking the breath from the other.

Within seconds of this unexpected twist Flik summoned the help of his beetle friend, who hurried to his side after depositing the remaining Blueberries safely into the anthill. The queen wanted to go with them, but Flik convinced her to stay behind and get to safety. The colony would be in shambles if something happened to all three members of the monarchy in one night.

Even with Dim flying faster than any ant or grasshopper combined, Hopper still got to Dot first. Flik could hear her screaming his name over Dim's roar, the sound growing fainter and fainter as the distance between them grew. It splintered his heart.

"Don't you hurt her!" Dim snarled after Hopper as he came to a halt. The gentle giant had a particularly soft spot in his heart for Dot, and Flik could almost feel the red-hot rage boiling beneath his blue shell. It was the same anger Flik himself had felt the first time Hopper bullied the princess, when the courage he needed to step out of line was awoken by his small friend's frightened whimpers. The three words that rolled off his tongue were leave her alone, but what he had really wanted to say was pick on someone your own size, you scumbag.

"What are we waiting for, Flik?"

Flik knew Dim would charge after Hopper as soon as he gave the word, but he also knew that another ant needed him just as much as Dot did. His eyes landed where Atta lied only a leaf's length away from them, her eyes shut tight and her chest heaving updown, updown, updown. She didn't so much as flinch when a fat raindrop splattered centimeters from her head.

"Hang on, big guy!" Flik shouted, grabbing one of Dim's massive antennae and lowering himself to the ground with it. "First Atta, then Dot. I promise you Hopper won't do anything until he sees me. I'm the one he's after."

His feet touched dirt and then he was running towards Atta, thunder rumbling in rhythm with his steps. Along the way he found himself hurdling over what looked like soggy, crumpled up leaves, and it wasn't until he was by the princess's side that his mind registered what they were.

Feathers. Real ones.

This meant one of two things: either they had blown here from the other side of the island, or the bird herself was somewhere nearby. Flik's eyes flitted to the pathetic mass of leaves and twigs that had been the colony's attempt at recreating the beast. Imitation was a form of flattery, but somehow he didn't think she would see it that way. Was that a screech in the distance or just the wind whistling through bare branches? Could Hopper sense her presence too, or was his fear dulled by his fury?

And if the real bird was out there somewhere, how long would it be before she found them?

Chapter Text

Dot

"Where are your friends?" Dot heard Hopper mutter, echoing the question in her own mind. He had finally landed on one of the tree’s upper branches and was now pacing back and forth along it, his good eye roaming the darkness beneath them. She didn't know how long they had been there, waiting for Flik to rally the troops and come after them.

Dot had called her friend’s name out of instinct as Hopper carried her away from the anthill, the same way she had done when the wind carried her dandelion seed away from the island. She hadn’t even known where he was at that point or what condition he was in. All she knew was that after he took that beating from Thumper, every movement Flik made hurt him… and they also hurt Dot.

You were supposed to stay hidden, Flik, she thought, tears welling in her eyes. He wasn’t supposed to find you.

Of course she couldn’t help but be thankful that Flik had done what he did for her, but for all she knew he was in the hospital wing right now. Atta had also been in bad shape when they left. Dot remembered the way her sister gasped for breath, her body pinned down by the water's weight.

If the two bugs who loved her most were both down for the count, who would come after Hopper? Dot knew the circus bugs would do anything to help — they had worked together to save her and Francis from the bird, after all — but everything turned to madness after the rain started falling. It was possible they hadn't even seen what happened.

For the first time since she was taken by Hopper, Dot felt a twinge of doubt in her belly.

What if no one is looking for us?

The storm was growing stronger and stronger. One raindrop struck the branch they were on and it shook so hard she was sure Hopper would lose his grip on her. Dot didn't trust her newly grown in wings to carry her all the way back down to earth, especially since they still felt heavy with water.

She snuck a glance up at Hopper, who was still glaring down at the emptiness below. Dot had learned in history class that it was Hopper’s grandfather who struck the food bargain with the colony in the first place, seasons before even her mother was born. When Dot asked her mom about it once, she told her she remembered him as a kindly old grasshopper who loved spending time with the young ants when he came to collect the offering.

And then there was Hopper: a bully to everyone around him, even his own brother. What had happened that made him so different from his grandfather?

A flash of lightning illuminated the entire tree and for a moment all the branches around them glowed white. It reminded Dot of the posters of exoskeletons Mr. Soil showed them in science class.

And then there was a clap of thunder that shook the whole island.

Dot screamed and covered her eyes. She had tried to be brave earlier, saying that thing about Flik and not giving the grasshoppers food, but she didn’t care anymore if Hopper knew how scared she was. All she wanted was to be back in her room, burrowed under her petal quilt with Aphie tucked under her arm, her mother singing a lullaby above her. Someone else could be the hero now.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

This was a new sound, softer than the storm but closer. Dot knew that sound well. It was a heartbeat.

Dot opened her eyes to see dark speckles centimeters from her nose. She was pressed against Hopper’s chest, his hand cupping the back of her head. It was way her mom had held her when Hopper broke into the anthill, the way Flik held her when he came to rescue her from the bird. It was a way of protecting her.

Dot looked up again. Hopper's gaze was fixed straight ahead, the same focused scowl on his face. He continued to stroll along the branch as though nothing had happened. Maybe he didn't even realize what he had done, but Dot knew it had to mean something.

There was a soft spot somewhere deep inside of the mean grasshopper, and she was going to find it.

"What happened to your mom?"

Hopper froze mid-step and looked down at her. She imagined this was the expression on his face when he was stomping towards Flik, ready to kill him.

It took all of Dot's courage to keep going. "I heard you tell your brother that you promised your mother you wouldn't kill him before she died,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. As though this wasn’t the conversation she overheard right before the first time she was almost eaten by Thumper. “How did she die?"

Hopper blinked twice and cocked his head, probably debating whether throwing her from the tree would be better than waiting any longer with the tension hanging between them. "That's none of your business, Princess," he finally snapped.

Indignation rose in Dot's chest. "Well, you were going to kill my mom, weren't you?" she snapped, and then her hands flew to her mouth. He was definitely going to throw her now.

There was a beat of silence, and then Hopper did something unexpected.

He threw his head back with laughter.

It lasted for a long time, as though Dot had just told the funniest joke he’d ever heard. The laugh itself made her uncomfortable. It was harsh and raspy, like it had been a while since he practiced. All Dot could do was wait and wonder if threatening to murder other bugs was just part of his weird sense of humor.

There were tears in Hopper’s eyes by the time he finally slowed down to a chuckle. "I guess you have a point there," he said, shaking his head. "You're something else, kid."

His expression became serious again, but this time Dot couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness in his eyes. Maybe both.

Finally, he spoke. His voice was gruff but also soft, so soft she could hardly hear it over the rain. "She died protecting us – me and Molt – from a bird. We tried to get her help, but it was too late."

Dot's jaw dropped. "Is that when it tried to eat you, too?" she asked. No wonder he was so afraid of them.

Hopper grimaced and motioned to his scarred right eye. "No, this happened much earlier in life. I was a little older than you the first time I was attacked." He cocked his head. "What are you, four seasons?"

Dot crossed her arms over her chest. "Six, actually."

That made him laugh again. "Forgive me, sweetheart. I don't spend much time with pupa."

Sweetheart. Hopper had called Atta that word while he was trying to get her to spill the beans about who came up with the bird. It sounded creepy then, but hearing it now reminded Dot of Francis, who was always using nicknames like that with her. Francis was scary at first, too, but eventually she figured out that behind that scowl and loud voice was a big ball of mush.

Another crack of thunder shook the tree to its roots. Hopper leaped back just in time to avoid a shower of twigs from the branches above, again pressing Dot to his chest. She leaned into it now, the warmth comforting even if it belonged to someone who had once — no, twice — tried to feed her to another grasshopper. It gave Dot the nerve to ask another question.

"What about your dad?"

Hopper's eyes flashed. This time he didn't look down when he spoke. "What about him?"

"What was he like?"

He was silent for so long, Dot nearly gave up on getting an answer. And then…

"Worse than me, kid, I'll tell you that." A pause, and then Hopper mumbled something so quickly she almost didn't catch it. "And good riddance."

That was all Dot needed. She squinted up at the gang leader even as he avoided her gaze, feeling something close to pity for him inside.

Bugs don't go bad for no reason, Dr. Cornelius had informed her class during their lesson on bullies. Usually there's something behind it. Usually there's something they're hiding.

"You could just go home, you know," Dot said, her voice barely above a whisper. Hopper’s antennae twitched, and she knew he was listening even though he still wouldn't look at her. "You can take me back to the anthill and go home with your brother. Your dad isn't there."

She didn’t think he was going to speak again, so it surprised her when he did. What surprised her even more was that he almost sounded sad.

"It's too late for that, Princess."

Hopper

Pull it together, Hop. You can’t let this brat tug on your heartstrings now.

Hopper tightened his hold on the tiny ant even as he heard his father's voice scolding him for being too soft. He couldn't help it, though. As much as Dot was a pain in his thorax, Hopper had to admit he enjoyed the girl’s spunk. His closest gang members knew not to broach the subject of his parents if they valued their lives, and here she was flat out asking him about them while she was at his mercy.

He wasn’t sure what had compelled him to answer her truthfully – he could easily have lied and said he murdered his mother in cold blood or something just to shut her up. There was just something about the innocent curiosity of Dot's questions that touched a part of Hopper he had long ago lost to his father's insults and backhands.

Ah, Dad. If only you could see me now, holding a child hostage while I wait for her hero to come to her rescue so I can kill him. Wouldn't you be proud?

Hopper's Plan B had been to make an example out of the rebellion inciter himself, but then the colony revolted and everything changed. If he had his way he would have crushed both Flik and Atta and then left the island to enjoy what was left of their grain supply until next season, but taking the baby of the royal family seemed like the next best thing.

But the aforementioned baby had surprised him on more than one occasion. If the two of them stood side by side, the curl of Dot's antennae would barely come up to Hopper's kneecaps; yet in all their brief encounters she had shown more bravery than all the other ants combined.
She was still frightened, of course. Hopper could see it in the wringing of her hands and the flickering of her young wings. Yet even in her fear she had the audacity to suggest he return her to the colony and forget about the whole thing.

You could just go home.

The sincerity of her plea was almost enough to persuade him. Hopper’s time on Ant Island had lasted much longer than he anticipated, and the rage that had fueled his adrenaline was beginning to ebb into exhaustion. It would be so easy to fly down and drop her off on a low branch, then find shelter somewhere far from the anthill and wait until the storm subsided enough for him to return to the sombrero.

He was on the verge of executing this plan when the voice from earlier stopped him short. It was amazing how clearly Hopper could hear his dad even after all these years.

Don’t you remember what the brat said earlier? “We won't pick food for you anymore. We know better.” Sound like anyone else you know?

We know better. So they did, both Dot and the rest of the audience that had watched as one of their own members spat at Hopper's feet and smeared it into the dirt. Hopper could feel the fury coursing through him as he remembered.

“Ants don't serve grasshoppers. It's YOU who need US.” A great lesson for the kiddos to take home, huh? This ant somehow survived a burning bird, a mauling by your pet, and almost being squashed before that wannabe queen got in the way. You need to find another way to make him suffer.

Hopper’s good eye shifted again to the princess in his hand. Her older sister, Atta, seemed to have a friendship bordering on romance with the bumbling blue ant. Any insect could see that from a mile away. She would be the obvious choice to hurt him.

But Flik and Dot had something else. It was an even stronger bond, something more like a brother-sister relationship. The closest Hopper had to it was his relationship with Molt, and that paled in comparison.

Hopper knew he was hard on Molt, hard to the point of abusive, but Molt had an innate sensitivity that scared him. The only reason their father left him alone growing up was because he was clearly their mother's favorite, so as long as her cherished son was safe she could turn a blind eye to the sufferings of the elder one.

