an alternate ending where everyone is alive lol

There were hundreds of glossy photos spread out across Cleo's kitchen table.

A mix of black and white, faded grey, starkly monotone, and brightly colored ones lay in messy piles all over the wooden surface. Cleo was attempting to sort them into families but it was a slow endeavor. Even with Nia, Kaya, Izzy, and Patrick helping, the young teenagers all kept getting distracted. Not because the photos weren't interesting, actually the opposite.

"Woah," Kaya's eyes widened as she ogled at a picture that she'd picked up.

"What?" Cleo barely glanced up from her notebook where she was logging all the photos. Her bright blue eyes flicked back and forth between the image she had and her furious scribbling pencil.

"Why is your Dad low key hot in this one?" Kaya asked.

"What?" Patrick scrunched up his nose at the 14 year-old.

"Jesus Kaya," Cleo snatched the photo out of her best friend's hand but then her eyes got big too. "Oh my god."

Nia came back from the kitchen with her bowl cereal. "Kaya Andrews, you are a terrible person."

"Look!" Kaya furiously beckoned her over to the photo they were staring at.

"It's not a nude is it," Nia cringed. "I warned y'all that we might find one--"

"Just get over here," Kaya grabbed her sleeve and yanked the 15 year-old over, spilling some of the milk out of Nia's bowl.

Nia's dark brown eyes found the black and white picture in Cleo's hand and her mouth dropped a little. "Oh."

"Let me see," Izzy stood up from the other side of the table and hurried around to look. Her blue eyes also went wide when she saw the subject matter.

In the photo was a 20-something year-old Axel. He was leaning his back against the edge of a balcony, hands on either side of the black railing and a burning cigarette between two of his fingers. His head was tilted back, white smoke curling out of his mouth. The photo was black and white, vertical and taken from straight on, Axel perfectly centered, with his whole body in the picture.

And he was shirtless.

"Beeindruckend," Nia murmured.

"That's your Dad!" Izzy exclaimed. "What the hell --that's your Dad!"

Patrick peaked his head around and glanced at it too. "He looks a little like Oliver."

"Please, Ollie wishes he looks like that," Kaya rolled her eyes.

"I--I don't know what to say," Cleo stammered.

Patrick scratched the side of his head, causing the small dark curls to bounce against his nails. "When did your Mum take this?" The Irish boy asked.

"How do you know it was her Mom?" Kaya smiled devilishly.

"Yeah, because guys help their guy friends take shirtless pictures," Nia rolled her eyes.

"I have no idea when it was but we are not looking at it ever again," Cleo quickly shoved the photo to the bottom of one of the piles that were scattered all over the table.

Nia sat down on the other side from Kaya and Cleo and started eating her cereal, flicking through the collection of photos of her Dads together. Patrick stacked the pile he had just made and neatly placed it in row with his others, and then grabbed another envelope of photos from the shoebox in the center of the table. Izzy sat back down and wiped her cheez-it-stained fingers on her jeans before sorting more photos too.

Kaya sat in still silence for a while, which felt weird since she always seemed to be talking or moving. She twisted a stray strand of raven-dark hair that curled out of her ponytail around her finger. The only sound to be heard was Cleo's pencil making records of the pictures and Nia's content crunching of Cheerios.

"I can't believe this," Kaya finally whispered.

"If you're turned on by my Dad then you can get the hell out of my house," Cleo glared at her.

"No," Kaya shook her head. "I'm just shocked--like--I--I'm just amazed. Not at your Dad like that I just meant... your parents did that. I don't know if that was on a mission or just a trip or something but that situation happened and I just... wow."

After all their father's had told them about their previous employment, Cleo, Kaya, Patrick, Nia, and Izzy had been furiously trying to find any evidence of their parent's secret past. The two other eldest, Oliver and Eldin, knew too but the rest of everyone's younger brothers and sisters didn't. Finding out that your Dad, or in Nia, Cleo, and Oliver's case, that both of your parents used to be top secret government spies, tends to ignite intrigue into most 14 and 15 year-olds. Especially when you find out by accident via stumbling upon a box of different passports, guns, computer chips, burner phones, and knives. Kaya was a very curious little girl, constantly investigating and spewing questions and hypotheses, and Harrison could only lie for so long before he finally gave up and told her, and even he couldn't come up with a quick and believable lie to hide such a box of dangerous items. After that, the whole ex-agent team decided to tell their oldest kids.

"Yeah I guess it is pretty weird," Cleo shivered at the thought of her parents even taking that photo.

"If there's any of my Dad like that I am out," Izzy made a slicing motion with her hand.

"Me too," Nia chimed in. "I've never seen Dad without a shirt on before. Dadda says it's because he has a lot of scars and he doesn't want to scare me."