But their father recognized Molt's weakness, and he pointed it out to Hopper the same day he left to look for another colony of ants to strike a bargain with. Hopper had walked into his parents’ room to ask a question and found his dad loading supplies for the journey into a leaf attached to a cactus needle. He got his answer and was about to leave when his dad turned to him and said something Hopper never forgot.

"Your brother has a soft heart. Too soft. He's not cut out to lead this gang like you are. Your mother coddles him too much. When she goes, you need to squash it out of him like rotten fruit."

It was the closest he’d ever come to giving Hopper a compliment.

That was the last day Hopper ever saw his father. Rumor had it he got drunk on fermented pomegranate and flew right into a black widow's web, but no one really knew if that was the truth. For all he knew his father could have run off with a younger, prettier grasshopper who didn’t have any nymphs.

Molt cried buckets when it happened, but Hopper didn’t shed a tear. A few years later their mother died. Although he was bound to his promise not to kill his brother, it didn’t stop Hopper from inflicting upon Molt the verbal equivalent of the physical punishment he had endured from their father his entire life. It didn't make Molt any tougher, but it did establish Hopper's rightful place as leader in the eyes of the gang members.

In that way, Hopper had fulfilled both his parents’ last wishes.

A spear of lightning split the sky above them, and Hopper felt Dot curl into his chest as she braced herself for the inevitable clap of thunder to follow. He shielded her antennae with one of his free hands to muffle the sound, then mentally cursed himself. That was another thing the brat did — she awoke a sense of protectiveness inside of him, like the way he felt towards Molt when they were kids.

Even though there were days he treated him like dirt, Hopper knew that when push came to shove, he would do anything for his little brother. Threatening him in front of the colony had merely been a show of power, retaliation for the humiliation Molt had caused him by telling the bird story. A story that had come back to bite them all in the form of an ant who was too clever for his own good.

Hopper looked down at the kid in his arms, the one Flik cared about enough to step out of line for, and shook his head. He slowly removed his hand from behind Dot’s head and stared straight ahead, willing the rescue squad to show up already so he could get this show over with.

Because when it came down to it, the only thing the princess needed protection from was himself.

Chapter Text

Flik

And if the real bird was out there somewhere, how long would it be before she found them?

Flik shook the thought from his mind as he narrowed the distance between himself and Atta, his faithful beetle friend close behind. He had a princess to revive, and dwelling on the possibility of a giant sparrow swooping down to gobble them both whole at any moment wouldn't help anyone.

The rain was still falling steadily, forcing Flik to dodge drops the size of berries while he ran. Finally he reached Atta, his heart stuttering in his chest at the sight of her up close. She was turned on her side, her eyes closed and her left arm wrapped around her stomach. He crouched down to examine the damage the raindrop had done, gingerly feeling along her body for any broken bones, and breathed a sigh of relief when there were none. Other than the deep purple bruises spotting her chest and arms, the princess appeared mostly unscathed.

"Princess?" Flik whispered, laying his hand on her shoulder and giving it the smallest of shakes. When she didn't respond, he frowned and shook a little harder. "Princess, you've gotta get up for me."

Other than a pained twitch of her eyelids, she showed no indication of hearing him. Flik noticed for the first time the rattle in her breath and moved his hand from Atta's shoulder to her ribs again, cringing when he felt a soft crunch beneath his fingers.

"How bad is it?" Dim's voice rumbled from behind him.

Flik shook his head and ran his hands through his antennae. "I'm no Dr. Flora, but I'm thinking at least one broken rib. Other than that she seems okay. It's just that she's not waking up." His voice broke with frustration on the last word. He cupped the back of Atta’s head with one hand and took her right hand in the other, leaning closer until their faces were centimeters apart. "Come on Princess. I know it hurts, but she needs us. She needs you."

Nothing. Flik's hope was dwindling, the feeling akin to the panic he experienced while watching the last seed of the ants' offering disappear into the stream. Atta was either unconscious or paralyzed by her pain, and that meant either losing time while he waited for her to wake or leaving her here while he went after Hopper himself. Flik still didn't know the full extent of Hopper's ruthlessness and he didn't want to test it, especially not with Dot caught in the crossfire, but the thought of abandoning Atta in this condition made him sick.

Flik didn't even notice the rest of the circus troupe gathering around them until he felt Tuck and Roll's antennae tickling his shoulders. He raised his head to see the concerned faces of Manny, Gypsy, Rosie, Slim, Francis, and Heimlich: his newfound friends who were, hands down, the best mistake he had ever made. Heimlich was even holding a soggy bundle of leaves from the bird over him and Atta to shield them from the rain. Tears welled in Flik's eyes and he hurried to brush them away, sniffling as a warm hand clamped around his shoulder.

"Hey, no tears allowed here, Flik," Francis muttered. "Crying means defeat and we've been losers for too long. The princess is just taking a little longer to wake up from her beauty sleep, that's all."

Flik couldn't help but crack a smile. Leave it to the masculine ladybug clown to keep the jokes going in a time of crisis.

"Should ve try pouring water on her?" Heimlich tentatively suggested, earning himself a well-deserved smack from Slim. He had apparently forgotten that very substance was the culprit behind Atta's current state.

Flik shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut as he held Atta's limp hand in his own. Please please please Princess, don't be dead. I can't lose both of you tonight.

Atta

"Princess? Princess, you've gotta get up for me."

The voice in her antennae sounded like it came from the end of a long tunnel. She knew she should follow it, but there was just so much pain. Her chest, her limbs, her head. Everything ached, and not just in the physical sense. Her heart hurt too, though her mind scrambled to remember why. Something had happened, something that caused the pain in her body and came before the pain in her heart.

Something had happened.

Somebody had… left?

No. Somebody had taken her.

A lavender blur crashed into Atta's torso and nearly knocked the wind from her lungs. Atta squeezed Dot to her chest and rested her cheek atop her sister's head, relishing the sound of that breathy laughter. Her eyes burned with tears at the feeling of her little sister safe and sound in her arms, away from the monsters who had made the last three months hell for all of them.

And then there was a whistle from above and Dot was yanked from Atta's arms.

"Come on Princess. I know it hurts, but she needs us. She needs you."

She was flying through the tunnel towards the voice calling to her, the last flicker of hope left. Atta’s body struggled to cooperate, begging her to give in and let it sleep the shame away, but she was racing a clock with an unknown number of minutes. Hopper had given the colony only a season to atone for their mistake the first time they disappointed him, and that had been an accident. How much time would he give them now that they had purposefully rebelled?

The next thing Atta knew she was lying on the ground, pinned down by the weight of the water that had plummeted from the sky and split them apart. Dot was mere inches above her, suspended from the hand of the very monster she had just escaped. A tear rolled down Dot's cheek when their eyes met, and Atta felt her heart constrict as a wave of deja vu rolled over it. Only minutes ago Hopper had snatched Dot from the mouth of the burning sparrow and dangled her like bait before Atta, waiting for her to betray Flik in exchange for her sister.

She had refused at the time, but now Atta would have given up any name if it meant keeping her sister out of the grasshopper's clutches. She knew she had nothing left to bargain. Hopper was angry and humiliated, and he wanted revenge. All she could do now was beg at his feet.

"Hopper, please…" she said, choking on shards of desperation. "Leave — my sister — alone."

The pebble-sized flame of hope in her heart shrunk as the smile on Hopper's face widened.

"If you want her, come and take her," he sneered, echoing the words he used to challenge Flik the first time Dot was at his mercy. With a roar of wings, they were gone.

With a surge of speed, Atta burst through the tunnel and into the firelight.

Flik

One second Manny was preparing the royal funeral rites and the next Atta was sitting up in a sheen of sweat, hugging her ribs and gasping Dot's name.

"Whoa, whoa!" Flik cried, grabbing the princess by the shoulders in an attempt to calm her down. Atta was known by the colony to be a generally anxious ant, but even Flik had never seen her this distressed. Her thin frame trembled in his grasp and her eyes seemed to be frantically searching for something.

“Where...is...Dot?” she managed to ask between sharp inhales.

Flik looked frantically to his friends for help, unsure how to answer the question without sending her spiraling. The circus bugs crowded closer, their faces creased with worry. All of them seemed at a loss for what to do. Finally Gypsy stepped forward, laid her hand on the crown of Atta’s head, and began to hum.

This was a trick Flik had seen the moth use once before, when her husband was on the verge of a panic attack right before he was supposed to present the bird idea to the colony. It had worked like magic then and it did the same now.Almost immediately Atta’s shaking ceased and her breathing returned to a steady rhythm. After a minute Gypsy removed her hand and stepped back, wrapping her wings around Manny’s waist and laying her head on his shoulder.

Atta’s darting eyes finally found Flik's, and he couldn’t help but notice how lovely they looked even shining with tears.

"Hey now, Princess," he chided gently, reaching over to catch a stray teardrop with his thumb. "No tears allowed here."

"Flik," Atta whispered, placing her hand on his knee. "He has her."

"I know.” Flik ran his hand along the curl of her antennae, stopping to twiddle the end between his fingers. It was a coping mechanism he had seen Atta use when she was stressed. "We're going to get her back."

She shook her head and pulled away. The hand that had been stroking her antennae froze in mid-air.

"You don’t understand. We have to get her back, Flik," Atta said. A beat of silence passed between them, and no one dared to break it. Finally she spoke again. "This is the second time I've failed her."

Flik lowered his hand and took both of Atta’s hands in his, ignoring the clock ticking in his brain. He could tell that this was something Dot’s sister needed to get off her chest before they launched into their rescue mission.

"When was the first time, Atta?"

Atta

Something about hearing him say her name made Atta’s eyes pool again with tears. She fought the urge to wipe them away, knowing it would be useless. Besides, it was only fair for Flik to see her cry after she had banished him in front of the entire colony. She would never admit it, but those heartbroken blue eyes had haunted her dreams all night.

She felt Flik squeeze her hand, gently reeling her back to the present. Atta took a watery breath.

"Back in the spring," she began. "When the grasshoppers broke into the anthill, I was standing with Dot and Mother…"

Mother. Atta gasped, causing Flik and the circus bugs to jump. "Where's my mom?" she cried, whipping her head around. "I was with her right before I went after Dot —"

"Your mother's safe, Your Highness," Slim interrupted her in a soothing tone. "Along with the rest of the colony. We rounded them up as soon as the rain started and ushered them into the anthill."

"She's a feisty one, the Queen," Rosie chuckled. "Really gave us a hard time when we tried to get her inside. She wouldn't budge until we all promised on our careers that we wouldn't come back without you and Dot."

"Hell of a thing to promise on," Francis muttered.

Even after listening to all of the circus bugs express similar sentiments, the pounding in Atta’s heart only slowed after Flik confirmed them himself. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe her warrior friends, but there was a sincerity to the inventor that Atta had yet to find in anyone else save for her little sister.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wincing at the sharp pain it caused, before continuing.

"So Hopper and his gang showed up that day looking for their food, and of course we were all scared, but Dot was the most afraid I’ve ever seen her. I could see her shaking next to me, Flik. But all I could think about after Hopper talked to me was myself, how humiliated I was and much of a fool he made me look in front of the colony. I was so focused on what happened to me that I didn't see…” She bowed her head. “I didn't even see her run when he snapped."

Flik's thumb was tracing circles on her palm and her tears were falling freely now, landing in tiny droplets on her thighs. Atta marveled at how something so small and harmless could be made out of the same stuff that had knocked her from the sky a few minutes ago. The words kept tumbling out.

"And then all of a sudden she was gone and Hopper had her and he was taking her to Thumper like he was going to… to feed her to it or something, and I knew I needed to stop it but I was so afraid of what he would do to me I just stood there and watched it happen and…"

Here Atta curled her free hand into a fist and bit her lip. Her next words were choked with anger.

"Damn it Flik, it should have been me."

She was staring at the ground through a haze of tears, unaware of the circus troupe slowly pressing closer until two of Rosie's hands were on her shoulders. Atta looked up and blinked until she could see her friends’ kind faces, then turned her gaze back to Flik.

"I have dreams about that day still," she whispered. "About what might have happened to her if you didn't step in. All it took was three words. He could've killed you, Flik, but Dot's alive now because of you. No thanks to…"

Flik's hand flew to her mouth, the tip of his finger pressing down on her parted lips. "Atta, it's okay," he said. There was her name again. "We were all scared that day."

And then he was leaning forward to fold her into a hug and she was letting him, laughing as she felt the heat of nine other bodies join them. Flik's heart beat strong beneath her cheek. When he spoke, the warmth of his breath in her antenna made her shiver. Not in a bad way.

"I failed too, you know. That same day. I should have taken her from him when he told me to, but I was a coward. Maybe he would've killed me, who knows? Maybe it was just a game to him. I still should've tried."

Flik drew back to lock eyes with her, and Atta was struck by the sadness in them.

"And then tonight, I let her down again. She shouldn't have even been in that bird with me, but she and her friends were all I had. I put her in danger because I wanted my idea to work, and Hopper still got her in the end. How's that for letting her down?"

Flik's question ended with a weak laugh, one Atta knew would turn into something else if she didn't intervene. So she mustered up every ounce of humor she had left and muttered, "Well, to be fair, she only left in the first place because I banished you from the colony."

It worked. Flik's downturned mouth twisted into a smirk. "Well, you only banished me because I lied to all of you and went behind your backs," he countered. A chorus of true's echoed from the bugs around them, causing both of them to laugh.

Atta, however, was determined to have the last word. Flik had been hurt again and again by the very colony he had taken a beating for, ants who scoffed at his ideas and insisted that he bottle his brilliance and get back in line with the rest. Even if he never received an apology from a single one of them, she wasn't going to miss her chance.

So she reached across the space between them and took Flik's chin between her fingers. He looked almost afraid of what she was going to say, which gave Atta even more reason to say it.

"Flik, you only lied to us because we were all so hard on you. Dot was the only one who believed in you from the beginning. She saw the spark. I'm just sorry it took us — it took me so long to see it, too."

Flik's eyes were shining with tears, but this time Atta didn’t mind being the cause of them. Thank you, Princess, he mouthed. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

And then Flik leaned forward just the slightest bit. The movement was almost imperceptible, but Atta saw it and knew what it meant. It meant he was thinking about closing the gap.

Before Atta could brace her fluttering heart for what came next, Francis's annoyed voice yanked both of them back to the present.

"So what I’m taking from this is that Dot's the best of all of us and we all played a part in screwing her over. Can we go get my Blueberry back now? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm itching to kick some grasshopper ass. Also, the little raisin owes me a card game."

The rest of the circus bugs chorused their agreement. Flik cast a sheepish smile in Atta's direction before wrapping his elbow around Dim's snout and pulling himself to his feet. Atta winced at the grunts of pain that left his mouth in the process. She had almost forgotten how badly he’d been injured and here he was, ready to charge right back into battle.

My brave, foolish warrior, she thought, accepting the hands Gypsy offered to help her to her feet. A groan escaped from her own mouth, but she quickly dismissed the moth’s concern. There were more important matters at hand than Atta’s medical needs. If any of them survived this night, they would all be spending a long time under Dr. Flora's care.

Once Atta was upright, Rosie asked the question on all of their minds.

"So Flik, what's the plan?"

Atta glanced at the ant beside her and saw that familiar gleam in his eye, the one that meant the gears in his brain were turning at full speed. His nine colorful friends huddled before him, awaiting his instructions like an attentive audience. The storm raging around them added an intensity to the moment that gave her goosebumps.

Finally, Flik rubbed his hands together and began to speak.

“Okay, here’s the plan.”

Dot

She heard her friends coming before she saw them. Dim’s wings were somehow even louder than the deafening shriek of raindrops falling past them. Dot smiled. Her beetle friend was his own storm.

Hopper heard it too. She knew because she felt his hand clench harder around her waist.

Without warning he leaped off the branch and flew higher, until all Dot could see beneath her dangling feet was the criss-cross pattern of tree branches against the darkness. Ever since she was a pupa Dot had dreamed of flying up here, but all she wanted now was to feel dirt under her feet again.

"They're coming for you, Princess," she heard Hopper mutter. "Who knew? A whole damn calvary for one tiny ant."

Dot's heart swelled so big she could feel it pulsing in her throat. Her damp wings fluttered with fresh hope.

"You don't know my warriors," she whispered.

Chapter Text

They were coming.

Hopper had known it was only a matter of time, although the amount of time that had passed almost made him doubt the faithfulness of Dot’s comrades. Perhaps the smaller princess was less of a priority than the one who wore the crown.

Then again, it was this princess who Flik stepped out of line to defend. The princess who sparked the flame. No pun intended.

Hopper clenched his free fists. It was time to extinguish that flame, once and for all.

The sound of wings beating against the wind grew louder. These were rough flying conditions for any insect, not to mention ones who had just been in battle — if you could even call it that. Mutiny was more like it.

Even still, Hopper felt it would only be fair to meet the rescue party halfway. Keeping his hold on Dot firm, he rose into the air and then descended past several branches until his eyes landed on specks of color emerging from the darkness below him.

The troupe was led by Flik himself, carried by a battered-looking Atta. Seeing the princess in such a poor state brought Hopper a twisted sense of glee. Behind them came the blue beetle with the black widow and the two gibberish-speaking pill bugs perched atop his head. Even from a distance Hopper could see the latter bugs still had the same matching, manic smiles they displayed during their circus act.

Once a clown, always a clown, he thought grimly.

Noticeably missing were the praying mantis and his moth companion, as well as the ladybug, the stick bug, and their fat caterpillar friend. Hopper’s eyes narrowed and shifted from side to side as he settled on a gnarled branch slick with rainwater. After the stunts Flik and his friends had pulled tonight, he half expected them to materialize from thin air at any moment.

He wouldn’t be caught off guard. Not again.

“Flik!”

Hopper flinched at the shrillness of Dot’s scream. He was sure the troupe was too far to hear it, but out of precaution he slid his upper hand over the girl’s mouth. She hadn’t spoken since her suggestion for him to return home, which gave Hopper time to strengthen his resolve. Dot’s silence made it easier to imagine her weight in his hand as a pebble or a pawn instead of a young, innocent queen-to-be.

Several painfully slow minutes passed. Finally the rescue party was within inches of the branch where Hopper stood. He held up his upper right hand, signaling them to stop. Of course they didn’t obey, not that Hopper had expected any differently after tonight’s events. He waited until they were almost at eye level and then raised the arm attached to Dot, his hand still muting her.

This brought the party to a screeching halt in mid-air, their eyes filled with fear and fury. Atta look especially murderous.

Several seconds of silence passed, punctuated only by low rolls of distant thunder. The storm seemed to be quieting, waiting with the rest of them for what would come next. Hopper relished the power he felt in this moment. As long as Dot’s safety hung in the balance, his opposition wouldn’t dare do anything to jeopardize it.

Finally he broke the pause with a heavy sigh.

“Well, it took you long enough,” Hopper drawled, lowering Dot to his side and removing his hand from her mouth. “The princess and I were starting to wonder if you’d ever make it, weren’t we?”

“Sorry, we got held up,” Atta snapped. Hopper saw Flik place his hand on the crook of her elbow as if in warning.

“Now that you’re here, I assume you want the brat back,” he continued. “Truth be told, I’ve grown kind of fond of the little runt. So it’s only fair if we compromise a little, don’t you think?”

“Yes.” It was Flik who spoke. Atta lowered him onto the nearest branch, and Hopper noticed she was careful to hover within reach of him until his footing appeared to be steady. Thumper’s thrashing had certainly taken its toll.

The other circus bugs followed her lead. Within seconds they were all lined up along the branch facing him, silent but seething. The spider wore an especially fierce scowl, softening only when her eyes flitted to Dot.

Hopper marveled at how protective these insects were of their friends. They had seemingly nothing to gain from allying with a bunch of ants. What was so special about the colony that made a bunch of clowns willing to stand up to grasshoppers on their behalf?

“We’re here to make a trade, Hopper,” Flik said, bringing him back to the moment. Atta curled her fingers around his hand and squeezed it. Hopper suppressed a gag. “One princess for one rebellion leader. You can do whatever you want with me, as long as you let my friend Dot go.”

Hopper tilted his head and stroked his chin, pretending to consider the inventor’s offer. You always did say I had a flair for the dramatic, Ma.

“Well, that is an intriguing proposition,” he murmured, waiting a beat to allow the tension to build. Then, with a shrug, he lifted the arm holding Dot so she dangled in the air between the branches. Atta reached out reflexively. “Why don’t we see what your friend thinks of this arrangement?”

Hopper could feel the girl shaking in his grasp, her hands balled into fists and her legs knotted at the ankles. Once again guilt washed over him, and once again he squashed it down. If he had learned anything about Atta’s little sister tonight, it was not to underestimate her. And she gave exactly the answer he had hoped she would.

“No, Flik! Don’t go with him! I’ll be okay!”

Flik’s jaw dropped. Atta let go of his hand and latched onto his upper arm. “Dot, you don’t know what you’re saying,” she said, her voice rising with panic.

Hopper shrugged and withdrew his arm, transferring the princess to his lower hand. “You heard it from her, folks,” he sneered, his wings whirring into motion behind him. “We’ll come visit next spring.”

The horrified gasps that followed were music to his ears. The pill bugs were snarling and baring their teeth in Thumper-like fashion and the beetle looked ready to spring, which Hopper had to admit was a little unnerving. Thankfully his spider companion whispered something to him that seemed to have a calming effect, although the expression on her face told a different story.

“Please, Hopper,” Flik cried, and Hopper slowed his wings so he could hear the ant’s pleas. “Take me. It’s me you’ve wanted all along. Not her. I came up with the bird. I was the one who lost your food.”

This last confession was new information, although Hopper could have guessed it from the start. What would have made Flik feel the need to stick up for Dot the first time? A guilty conscience, that’s what. He couldn’t watch an innocent child — his friend, as he called her — suffer the consequences for his blunder.

That... plus the fact that he just kind of seemed like a bumbling idiot.

This was the moment. Flik, Atta, and the clowns were staring at Hopper, waiting for his next move. He looked down at Dot and was surprised to see her looking back, her eyes shining with tearful terror. The spunk she had shown since he pulled her from that flaming bird had almost made him forget she was still a child. His chest twinged with guilt, a feeling he quickly shoved to the depths of his blackened soul.

She’s just a pest, Hop. You’ve got a job to do.

Hopper allowed his wings to settle and willed his heart to harden. He pictured all those tiny antlings tumbling from the beak of the fake bird they had helped pilot. He pictured Princess Atta’s face centimeters from his, her eyes stone cold as she uttered the word that incited an angry mob of grown ants to drive away his gang. He pictured the first time he laid eyes on Flik, right after that damn ant first challenged his authority.

Leave her alone.

Hopper turned to the side and began walking along the branch as though going for a casual stroll. Six pairs of wary eyes followed him. He reached the trunk, paused to take a breath, and then pivoted to make his way back. The words he had been mentally rehearsing since Dot first fell into his hands began to spill from his tongue.

“Oh, but I do want her, Flik. You see, this puny little ant…” Here he waved Dot in the air for show. “…now represents an entire generation of ants who, thanks to the stunt all of you just tried to pull, will grow up thinking they can challenge the Circle of Life like you did.”

Hopper cast a pointed glance at Atta, whose lips tightened. He took one more step forward and then froze, letting a thunder-filled pause go by before slowly wheeling around to face the opposite branch again. The other bugs faded into his periphery as Hopper fixed his gaze on the one right in front of him.

Flik’s hands were clenched into fists, his chest heaving with fury. Even in the midst of his “ants don’t serve grasshoppers” speech, Hopper hadn’t seen this level of anger from the ant. Rain or not, the fire in his eyes could set the entire tree ablaze.

Hopper smirked. He had him right where he wanted him.