"Sometimes my dad boxes without his shirt on and my mom goes nuts about it," Kaya rolled her eyes and started looking through the pile of photos of her parents that Cleo had made. "It's so gross. But he has a couple of weird-looking burned marks and stuff."

"Your Dad's hands weird me out a little sometimes," Patrick said quietly.

"Your Dad literally has three fingers on one hand," Izzy reminded him.

"Yes, but the fingers he does have are whole and unburned. Normal."

"They take me by surprise too sometimes," Kaya admitted. "Every once in a while when I see the inside of his hands and all the burns and stuff I get a little woozy. He says it was worth it though for saving Uncle Axel's life. Oh but what's really bad is when girls at the boxing ring flirt with him." She shivered and went back to looking at the photos.

"People do that with my Dad at school," Nia frowned, her dark skin wrinkling together as she imagined it. "It's gross. Dadda thinks it's funny though because sometimes they don't know he's gay and so he gets to make a show of kissing him."

"Like a trophy husband," Patrick laughed.

"I'm sure Dadda would argue that he's the trophy husband," Nia smiled.

Izzy crunched on her cheez-its. "My Mum has cooler ones from being a cop than my Dad does from being a bloody spy agent, it's weird."

"My Dad has this one super weird scar that curves over his left shoulder. It's been there forever and it makes me wonder how he got it." Cleo said, continuing to meticulously file through the photos that were on her table.

"What about your Mum?" Patrick prompted.

Cleo looked up from her envelope of pictures with a raised light brown eyebrow.

"No no not like that!" Patrick held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I just meant that she was an agent too so I figured she'd also have scars. And come on," he tilted his head with a smile, "you know I'm not into that."

"Do you want to see the shirtless pic of Uncle Axel again then?" Kaya teased him.

Patrick glared at her.

"Why are we talking about our parents shirtless?" Nia shifted uncomfortably.

"Because someone can't keep their mutated thoughts to herself," Cleo glared at her friend beside her.

"Moving on," Kaya dismissed lightly. "Is everyone else still outside?"

Suddenly the back door slammed open with a bang and everyone at the table exchanged knowing annoyed looks.

"Speak of the devils," Kaya rolled her eyes as the rest of their families tumbled into the kitchen in a loud buzz of yelling and sweating.

"Jokes on you, we are delightful," Oliver squinted at her playfully.

"Are you guys done yet?" Elsu poked her sister in the side. "We wanna play capture the flag at the park and we need more people."

Kaya pushed her youngest sister away from her. "No, we're not done yet."

"We aren't even close to being done yet," Patrick sighed.

"Then let's play!" Oscar and Henry tugged him out of his seat and pulled him towards the back door again. With a twin on each arm Patrick let himself get yanked away by his younger brothers.

Elden glanced eagerly at Izzy. "Please come play with us? You are a really fast runner."

Like usual the English girl remained blissfully unaware of Elden's infatuation with her. "I haven't finished my cheez-its yet," she reminded him.

"Oh. Maybe when you are done?" The Honduran tried again.

Eli scowled at him. "You heard her, she has to finish her snack." He tugged Elden outside again and away from his big sister.

"You guys are boring," Catori rolled her eyes and stalked off out the door. Kaya stuck her tongue out at her other younger sister's back as she left to go outside again.

Haniel came up behind Nia. "Cuanto tiempo?" The 10 year-old pointed to the pictures. Nia was the only one who could speak an acceptable amount of Spanish in the group, thanks to her Dad teaching her the foundations of various languages.

"No lo sé," Nia shrugged. "Tal vez una hora, tal vez una semana."

"Una semana?!" The Honduran boy exclaimed.

Nia laughed. "Hay muchas fotos."

Haniel sighed defeatedly and also trudged back outside to continue playing whatever game they had been. Elsu skipped out after him, her brown hair the same color as her two sisters streaming out behind her.

"What is so interesting about old pictures anyway?" Oliver plucked the one Kaya had in her hand and studied it. "This is literally just a beach."

Kaya elbowed him in the gut and got the picture back. "You want interesting?" She grabbed the picture of Axel out from under the pile Cleo had stuffed it under and shoved it into the 14 year-old's hands. "Check it."

"What the fuck?" Oliver murmured as his hazel eyes took in the photo. "What the fuck --that's Dad!" He stared wide-eyed at Cleo.

"Freaky, I know," his twin replied.

Oliver turned back to the picture. "Woah."

"He has better abs than you ever will," Kaya snickered.

Before Oliver could pull her hair and start a war, Patrick limped back into the kitchen, rubbing his wrists where his brother's had gotten a hold of him. "Ah yes, I take it you showed him the shirtless pic?"

"He has a right to see what he won't live up to," Kaya grinned.