“So now, I need to fix that and teach them a lesson they won’t forget, starting with their future queen. What do you think would be most effective, huh, Flik? Shall I squish her on the spot, like I was going to do to her mother? Give her to Thumper as a playmate?”

The ant in question was trembling violently now, mirroring her older sister. Hopper knew Dot understood that the grasshopper who had spoken with her only moments before, the one who let his guard down and confessed those dark secrets about his past, was not the same grasshopper speaking now. It was easy for him to take that mask on and off, to slip into the role of the villain when necessary. He had watched his father do it for years.

This was the grand finale, the part of the performance Hopper knew would send his audience over the edge.

He clamped his hand over Dot’s head and raised her into the air, holding her out so she dangled above the chasm between the branches. Then, turning her to the side so his audience could see, he gave those fragile, silvery wings of hers the slightest tug.

“How do you think the colony would feel about a royal ant who can’t even fly?”

Chapter Text

Flik

A royal ant who can't even fly.

His eyes locked on Dot's and he felt his heart lurch. Fiery, feisty Dot. The closest thing Flik had to a little sister. Two whole centimeters of sass that had stared Hopper down and stood up for him when he was too weak to stand.

And he was helpless to help her.

Flik's heart raced. Red seeped into the corners of his vision, blurring out everything but the sight of Hopper dangling Dot before him. He had never felt rage like this. Heck, Flik had never really known what anger was before tonight. He thought he'd felt it the first time Hopper threatened Dot, but that sharp jab of fury was nothing like the tidal wave crashing over him now. This anger was a stream of fire pulsing through every vein in Flik's body, seeking a place to erupt.

"You wouldn't dare," he whispered to Hopper.

Would he?

So far Hopper had proved himself to be ruthless and cunning and cruel, yes. But this? This was a new low, and Flik didn't know if he believed even Hopper would sink to it.

It was one theory the inventor wasn't willing to test.

Francis

Flik's plan, relatively speaking (as in the fact that this one didn't involve a massive, fully functioning bird machine), was simple.

Step One: Convince Hopper to take Flik in Dot's place.

Step Two: Transport Dot to a safe place where Heimlich would be waiting to give her all the warm, squishy cuddles her little heart desired. (Because let's be real, there wasn't much else the chubby caterpillar could offer in this situation.)

Step Three: Remove Flik from Hopper's clutches using either cunning or sheer force, depending on how things played out. (Manny and Gypsy were hidden under Dim's wings, hoping for another chance to practice their hypnotic voodoo crap, but Francis was pretty sure one stomp from Dim's foot would be more effective than all the incantations they knew put together.)

Step Four: Chase Hopper into a web Rosie had conveniently spun a few days ago, when the Blueberries were playing their favorite game with Dim. (Francis had tried to convince his spider to give up her vegetarian ways for just one night, but she was stubborn when it came to her dietary convictions.)

Step Five: Wait for the signal from Gypsy, then lure the real Mama Bird from her nest and lead her to the web.

Step Six: Find some popcorn and watch from a safe distance while the grasshopper menace was exterminated once and for all.

So... who volunteered for Step Five, you ask?

"Where is this frikkin' nest?"

"Well, considering the last time I saw it I was running for my life from its owner, my memory is a bit hazy,” Slim piped from below. “Also, it was sunny then."

Francis rolled his eyes and veered hard to the right to dodge a raindrop the size of his body, eliciting a shriek from his stickbug friend. "I don't need the sass right now, pal," he huffed.

"Remind me again why we signed up for this job?" Slim inquired.

"Because I'm the fastest flyer after Dim and Flik needed the big guy's muscle to intimidate Hop. Plus, you can pass for a twig, so if Mama Bird sees us I’ll just throw you on her nest and fly away."

"Ha, ha."

Francis's grin melted into a grimace as he scanned the ground below for anything that resembled a pile of feathers and branches. Remind me again why we signed up for this job?

That question had an easy answer for Francis. There was nothing he wouldn't do for that damn kid. He'd throw himself into the open beak of a bird if it meant keeping her safe, which is why it infuriated him that she'd still ended up in danger. As soon as Francis saw Dot scrambling down from the wreckage of the fake bird he should have flown over, scooped her up and deposited her inside the anthill.

Instead he ended up just standing like a dope while that bastard Hopper tried to feed the princess to his psycho pet. For the second time.

Francis knew this was a repeat occurrence because Dot had told him about it. It was the middle of the night a few days after the real bird fiasco, when the troupe was finally starting to settle into colony life. He'd been awoken from a lovely dream involving female ladybugs by the sound of sniffling outside the hospital wing.

Francis waited a minute, hoping in vain for the sound to stop so he could go back to his dream. It didn’t.

He heaved a sigh. “Anyone else gonna get that?”

No answer.

It took considerable effort and a lot of swearing before Francis managed to get down from the hospital bed with his bad leg. He limped to the doorway and flung open the leaf curtain, ready to chew out whoever dared to interrupt his slumber.

At his feet stood a puny, purple ant with her face hidden in her hands.

"Kid?"

Dot let out a hiccup and uncovered her eyes to look up at him. Francis had never been much of a pupa guy, especially crying ones, but the sight of those blue eyes blinking back tears was enough to turn any bug to mush.

"Kid, what's wrong?" Francis asked, awkwardly crouching on the knee that wasn't in a cast so he could be at eye level with her.

Dot sniffed and rubbed a fist across her eyes. "Sorry to wake you up, ma'am," she whimpered.

Francis suppressed a cringe and hoped she couldn't tell. He made a mental note to bring up the topic of gender with the Blueberries during their next poker night.

"I had a… a nightmare." The last word was a whisper, and Francis swore he saw some red in those freckled cheeks.

His insides were officially tree sap.

"A nightmare?” he snorted. “Aw come on, that's nothing to be ashamed of! Everybody gets those. Especially Heimlich."

He winked at this last part, eliciting a giggle from Dot. Good, Francis, Keep it up. If you can make her laugh, you can fix it. That’s the point of being a clown, right?

He kept going with it. "So… was it about that scary bird that almost ate us? Because let me tell ya, if it wasn't for you pulling those Blueberry Scout moves, she would've brought me home as dinner for her babies. And contrary to popular belief, ladybugs do not taste like strawberries."

Instead of acknowledging this genius joke, the princess's face fell.

"No, it wasn't… it wasn't about that," she mumbled. "It was about… something else that happened. With the grasshoppers. Before Flik went to find you guys."

Francis frowned. Something else that happened? Geez Louise, how much trauma had this kid been through in the past three months?

"Well…" he said, standing up and readjusting his crutch before reaching out his free hand for Dot to take. "Why don't you tell me about it on our way back to bed?"

So she did. Starting with the sound of the first alarm and ending with Hopper's promise to return after the last leaf fell, Dot filled Francis in on all the details of that spring morning with the grasshoppers. Every word she spoke made Francis's blood boil, especially when she got to the part about Thumper. What kind of sicko did something like that to someone like Dot? Sure, Francis didn't love kids, but he would never put one in harm's way to prove a point.

Of course, at the time he hadn't met Hopper.

By the time they made it to Dot's room, the princess's eyelids were starting to droop. Her grip on his hand, however, remained firm the entire time he was tucking her into bed.

"Hey… Princess?" Francis said softly, giving Dot's hand a gentle squeeze. "I gotta use this later."

A beat went by before Dot released his fingers. Her bottom lip quivered. "Will you wait until I fall asleep? Like Flik does?"

Flik. That soft-hearted son of a… Francis eased himself onto a stone beside Dot's bed, ignoring the throb in his leg, and flashed the kid a smile. At this point he was having trouble keeping his own eyes open. "Sure thing, princess."

That night, Francis stayed beside Dot's bed long after she fell asleep. No nightmares were coming back for this kid on his watch. No grasshoppers were, either, if he had anything to say about.

"Um, Francis...Francis? Francis! Slow down!"

Francis pulled up short at Slim's demand. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was flying for a full five minutes. "Sorry, sorry!"

"No no, look down! Is that what I think it is?"

Francis squinted into the darkness. It was hard to see anything in this weather, but he thought he could make out something moving several feet below them. He flew a few inches closer to get a better look and ducked behind a dandelion stalk.

There was something moving, all right. Some things. Things that were bright yellow, and fluffy, and kind of cute.

Francis gasped. "They hatched?"

"You're asking the wrong question," Slim murmured. "The real one is: where's their mother?"

Dot

A royal ant who can't even fly. Why did those words ring a bell?

Oh, yes. That's what she had called herself back in the spring. That was when flapping her wings meant rising off the ground for a second or two and then landing in a heap, followed by the sound of laughter if there were any boys around.

You just have to give yourself some time , Flik had said when she complained to him about being too little to fly. You're still a seed.

It was only by pure instinct that Dot flapped her wings while plummeting through the mist after Thumper chased her off the cliff. When she opened her eyes and found herself hovering in the air beside the cliff's edge, still in one piece, Dot had been sure she was either dreaming or dead. It was Flik's words echoing in her mind that gave her the courage to open one eye, then two, and realize that his prediction came true: she had become a tree.

"What's it gonna be, ladies and gentlebugs?" Hopper demanded, bringing her back to the present. She felt an uncomfortable pressure in her back, like someone was squeezing her wings together.

Said ladies and gentlebugs seemed to be at a loss. Atta was clutching Flik's arm, her face ghostly pale. Tuck and Roll were speechless for the first time since Dot had met them. Rosie had four of her legs wrapped around Dim's snout and four planted on the branch, like she was holding the beetle back from charging forward at any second.

Flik had a look on his face that Dot had never seen before, and it scared her. It was like anger, but more than that. The kind of look she'd seen on Hopper's face whenever Flik challenged him. A look that could kill.

There was another tug on her wings, this one sharper than before, and Dot's heart dropped to the pit of her stomach as she finally realized the meaning behind Hopper’s words.

A royal ant who can't even fly.

No. Dot blinked away tears and bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop the whimpers threatening to escape. Hopper was mean and bossy and even violent sometimes, but he wouldn't do something like that. He was just saying it to scare them or make them mad enough to do something he wanted. She had to be brave so they would see that.

"It's okay," Dot mouthed to her friends, even as tears trickled down her cheeks. "He won't hurt me."

Flik gave her the tiniest of nods and mouthed something back that made her smile. "You're a tree."

I am a tree. But maybe I'm not the only one.

Hopper's grip on her scalp was so tight Dot couldn't even swivel her head to look at him. Instead she reached behind her and found Hopper's thumb, the one pinching her wings together. She wrapped her fingers around it and squeezed softly. It was the only thing she could think to do, the only way to communicate what she wanted him to know.

You're not as bad as you think you are. You don't have to be your dad if you don't want to be. You can be a tree.

A second went by, then two. The rain started to slow for the first time all night. The pressure in Dot's wings loosened ever so slightly.

Flik reached his arms toward her, his eyes filling with relief.

And then a shriek from above pierced the air and Dot felt something like a stinger ripping through her back. Her antennae filled with the sound of screaming before everything went dark.

Chapter Text

Hopper

He felt the pain in his own wings when it happened. Freshly grown wings, delicate as petals, rendered flightless by his own hand.

By accident.

Hopper had felt those tiny fingers curl around his thumb, the one attached to Dot’s wings and ready to yank at any moment, and some dormant part of his heart softened at that touch. So trusting, so innocent. In that moment he’d felt sickened by the reality of what he was about to do. Nothing, not even losing his power over the colony, could justify this level of cruelty.

He had been about to let go when the sound of a bird overheard startled him enough to make his hand jerk slightly.

Enough to hear a soft snap followed by a cry of pain, and then silence.

A royal ant who can’t even fly.

It was an accident, but it didn’t matter. He had done it, and now they were all going to die.

Atta

She didn’t even know what happened.

One moment Hopper was dangling Dot in front of them, threatening to do unspeakable harm to her, and then Atta saw Dot reach behind her and the next moment the monster went silent. His expression flickered between emotions impossible to read, but there was something in his eyes that gave Atta the slightest hope that he was about to break and hand his hostage over in exchange for Flik, finally setting their plan in motion.

And then came an explosion of feathers and a screech that was the worst sound Atta had ever heard… until she heard the one that followed it.

The first one belonged to a bird.

The second belonged to her little sister.

Atta had heard Dot scream plenty of times before. She knew what her scream of frustration sounded like, had heard it after many a failed flight attempt. She could tell the difference between screams of fear and screams of excitement. Attar’s favorite was Dot’s happy scream, a short, high-pitched shriek usually reserved for Flik or Dim.

But this was a new scream, one that twisted Atta’s insides with fear. This was a scream of pain.

“What did you do?” Atta cried. Hopper looked like he didn’t even know the answer to her question. He was staring down at Dot’s limp form with a glazed look in his good eye.

Flik gripped her upper arm and she turned to see his face contorted with a rage she had seen only once before, earlier that very night when he was staring Hopper down and proclaiming the colony’s strength. One look at the circus bugs revealed similar expressions on their faces, fury mixed with horror and disbelief.  For a moment it was as though time had frozen for the injured princess.

And then the chaos began.

“Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet!”

Tuck and Roll’s warning shouts were barely heard above the sparrow’s cries. Atta looked up to see her thrashing about in the branches inches above their antennae. The sparrow was fighting her way towards them with everything she had. She should have eaten them all by now, but the tip of one of her wings was caught on the jagged edge of a broken tree branch. They were safe, but their time was limited.

Hopper was looking up too, his mouth ajar and his eyes wide with terror as he watched the bird’s frenzied attempts to reach them. He seemed rooted to the spot, ready to accept his fate.

Atta lunged forward, intending to tear her sister from the bastard’s grip and fly her to safety.

There was an ear-splitting crack from above and suddenly Atta was staring at her own terrified expression in a pair of huge, yellow-rimmed eyes. She felt herself being grabbed from behind and yanked backwards less than a second before the sparrow’s beak could snap shut over her.

“No!” Atta shrieked, lunging forward against several pairs of arms that pulled her back. Her near-death experience didn’t even register. “We have to get to Dot!”

A kaleidoscope of color exploded before her eyes, and the sparrow screeched and jolted backwards with fear. Gypsy had finally come out of hiding and was fluttering about between the rescue party and the bird. Atta knew the other side of Gypsy’s wings were painted like a pair of snake eyes. It wouldn’t fool her forever, but it could distract her long enough to buy them time. Maybe if she flew under the bird and came up on the other side where Hopper was…

“Atta.”

Gypsy’s unusually harsh voice commanded her attention. She looked into the moth’s violet eyes and felt tears prick her own.

“You need to go with them,” Gypsy said softly. “You’ll find a way to get her back. But you need to go now.”

Atta swallowed the protests rising in her throat, knowing her friend was in the right. She looked past Gypsy and caught glimpses of Hopper between the bird’s wingstrokes. He still had that look of paralyzed fear on his face, but now he had Dot clutched against his chest with all four arms. If Atta didn’t know better, she would have thought he was trying to protect her.

Atta wrenched herself free from her friends’ grip and flew as close to Hopper as she could with the bird still between them. “Get her out of here!” she ordered, and she felt her heart break with each word. She knew there wasn’t another choice, but it still felt like giving him permission him to take her sister away. Again.

His eyes met hers and she could have sworn she saw the smallest of nods before he turned, leaped from the branch, and descended into the darkness below.

Somehow she ended up on Dim’s back, leaning into Flik’s arms as her body was wracked with the sobs she’d kept at bay since Dot was first taken. A voice in the back of her mind told her to pull it together, that this wasn’t the way a future queen should act, but she pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to be a queen or even a warrior.

Now was the time to be a big sister.

Francis

“This is bad. This is very very very very very bad.”

“Ya think?!”

Francis was flying faster than he’d ever flown before, and still it wasn’t fast enough. They were heading back towards the tree, the one where Flik and their friends were supposed to be having a showdown with Hopper at this very moment. For all he knew the bird could have found them already and swallowed them all whole, but Francis had to push his naturally pessimistic nature aside for once and just focus on getting there to warn them.

They were almost to the tree when Slim’s body jerked, nearly causing Francis to lose his group on his friend.

“Francis!” he hissed. “Look!”

Francis followed the direction of Slim’s pointed finger until he saw it. It made his blood boil. It was Hopper, descending along the trunk of the tree toward its roots. He was alone.

“He’s supposed to be in a web right now!” Francis spat. “How’d he get away?”

“Um, I think I might have an idea,” Slim said slowly, pointing in a new direction.

Oh, Mama. There she was, the key piece to their brilliant plan, only she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Francis wasn’t sure if he imagined them or if he could really hear his friends’ screams as the mother sparrow dove in and out of the upper branches of the tree.

“This is some déjà vu, huh buddy?” he joked weakly.

But Slim wasn’t paying attention to him. “Fran, look again,” he murmured, disbelief in his tone. “He’s not alone.”

Francis squinted harder at the distant figure of the grasshopper and felt his jaw drop. If the sight of Hopper himself made the ladybug’s blood boil, the sight of him holding a tiny, purple bundle in his lower arms turned it to steam.

“No,” Francis breathed. How was this possible? They’d all understood when they were forming the plan that there was a chance that when all was said and done it would be Flik who ended up in Hopper’s clutches. It was the risk he was willing to take to keep Dot safe and they’d agreed, however reluctantly, to go along with it. Everyone knew the inventor was the real prize and the princess was just the bait.

So how on the island did he still have her?

“What are we gonna do?” Slim cried.

Francis shook his head, his eyes fixed on Hopper’s moving form. “I don’t know, pal,” he said slowly. Fiercely. “But I do know that somehow, we’re gonna get my Blueberry back.”

Hopper

It was a miracle they made it out of the tree alive, considering the past few minutes were a frantic blur of thunder and screeches muffled by the sound of Hopper’s own heartbeat in his antennae. As soon as the sparrow showed up he’d been useless to do anything but stand and stare and wait for the end to come. It felt like poetic justice after what he’d just done.

And then Atta’s voice cut through the chaos, demanding that he get her sister to safety, and something in her tone propelled him to obey the queen-to-be.

So here he was at the bottom of the tree, hiding within the tangle of roots and attempting to regain some semblance of regular breathing. If the gang ever saw him in this state they would lose all respect for him.

Then again, Hopper didn’t even know how much of a gang he had left. He had watched many of them flee for their lives once the colony revolted, but the fate of those left behind was unclear. Even in their anger the ants didn’t seem like the violent type, but if anyone could testify what years of pent-up rage could do to an insect, it was Hopper.

Speaking of ants… Hopper looked down at where the smallest one was draped across his arms, her skin a ghostly shade of lavender and her breath coming in shallow gasps like his. They were both in bad shape.

He’d avoided coming to terms with it as long as he could, but Hopper couldn’t take the suspense anymore. Tearing a clump of moss from the root overhead, he knelt to spread it on the ground and laid Dot on top of it, then turned her onto her side and cupped her silvery wings in his hand to get a closer look.

There it was: the tiniest of tears, right at the base where her wings sprouted from her back.

Hopper let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. It had hurt the kid like hell, but he knew he hadn’t done permanent damage. Kids were resilient — give it a season or two and she’d be back in the air like it never happened.

You’re softer than I thought, Hop. What does it matter to you if the brat ever flies again? Weren’t you ready to turn her into an orphan an hour ago?

Hopper shook his head. It was incredible how he could still hear his father’s voice, clear as creek water, after all these years. Pop wouldn’t have hesitated to rip the wings off a child to get a point across. Hopper had believed the same was true of himself until Dot proved him wrong. Nuisance though she was, the damn princess had wormed her way into his heart.

And now, irony of ironies, Hopper was charged with the task of keeping her safe.

He felt her stir and heard a soft whimper that made him cringe. For her sake, he’d hoped Dot wouldn’t wake up until she was back in the hands of someone who could properly care for her.

The whimpers were escalating into groans. Hopper rubbed a hand over his face and looked around for something he could use to set the wings. If all those grueling training sessions with Pop counted for anything, he had at least come away with basic first aid knowledge.

Hopper rose to his feet and made his way towards a bramble bush about a foot’s flight from their shelter. He scoured the outside until he located the smallest thorn he could find, then snapped it off along with a nearby leaf. After a pause, he reached his free hand up to pluck a couple of drupelets from an overripe blackberry hanging above them, then flew back to the shelter and went to work.

After rolling Dot onto her stomach, Hopper used his upper hands to gently pinch her wings together. After checking that it was the blunt end facing her back and not the sharp one, he positioned the thorn beneath her wings so it was supporting them. He then tore a small strip from the leaf in his lower hand and wound it tightly around the base of the thorn and her wing stem, securing it with a knot.

Hopper tried to operate with as much delicacy as possible, but every once in a while the princess would twitch or wince in a way that betrayed her pain. He did his best to ignore this, particularly the pangs of guilt he felt each time it happened.

The final result was a crude, somewhat oversized pair of splints that would keep the wings steady enough to minimize the pain, but by themselves wouldn’t bring much relief.

That was what the berries were for.

Dot was beginning to shiver now. Hopper picked her up and tucked her into the crook of his upper left arm, wings facing outward, then scooted backward until his wings met tree bark and gazed through an opening in the roots at the world beyond. The rain had slowed considerably and the thunder had settled into low, distant rumbles. He wondered how many of his gang members had made it back to the sombrero during the storm. He wondered if Molt was among them.

“Hopper?”

He looked down and saw a pair of confused blue eyes blinking up at him. Dot pressed her hands weakly against his chest and attempted to push herself upwards, but this smallest of movements proved too much and she collapsed again with a cry. Hopper stiffened at the sound.

“Where are my friends?” The princess whispered, her eyes shining with tears.

Instead of answering, Hopper handed one of the berry drupelets to her. She took it without question but proceeded to stare at it like it was her first time seeing a piece of fruit. He rolled his eyes in spite of himself.

“Eat this. It’ll help.”

Dot raised an eyebrow. Hopper sighed and bit into the other one to prove it could be trusted. After a pause, Dot did the same. Hopper took a swig of the fermented juice and felt his chest flood with warmth. This would do just the trick for his little patient.

He was right. Within minutes the girl was slumped in his arm again, her eyes closed and her breathing steady. Hopper closed his own eyes and leaned into the rough bark behind him. The events of tonight had caught up to him and the thought of succumbing to the urge to sleep was tempting, but he had to fight it. At any moment the bird or the bugs could show up and he needed to be ready.

Ready for what, exactly?

It wasn’t until this moment that Hopper realized he didn’t know the answer to this question anymore.

Chapter Text

Dot woke up and wished she hadn't. Her mouth was dry and her head felt strangely heavy, like if she bent it backward too far it would snap off and roll away. Every few seconds there was a sharp pulse of pain in her back. She could hear the splash of raindrops and an occasional roll of thunder in the distance.

Her memories of the past several hours were few and foggy. She remembered a terrifying ride in a fiery bird. A hand plucking her up like a dandelion puff. A hungry beast growing closer. A foot rising into the air. A monster towering over her. A flight through wind and rain. A rescue party's late arrival.

Dot couldn't remember anything after that, but she was sure when she opened her eyes she'd be in the arms of Flik or Francis or her mom, and whatever else had happened that night would melt away like a bad dream.

She opened her eyes and shut them again quickly, tears burning the backs of her eyelids.

She'd been wrong.

Several minutes passed before she worked up the nerve to take another look at the scarred face of the grasshopper holding her. Hopper was fast asleep, looking the most content Dot had ever seen him. His breath came out in soft snores and the corners of his mouth were turned up. Maybe he was in the middle of a pleasant dream about squishing an entire ant colony.

Suddenly Dot didn't have room for fear anymore. Now, she was just plain mad.

"Wake up!" she shouted.

Hopper stirred but continued snoozing away.

Scrunching her hand into a fist, Dot drew her arm back as far as it would go and began to pound it repeatedly on Hopper's speckled chest. It probably hurt her more than it hurt him, but she was way past caring.

"WAKE UP!"

Hopper's eyes flew open and he jumped up with a snarl, ready to face whoever had disturbed his slumber. The sudden motion jostled Dot's wings and she bit down hard to keep from crying out, determined not to show emotion in front of the bully.

Dot watched as Hopper swung his head back and forth in search of the enemy, a crazed look in his good eye. It took several moments for him to realize she was the threat. Taking her by the waist, Hopper lifted her so she was parallel to his gaze and glared at her.

"Good morning to you, too, Princess," he said, annoyance dripping from his words.

Suddenly his gaze softened. It was taking every ounce of willpower Dot had to keep from bursting into tears, and she knew he could see it.

"Oh, kid," he sighed.

The pity in his voice only sparked her fury.

"My name is Dot," she said through gritted teeth. "And I want to go home."

Hopper closed his eyes and mashed his fingers against them. "Don't we all," he groaned. "But, see, I'm sure you can understand why that's not a possibility right now."

An image of hundreds of angry ants charging towards one grasshopper flashed in Dot's mind. "Okay, fine," she said. "Then take me to my friends."

"I don't know where your friends are."

"Fine, then let me fly out there and find them myself," she said, and began to wriggle out of Hopper's grasp.

His grip on her tightened. She slammed her fists down on his wrist, ready to start biting if that was what it took to make him let go, then froze when she saw the way he was looking at her. It wasn't with pity or annoyance this time.

It was... with sadness.

Something about that look triggered the rest of Dot's memories. They came flooding back to her like a rainstorm. Flik's bargain. Hopper's speech. A strange pressure in her back. The fear in her friends' eyes. And then… a bird's screech, followed by pain and darkness and berry juice.

Ignoring the pain that flared with each movement, Dot kept her gaze fixed on Hopper's and slowly reached behind her until her fingers touched tree bark. There was a twig or something attached to her wing stem. She moved her hand higher and began to feel along the stem until her fingertips brushed over something that sent waves of nausea rolling through her.

A rip.

"You…" she whispered, feeling the color drain from her face.

A royal ant who can't even fly.

Hopper had really gone through with it. He'd broken her wings.

There was no holding the tears back now. Dot let them gush freely as she began to sob, covering her face both to hide herself from Hopper and to hide Hopper from her. She couldn't stand seeing him look so sad when he was the one who hurt her. The one who took away the things that had carried her to Flik when she needed him – and he needed her – the most.

Dot had been flying through the fog for what felt like hours. How had she lived her whole life without being able to do this? It was even better than she'd imagined. Of course, she hadn't imagined being chased off a cliff by a crazy grasshopper was what it would take to trigger her wings, but it was worth it.

If only she could enjoy it more. She was on a mission.

Dot heard the sound of rolling wheels and felt her heart leap. P.T.'s Circus Wagon, the one that had crashed into their colony last night and ruined everything, was only a few feet ahead of her. She could see Flik sitting on the edge of the ramp with his head hung low. She'd never seen her friend look so sad.

No matter how fast she flew, the wagon seemed to be getting further and further away. Dot pumped her wings as hard as she could and began frantically waving her arms.

"Flik! Flik, wait! Wait!" she shouted.

Flik's antennae sprang up. He looked up and his jaw dropped. "Dot?"

Seeing her friend look so surprised at the sight of her gave Dot the burst of speed she needed. She zipped through the air like a dragonfly and tumbled into Flik's arms.

"Dot? You're flying!" Flik said, disbelief in his voice as he deposited her on the floor of the wagon. The troupe gathered around her, their kind faces full of concern as she struggled to catch her breath in between words.

"You... have to come back," she panted. "Hopper moved into the anthill, and his gang's eating everything!"

There was a collective gasp from her audience. Heimlich looked especially troubled. Dot took a deep breath, preparing to deliver the final blow.

"And I heard a grasshopper say... that when they're finished, Hopper's gonna squish my mom!"

Now they were truly horrified. Everyone began talking at once, expressing their shock over the situation and trying to come up with ways to help. Dot couldn't help but notice Flik step backwards as the circus bugs crowded closer.

"Oh, I know!" Gypsy suddenly cried. "The bird!"

"Yes, of course!"

"The bird, that's brilliant!"

"The bird. Won't. Work."

The last voice belonged to Flik. The circus bugs parted and Dot saw her friend sitting on a pencil pushed against the wall of the wagon, bent over in defeat the way he'd been when she first saw him on the edge of the wagon.

"What are you talking about?" Francis demanded. "It was your idea!"

Dot stepped forward. This wasn't the Flik she knew. "But you said that everything we..." she began.

Flik cut her off. "Forget everything I ever told you, alright Dot?" he snapped. "Let's face it, the colony is right. I just make things worse. That bird is a guaranteed failure."

He clenched his fists, then sighed. "Just like me."

This statement was met with intense backlash from the circus bugs. Dot stood quietly and listened as they began rattling off things that Flik had done right (which included helping Francis get in touch with his feminine side), but none of them seemed to be getting through to her friend.

Finally, it was her turn to speak. She could think of a million reasons why Flik wasn't a failure, and two of those reasons were the wings that brought her here. If he hadn't given her that silly seed-to-tree speech back in the spring, Dot would never have had the confidence to try again and again to use her wings... until they finally worked, just in time to save her life.

But she didn't have time for that. There were only two words she could think of to convey how much she needed her friend's help.

"Flik... please?" she whispered.

Flik gazed at her, sadness in his eyes, and turned away.

Dot's heart sank. He had given up.

But she hadn't.

Dot turned and leaped into the air, ignoring the confused and disheartened looks of her circus friends as she buzzed past them. She was on a new mission.

The first had been to find Flik. The second was to help Flik find himself.

Dot flew until she spotted what she was looking for, then dove and scooped it up from the ground. She returned to the wagon, clutching it in her arms and hoping fiercely it would be enough.

The circus bugs parted once again to let her through. Flik didn't even glance up. She landed, paused to look down at the object in her hands, then stepped forward and plunked it down beside her friend.

Flik's antennae perked at the sound, and he turned to see Dot's offering.

It was a pebble.

Dot placed her hands on her hips. "Pretend it's a seed, okay?"

Flik was still for a moment, trying to interpret the meaning behind her gift. It dawned on him just as the sun broke through the fog, illuminating the inside of the wagon with golden light. A smile spread across his face. He chuckled.

"Thanks, Dot."

Dot grinned and ran into her friend's open arms. He scooped her up from the ground and held her to his chest, close enough for her to feel his beating heart. She didn't know what was going to happen when they went through with their plan, but she knew everything would be okay as long as Flik was with her.

Dot didn't know how much time had gone by since she began to cry, but there was nothing left inside of her. It occurred to her that Hopper hadn't said anything the entire time, and she realized suddenly that her cheek was resting against something that thrummed with a steady beat. The bug who broke her wings was holding her the same way Flik had.

It made her furious.

She pushed against Hopper, trying to break free of his hold, but he was too strong for her. A scream of frustration escaped her.

"This is all…your…fault," she choked, beating the grasshopper's chest with each word. Finally she let her head fall against it again. She was too tired to fight. When a berry drupelet was pressed against her mouth, she didn't try to resist it. The juice felt good flowing down her throat and warming her belly. Her eyelids began to droop. Dot felt one last tear trickle down her cheek.

A calloused thumb grazed the skin beneath her eye. Dot flinched. Hopper had already torn her wings – was he going to give her a scar like his now?

Then she realized. He was just wiping away her tear.

"I'm sorry, Dot," she heard, and then sleep overcame her.

Chapter Text

Hopper had expected to emerge from this night with a pile of grain, a dead queen, and a squashed rebellion. Instead he found himself grainless, gangless, and with a critically injured princess in his care.

Not to mention that both the queen and the rebellion leader were still alive and well.

A weak cough drew Hopper's attention down to where Dot lay shivering in the crook of his upper right arm. Beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and her lavender skin had a grayish hue to it. The combination of a broken wing and the late August chill was getting to her. She needed to get somewhere warm, and fast.

Hopper groaned and massaged his temple. This would be so much easier if he didn't give a damn what happened to the brat. He could leave her here to fend for herself, finish off her friend, and head back to the desert to start rebuilding his gang for next year. Hell, he could even save himself the trouble and skip the middle step entirely. Even if Flik did meet a tragic end, the colony was already aware of its own strength. Hopper would need an entire fleet of grasshoppers to get them under control again.

Was it worth it?

He knew what his father would say. But his father also wouldn't have bandaged his hostage's wing or given her berry juice to ease her pain. In fact, he would never have been in this situation at all, because he would have let Thumper have Dot for a snack the first time around.

Hopper took a final swig of blackberry juice and tossed the empty flesh to the side, relishing the brief warmth that filled his chest and dulled his senses. Fermented fruit had been Pop's go-to remedy for any injury Hopper and Molt had growing up. In hindsight, it explained a lot. It was Hopper's mother who would take the time to bandage their cuts and kiss their bruises.

Hopper wasn't about to do the second one with the kid. It was bad enough that he'd done the first. The splint combined with the berry juice had done the trick for now, but it wouldn't be long before it wore off and she was in a world of pain again.

Then what? He'd indoctrinate her into the gang? Take her home and raise her as his own? Where even was home, anyway? He had no idea if his cowardly gang members had returned to the sombrero or fled somewhere far from where Hopper could find them.

Considering they'd witnessed him crush three of their own under a pile of grain after daring to challenge his orders, it was probably the second one.

Come to think of it, he didn't even know where Molt had ended up. Hopper remembered seeing his brother's flaky exoskeleton floating around the throng of angry ants. As much as Hopper had always resented him for it, he had to admit his brother had a naturally nurturing disposition that would be useful at a time like this. Molt would probably happily adopt the princess if it were up to him.

Hopper recalled the conversation the two of them had had on their way home from the first visit to Ant Island, back in the spring.

"Why'dja have to go and pick on that little ant, huh, Hop?"

"What?"

Hopper turned to see Molt behind him, struggling to fly in a straight line while holding onto Thumper's leash. Their pet had always had an erratic flight pattern, and it became even more so when he was agitated. Leaving the anthill with an empty stomach had clearly made him agitated.

Who could blame him? Hopper was still seething over the morning's turn of events, and his mood wasn't helped by the fact that his stomach reminded him every few seconds. They'd come expecting a feast, and they'd left with hollow stomachs – not to mention an ant with authority issues on their hands.

Had any other gang member asked the question Molt had just asked, Hopper would have knocked him out of the sky without a second thought.

Apparently, Molt didn't realize that.

"I'm just sayin'," he went on, managing to drag Thumper forward until he and Hopper were parallel to each other. "That princess was so small and scared. You had a whole colony of ants to choose from and you had to pick her?"

Hopper rolled his eyes. "That was the point, Molt. She's the princess. It wouldn't have made as much of an impact if it was just a random kid. Plus, she ran right into my hands."

Silence ensued, broken only by the buzzing of wings and Thumper's hangry shrieks. Hopper was on the verge of allowing himself to believe his brother had dropped the issue. And then…

"You weren't really gonna feed her to Thumper, though, were ya?"

Hopper didn't answer at first. He stared straight ahead at a tiny, gray cloud on the horizon. The only interruption in a sea of blue sky.

"Hop?"

He'd been so fueled by rage in the moment that he'd acted on an impulse, plucking the ant girl up from the ground and carrying her towards Thumper like an offering while the rest of the ants – including her mom and sister – watched in horror. He hadn't really known what he was going to do with her, only that in that moment all eyes were on him and the princess. For that brief moment Hopper had held all the power in the room, and it was exhilarating.

But even while mocking her fear, there had been some part of him that registered the look of pure terror in the girl's eyes when he first picked her up, the way she trembled in his grasp as they grew closer to Thumper's snapping jaws. It was the same part that had caused him to stop when the blue ant stepped out of line and ordered him to leave her alone, the part that kept him from going forward until the gap between Dot and Thumper closed.

Hopper shook his head and focused again on the cloud. A single cloud that could mean the difference between sunny skies and a thunderstorm. Beside him, Molt waited for an answer.

Finally it came.

"I'll do whatever it takes to keep those ants in line."

Hopper looked again at the sleeping princess and felt an inner twinge at the sight of her damaged wing. His earlier actions may have caused some emotional scarring – a nightmare or two, maybe – but this had crossed a line he'd never intended to.

And the look on her face when she'd realized what happened…the way she'd wept until she couldn't anymore...Hopper couldn't get it out of his mind. He'd practically force-fed her the rest of the berry juice, partly to help with the pain but mostly because watching her sleep was much easier than watching her cry.

"My, isn't this an intriguing combination."

A cold sensation crept down Hopper's spine. The voice, smooth as silk and equally as sinister, came from behind. He drew Dot's sleeping form closer to his chest and shielded her with his two opposite arms before turning around.

Something was moving in the darkness, emerging from beneath the root Hopper had been resting against only moments before. It wasn't until it stepped into a patch of moonlight that he could see it was a spider. A big spider. Its thick body was the color of a shadow and its movements were slow and precise.

Hopper had seen only a handful of spiders like this in his lifetime. He wasn't an expert on the species, but he knew of at least one type of insect they preferred to have on the menu.

The spider's mouth curved into a smile below its gleaming eyes. "My apologies for startling you," he purred, reaching a long, hairy arm out in greeting. "The name's Wolf. And you are…?"

Hopper took a step backward, turning his body ever so slightly to the right as he did. Four of the Wolf's hands flew to his mouth as a look of mock apology came over him.

"Oh, I almost forgot about the little one. Mustn't wake a sleeping princess, hm?" He chuckled at the shock that must have been apparent on Hopper's face. "I've been listening to the two of you for some time now, and I was just so fascinated by what I heard that I had to come out and see it for myself. A grasshopper and a royal ant. How on Ant Island did that come to be? And, more importantly…"

With the arm that was still extended, Wolf pointed a crooked finger at the makeshift splint protruding from between Hopper's arms.

"How did that come to be?"

Hopper covered Dot's exposed wings with his hand and swallowed the feelings of guilt resurfacing. He knew one of the tactics spiders often used on their prey was distraction. The particularly sadistic ones loved to find their victim's weaknesses and exploit them for fun.

"What do you want?" he asked in a low voice.

The spider pouted. "My, he's a touchy one," he said, withdrawing his leg and taking eight half-steps backward. "I just want to know the story, that's all. I've lived around this tree long enough to know that your kind usually aren't around this time of year."

Wolf grinned darkly. "I've also been around long enough to know who she is, and I'm guessing from the little...accident that you're not family friends and this isn't a babysitting trip."

Hopper clenched his fists. There was something different about hearing the implication from someone else's mouth. "It's not what you think," he growled. "It's not even about her, it's about–"

His attempt at self-justification was interrupted by an exaggerated yawn. "Oh, I couldn't care less who or what it's about," Wolf said. "And I couldn't care less if that little tear was an accident or not."

Hopper relaxed his fists. "You said you wanted to hear the story."

The spider shrugged. "I lied. Stories are boring. Besides, I already know everything I need to know about this situation. Ants are incessant talkers, you know. They'll tell you their whole life's story if they think it'll bide them some time before becoming a meal."

Hopper suppressed the urge to shudder. "If you're here for a meal, haven't you had it yet?" he demanded. "What are we standing around talking for?"

He was well aware that the spider had been steadily advancing toward them during the entirety of their conversation. It was why he'd turned and started moving backwards in a slow semi-circle, growing ever so slowly closer to the root where they'd both started.

Wolf stopped and clapped two of his hands in delight. "Oh, so feisty! I love it when they have a kick to them."

Hopper didn't like the look that came into the spider's eyes.

"You see, my dear, I'm just not that hungry tonight. You look like someone who would put up a fight, and I don't feel like working for my food tonight." Wolf ran his tongue along his fangs as he fixed his eyes on Dot. "She, on the other hand, would make a perfect midnight snack."

Hopper froze mid-step.

"What?" he asked, stupidly.

All this time he'd been preparing to fight Wolf off at any moment, knowing that grasshoppers were a common part of his diet.

He hadn't been prepared for this.

Four pairs of eyes rolled.

"Oh, like you have room to judge," Wolf scoffed. "Look, if you think about it, this is the most humane way to get her off your hands. She's still sleeping off the berry juice, so she'll hardly even feel it. You can leave her in my care and go back to wherever it is you came from."

You could just go home, you know. Your dad isn't there.

That was what Dot had said to him earlier. In spite of everything he'd done until that moment, the kid still somehow believed Hopper wouldn't allow real harm to come to her.

But then he had. And he'd been the one who caused it.

Hopper could make a splint and numb the pain with berry juice, but he couldn't mend a broken wing. Only time and rest would do that. If the princess didn't get that, she would never fly again. Even if she did, there was a small chance the damage would be permanent. Would giving her over to Wolf now be an act of mercy?

There was a distant flash of heat lightning followed by a faint roll of thunder, the only remnants of the storm. Hopper guessed that it was close to midnight by now. Most of the predators he and the gang had to avoid during their flights to and from the island were asleep by now. It would be a good time to start the flight back to the sombrero.

A good time to get rid of the baggage. Pop's voice sounded strangely similar to his own. You want a last chance to leave the colony hurting? You're holding it in your arms.

Hopper looked up to see eight eyes glittering back at him. It was apparent that Wolf had no doubt which choice he was going to make. He was already reaching his arms out, waiting for Dot to be delivered into his hands.

You can leave her in my care and go back to wherever it is you came from.

Both the princess and the spider had invited him to go home. Only one did it out of a ridiculous belief that there was something good still inside of him.

Hopper slowly withdrew the arms that were covering Dot and looked down. She stirred at the sudden exposure to the cold and nestled deeper into the crook of his arm, then reached up to rest one tiny hand on his chest.

Hopper felt something come over him, something he hadn't felt since before his dad disappeared and his mother died. He tucked Dot beneath his arms again, then looked up at Wolf.

"I can go home," he said. "But I'm gonna get her home first."

Wolf smiled.

"As you wish," he replied, and then he sprang.

Hopper dove to the side. He felt the hairs on Wolf's leg brush against his ankle as the spider landed with a hiss, then spun around just in time to see him pounce again. He scrambled backwards, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process but somehow remaining upright and out of Wolf's reach.

And then his heel hit something slick and he was on his back in a puddle of blackberry juice, staring up at the sky. Wolf's dark face appeared, blotting the stars from his vision.

"The deal's still on the table," Wolf said. "But the longer we do this dance, the more likely she is to wake up before the meal, and that won't be a pleasant experience for anyone."

Something dripped onto Hopper's cheek and began to burn. He bit down hard on his lip.

Wolf's eyes flashed with glee. "Well, except for me."

"Go to hell."

Hopper knew what game they were playing. By this point Wolf could easily have snatched the ant from his grasp or devoured both of them if he wanted to, but he was the type of creature that preferred to play games with his food first.

What he didn't know was that grasshoppers could play games, too. As soon as Hopper hit the ground, he had felt beneath him until his fingers found something soft and slimy. Now he just had to wait for the right moment.

"Last chance, my friend," Wolf said, rising on his back legs so he towered above them. Is this what it felt like to be an ant? "You can leave the girl with me, move on with your life and start looking for your runaway gang members. I know for a fact that you're gonna need to replace a couple of them, anyway."

Replace?

Hopper could feel his poker face breaking as he realized the meaning behind Wolf's words.

"No," he breathed.

The spider's mouth twisted into a sickening smile.

Grief and fury battled inside of Hopper. His gang was a bunch of dolts, but they were his dolts. He might have casually offed one or two over the years to teach the rest a lesson, but that was his call to make. They were the closest thing he had to family. One of them was family.

Had Molt been Wolf's last meal?

Hopper swallowed the bile rising in his throat and closed his fingers around the secret weapon. Now this was personal.

Wolf was coming steadily closer, his fangs gleaming with venom. He cackled as another burning drop landed on Hopper's hand, the one that was shielding Dot.

"Which one should I start with, hm?" Wolf asked, licking his lips and giving one of Dot's antennae a sharp tug. The princess squirmed in her sleep.

It was time.

Hopper swung his arm up with a roar and smashed the rotten berry into the spider's eyes.

Wolf reared back with a shriek and clawed at his eyes. Hopper jumped up and began flying as fast as he could toward the opening beneath the root's arch. He didn't know where he was going, just that he had to get himself and Dot as far from here as possible. He would come back for vengeance once he got the kid to safety.

A sudden cry caused him to glance down. The splint attached to Dot's wing was jutting out at an odd angle, and the pain had woken her up. He shifted the arm holding her in an attempt to reposition it, then looked up just in time to see the water droplets suspended in mid-air.

"Oh, sh—"

He was interrupted mid-swear by a mouthful of web.

Chapter Text

Francis

“This is bad. Really, really, really, really bad.”

“Oh, is it? Because I was under the impression that this was actually a delightful turn of events.”

“Francis, I know sarcasm is your coping mechanism in stressful moments, but I really don’t appreciate the attitude right now.”

“Sorry. Force of habit.”

“You’re forgiven. So what do we do?”

“Okay. I’ve got an idea, but we’ve gotta move quickly. That spider looks ready to kill.”

“Alright, I’ll follow your lead.”

“Oooh! Whatever you guys are gonna do, can I help?” 

Hopper

Searing pain ripped through Hopper’s mouth as he peeled his tongue from the spiderweb. He thrashed against the invisible ropes holding him in midair and watched as moonlight danced along the threads, reflecting off the water droplets like hundreds of miniscule stars. Even as its victim, he had to admit the web was a work of art.

A beautiful death trap.

Hopper gazed through one of the openings between the strands. He was suspended over the start of the sea of clovers that stretched all the way to the edge of the island, where the landscape turned into a riverbed that was probably gushing with water now.

He could be flying over that riverbed now, heading for the safety and comfort of his sombrero. Maybe Molt was on his way there. Maybe he would wait for Hopper to join him, wondering as the days went on what was taking his older brother so long.

Or maybe he had already met the unfortunate end that was about to be Hopper’s. The same one that had allegedly met their dad after he abandoned them.

Like father, like son.

A faint whimper drew his attention downwards. Dot was stirring, her brows creased with pain and her forehead beaded with sweat. The crude splint was somehow still intact, but Hopper knew his amateur attempt at first aid could do nothing to soothe the pain of the tear in her wing stem. It could only prevent the damage from getting worse.

That’s what the berry had been for.

Hopper scanned her small form and noted with relief that the princess was safe from the web’s grasp. He’d seen the trap just in time to turn to the side before colliding with it, keeping Dot tucked safely in his arms.

Wolf’s grasp, however, was a different story. They were on the spider’s playing field now.

Hopper swiveled his head around, frantically assessing their situation while he still had time. Hypothetically he could let Dot go and attempt to save herself, but without working wings it was a long way down. Wolf was probably twice as fast as the little ant, anyway. In this moment, it seemed that the safest place she could be was with the grasshopper who’d kidnapped her.

Would the irony never end?

“Hopper? Where are we?”

Hopper looked down to see Dot blinking up at him and silently cursed. She’d somehow slept soundly through the last ten minutes of chaos, then chose the worst possible moment to regain consciousness.

Dot opened her mouth and ran her tongue over her lips, which were tinged dark blue. She had crumbs of sleep in the corners of her eyes, which seemed to be having trouble focusing.

He had a sudden and unwelcome memory of Molt as a child, stumbling into Hopper’s bedroom in the middle of the night after waking up from a bad dream. Their mom was asleep and their dad was away on his annual trip to Ant Island, so Molt had sought out his big brother for comfort.

Hopper was pretty sure he’d told him to shut up and go back to bed.

He shut his eyes and shook his head to clear the sight of Molt’s crestfallen face from his mind, then returned his attention to the antling.

“Finally wake up from your beauty sleep, huh?”

Dot gave him an indignant scowl. “I don’t even like blackberries.”

He smirked. “Sorry. Next time I’ll try to find a raspberry.”

She rolled her eyes, stubbornly unamused. If it wasn’t for the direness of their situation, Hopper would have laughed. Nothing could rattle this kid.

He realized he’d had the thought too soon when Dot’s eyes suddenly widened, her pupils shrinking into pinpricks of terror, as the web beneath them began to tremble. Hopper craned his neck upward, already knowing what he would see.

The source of Dot’s fear was perched on the highest point of the root’s arch, plucking lazily at the threads of silk below him. His manic smile glinted like the sharp edge of a stone.

“Isn’t this just poetic?” Wolf exclaimed, tiptoeing two of his fingers along one of the strands. Hopper could feel its vibrations rippling through him. “My dinner tries to run away, and the universe delivers it back to me on someone else’s silver platter.”

Hopper stared at the spider incredulously. “This isn’t yours?”

Wolf sighed. “Alas. Much as I’d like to take credit for it, I’ve never spun one of these in my life. I watched from my hole while a black widow made it a couple hours ago and just left it. Can you believe that?”

Dot piped up, her voice barely audible to Hopper’s antennae. “Did you say a black widow made this?”

The spider’s eyes glittered. “Yes, and a rather lovely one at that. Of course, I stayed out of her way since the females are known to be cannibals, but still. You have to admire her handiwork.”

Hopper glanced down and saw what little color was left in the ant’s face drain away.

“Rosie,” she whispered.

He furrowed his brow. “How do you know…”

Oh.

One of the clowns that hung around with Flik and his friends was a black widow. Had she spun this? Was it part of a trap set for him?

Hopper almost had to laugh at the sheer cruelty of the irony. If the theory was true, then the thing that was made to save the princess was ultimately going to be what killed her. What killed both of them.

His attention snapped upward again at the sound of Wolf’s sickeningly sweet voice.

“My dear, I don’t believe we’ve officially met,” the spider crooned, extending one of his hands as though offering it to Dot to shake. Hopper fantasized about tearing the arm from his body. All eight of them. “I was just getting to know your friend here while you were napping.”

“He’s not my friend,” Dot snapped. The quiver in her voice was almost imperceptible, and an odd sense of pride swelled in Hopper’s chest. Even a murderous spider couldn’t quell the kid’s feistiness.

“Well, I figured as much when I saw your little cast there,” Wolf said, shaking his head with mock sympathy. “You poor thing. They look new, too. I certainly hope the damage isn’t permanent. What’s a royal ant without her wings?”

The fire left Dot’s eyes as quickly as it had come, replaced by a hollow sadness that looked painfully out of place on her. It pierced Hopper to know he was the cause of it.

Wolf was now creeping along the underside of the root, growing steadily closer to the part where his prey was caught. His eyes burned red from Hopper’s berry assault, making him appear even more deranged than he already did.

“I know it hurts, darling. Would you like me to help make the pain go away?” He opened his mouth in a grin that showed pincers gleaming with venom. “In fact, after the first little pinch you won’t feel anything at all.”

Hopper felt Dot begin to tremble. He dared to turn his gaze away from Wolf and saw her staring up at him through wide blue eyes that shimmered with tears.

“Hopper,” she whispered, reaching up to wrap her small hand around the thumb of the hand hovering over her. His mind catapulted back to when she’d done the same thing minutes — or was it hours? — before, insisting that the insect dangling her in front of her friends and threatening to tear out her wings could choose to go home. Could choose to be good. “I don’t want to die.”

Something stirred inside of him at the sight of the princess letting her mask of bravery slip, revealing the frightened and fragile child beneath it. Despite Dot’s firm assertion moments ago that he wasn’t her friend, Hopper could no longer deny that he’d developed a fondness for the ant girl over the course of their time together, a soft spot as tender as a bruise on a peach. It reminded him again of the way he felt toward Molt. The feeling may have been buried deep beneath layers of aggravation and annoyance, but it was there: a quiet, steady pulse of affection for his little brother.

Even though everything inside of him fought to remain indifferent — even hostile — towards everyone around him, these two bugs somehow managed to wriggle their way into the part of Hopper that still cared for something beyond his own survival. The part he thought had died with his mother.

He’d failed at protecting his mom from the bird, he’d probably failed at protecting Molt from Wolf, and he was almost certainly going to fail at protecting Dot from the fate that befell his brother.

But damn if he wasn’t going to die trying.

Hopper drew Dot’s shaking form closer, then pinned Wolf with the stare that had once made both ants and grasshoppers wither with fear.

“Look, I don’t care what you do with me,” he said, meaning it. Out of the corner of his good eye he saw Dot’s antennae twitch.

“But she has a family. A mom, a sister, a…a friend…”

Hopper didn’t fully understand the relationship between Dot and Flik, but he’d seen enough to know they were family to each other as much as he and his brother were.

“Anyway, there are bugs who are going to care if she doesn’t come back. Let her go home to them, and you can have me as your main course. No one’s going to miss me.”

Something small and warm pressed against his chest. Hopper looked down to see Dot’s hand resting just beneath his chin, her fingers splayed out like a tiny purple flower. She was staring up at him with sadness in her eyes again, but this time it was directed towards him.

“That’s not true,” she whispered.

Hopper’s breath caught in his throat. He swallowed hard, then channeled every molecule of his willpower into fighting the tears that were climbing up from somewhere deep inside. He would not cry in front of the princess, and he absolutely would not cry in front of the spider about to make him his meal.

“Thanks, kid,” Hopper managed to mutter. After a beat he moved his free hand to cover hers, his gaze fixed elsewhere as he curled his fingers around that little flower. He realized with a twinge that her whole hand fit within his palm.

Clap, clap, clap.

Hopper glared up at Wolf, who was using two of his hands to give them a mockingly slow round of applause and another to wipe fake tears from his eyes.

“Oh, what a touching moment,” he sighed, putting a fourth hand over his heart. “Who would have thought that an ant and a grasshopper could reconcile their differences? I’m inspired. Truly.”

The red in Wolf’s eyes faded away as it was overtaken by black. Hungry, heartless black. He reached one leg forward, then another, and another, each creeping step bringing him slowly closer to where Hopper was caught.

“I’m also starving,” he said, drawing out the s like a hiss. Thick beads of saliva oozed from the corners of his mouth. “Let’s see…I think I’ll start with my appetizer. Is it true that royal blood tastes sweeter?”

Dot clamped her hand over her mouth, muffling a sob. Hopper pulled her as close to his chest as the web would allow him, then bared his teeth at the approaching spider.

“Leave her alone,” he snarled.

Wolf grinned. “Interesting choice of words.”

Hopper’s heart sank as he realized the irony of what he’d just said. It was the same phrase Flik had used the first time he’d stood up to Hopper for Dot, the one Dot had repeated when she stood between Hopper and her rebel friend, the one Atta had pleaded as Hopper dangled Dot over her head.

If he’d listened to Flik the first time — if he’d left Dot, and the whole ant colony, alone — he wouldn’t be in this situation.

She wouldn’t be in this situation.

But he didn’t. And so here he was, caught in a web of regret, about to suffer the same fate as the father he’d never wanted to be like.

Unlike you, Dad, I’m taking a little girl down with me. Aren’t you proud?

He was dragged back to the present by the sound of sniffling. Dot had curled herself into a fetal position, squeezing her eyes shut and trembling so hard he could feel it in his sternum. Two silvery lines streaked from the corners of her eyes to the curve of her chin.

Hopper resisted the strange compulsion to brush away her tears. Instead bent his head as close to hers as he could get, wincing as he felt the web’s sharp pull on the back of his skull.

“Shhh. It’s gonna be alright, kid,” he murmured, knowing each word he spoke to her was a kind lie. “Just keep your eyes closed, okay? Pretend like you’re back at the anthill, about to go to sleep.”

Dot cracked one eye open and squinted up at him.

“I’m not tired anymore,” she said. A dimple appeared in one of her cheeks. “Thanks to you.”

Hopper couldn’t help but grin. Of course the princess’s last remark would be punctuated with sass.

The web began to shake again. Hopper looked up to see that Wolf was less than an inch away from them now, his eyes glistening with hunger and a perverse sense of pleasure. Dot whimpered and hid her eyes beneath her hands, turning her face toward his chest.

Hopper tore his gaze away from the spider and looked around at his surroundings, partly as a desperate attempt to see if there was any way out of this situation but mostly just to take in the sight of Ant Island one last time. The massive tree loomed before him, its empty branches silhouetted against an inky blue sky.

After the chaos of the last several hours, there was an eerie stillness in the island air. It seemed to know that the insect who had terrorized its inhabitants for the last several years was about to meet a just end.

Hopper took the advice he’d given Dot and closed his eyes, waiting for the sting of the spider’s fangs. He hoped for Dot’s sake that Wolf would make the process quick, but from what he’d experienced of him so far, that seemed like wishful thinking.

So instead he let his mind wander to a memory from childhood that he’d buried long ago. It was one of the evenings when his dad was away on business — Hopper’s favorite evenings — and him and Molt were snuggled against their mother while she read them a bedtime story.

She came to a suspenseful part in the book, and Molt yelped and dove behind her.

“Baby,” Hopper sneered at his brother.

He immediately regretted it when his mother turned to look at him. Instead of anger, her warm brown eyes held disappointment.

“Hopper,” she said softly. “You know better than that.”

Hopper looked down as he kneaded his fingers together, hating that he could feel himself beginning to blush. “Sorry, Ma,” he muttered through the lump in his throat.

Hopper felt a finger beneath his chin and reluctantly lifted his head to meet his mother’s gaze. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Molt peering out at him from behind their mother’s back. Hopper glared at him, and Molt ducked beneath her wings.

“Hopper, look at me.”

Unlike when Dad told him to do something, Hopper wasn’t afraid of what his mother would do to him if he didn’t obey. It was one of the things about her that made him want to do what she told him.

Ma let go of Hopper’s chin and gently cupped her hands around his face, staring at him for a moment as though searching for something. She then took her thumb and pressed it against a spot just above his right eye.

Hopper instinctively flinched away from her, filled with a sudden sense of panic. The place his mother had touched was the same place he’d been attacked a few months ago, when he and his friends accidentally stumbled into a bird’s nest. Dad said he was lucky to be alive, but Hopper didn’t feel lucky.

He felt broken.

The wound itself didn’t hurt anymore, but Hopper still felt a stab of pain every time he saw his reflection in the pond outside their home. He still cowered in fear whenever he heard a distant chirp or saw a winged shadow pass over the sombrero. He still wasn’t used to seeing half of the world shrouded in fog.

Ma waited patiently as Hopper composed himself. Once his breathing slowed to a normal rhythm, she leaned forward and reached out again, her hand posing the silent question. Hopper took a shuddery breath, then nodded and closed his eyes.

This time he didn’t move away as his mother traced her thumb over his scar, the one he knew would mark him for the rest of his life. Her touch was so delicate, so unlike the creature that had given it to him. Unlike most of the creatures he encountered on a daily basis, his dad included.

Hopper’s antennae twitched as Ma began to speak, so quietly he didn’t even think his brother could hear her.

“I know you think that having this means you have to show everyone how tough you are now,” she said, bringing her thumb to rest in the crease just beneath his eye where the scar ended. “But I want you to know that you have nothing to prove to me. You, my son, are tough, but inside you also have the softest heart. And I know you don’t believe it, but that is a good thing.”

Her hand left his face. Hopper opened his eyes, noticing that his vision was blurrier than usual. He blinked and it became clear. Ma smiled and reached out to wipe something from his cheek.

“Don’t let the world make that heart of yours hard,” she whispered.

-

Hopper felt a tickling sensation along the side of his face and realized, with a faint sense of surprise, that he was crying.

And then he heard a scream.