"Shut up, I'm cute," Oliver ruffled his brown hair. "Right Patty?"

"7," the Irish boy stole a cheez-it from Izzy's bowl.

"Out of 10?"

"Sure," Patrick grinned.

"Are there any other pictures like this?" Oliver tossed the picture down on the table. He reached for a pile but Nia lightly smacked his hand away.

"No!" The 15 year-old exclaimed. "Do not mess up the system! It's a delicate balance!"

Oliver raised his hands in innocence. "Okay, okay, damn."

"There's some of Mom with you as a baby," Cleo set down her pencil and picked up a small pile of pictures and handed them to her brother. Oliver accepted them and started looking through them silently. His hazel eyes, an iconic swirl of emerald and coffee, slowly scanned the glossy sheen of each photograph. A smile curved up his lips as he looked at the frozen memories. Adira grinning at the camera holding him as a toddler, his small pudgy arms excitedly flapping in the air.

"Baby pictures have got to be the most embarrassing thing ever," Kaya commented.

"At least you guys have baby pictures," Patrick said quietly, glancing at Nia.

Nia sighed. "It's okay guys, don't feel bad for me. I came from the middle of nowhere in Mozambique, at least I ended up with a family that loves me."

"Awww Cleo look at this one!" Izzy showed her friend the photo she had in her hands. Blitz was sitting in an armchair, Adira draped across his lap. He looked tired and was scowling and flipping off the camera, while Adira was grinning and making a heart shape with her hands at the camera.

"Cute," Cleo smiled.

"Aw, this one's good too," Nia flipped around a picture of Adira and Lautaro sitting together in the back of a pick up truck. Lucky was perched on the roof of it with his hands stretched out in the air. It looked like they were in the middle of nowhere and were perfectly happy to be there.

"Oh Patty here's your Dad holding Uncle Quinn like a baby," Cleo laughed. She handed him the photo of Cal looking confused yet amused at Quinn who had somehow found his way into his arms.

"Ummm, Nia," Patrick showed her a picture of James in a cowboy hat throwing a peace sign at the camera. Owen was next to him, also wearing a cowboy hat, but looking very uncomfortable and mad.

Nia burst out laughing. "Oh my god someone must have paid Dad to wear that!"

"Aww look it's Elden looking at Haniel as a baby," Izzy showed everyone the picture.

"You know he likes you right?" Kaya said.

"Who?"

"Elden."

"What?" Izzy's fair skin blushed. "No he doesn't."

"Darling," Patrick tilted his head. "Come on."

"What?"

"He's nuts about you Iz," Oliver rolled his eyes and went back to his pictures.

"No he's not, what are you guys talking about?"

"Whenever they visit he's always right next to you. He asks you if you want to do things and if you want anything to eat," Nia said with a smile. "It's kinda cute."

"It's kinda pathetic," Kaya muttered.

"Says you," Oliver snickered.

"Oh get fucked Ollie."

"Oh my god. Guys look at this," Cleo pulled a small USB out from one of the packets of photos.

"Yes!" Kaya snatched it out of Cleo's hand and ran upstairs.

"Kaya wait what if it's weird stuff?!" Cleo called after her.

"What if it's not?" She shouted back.

"What could it be if not what we think it is?" Nia groaned.

"If I see my parents having sex on tape I will bleach my eyes," Oliver promised.

"Why would they make a sex tape?" Izzy asked.

"Why not?"

"Because that's disgusting."

"What if it's like a birthing video or something?"

"Oliver Lawrence I am not related to you," Cleo covered her eyes.

"Come on let's go find out." Patrick stood up from the table and went upstairs to the desktop computer Kaya had sprinted to. Everyone followed, including Nia reluctantly.

"What if it's a vlog!" Kaya exclaimed excitedly when they all came into the office. The brown-haired girl was sitting in the desk chair, enthusiasm bright in her dark brown eyes. She had stuck the USB in one of the ports of the computer and everyone watched a drive icon pop up on the desktop screen.

"Did they even have vlogs back then?" Izzy asked.

"All our parents are in their 30s to 40s, they're not ancient."

Kaya hovered the mouse of the icon. "Why is it named Saltine?"

"Maybe it's code."

"Maybe someone was feeling snackish when they named it."

"Maybe it's a saltine documentary."

"Maybe they went on a mission to investigate saltines."

"Maybe it's a metaphor."

"What could saltine possibly be a metaphor for?"

"Why would they go on a mission to investigate saltines?!"

"Guess we're gonna find out," Kaya double clicked 'saltine' and the kids all prepared themselves for the worst. The mouse turned into the rainbow spinning thing for a heart-stopping second before a video screen was launched and started playing.

It was someone's feet walking down a carpeted hallway. They were wearing black army boots and faint snickering could be heard from behind the camera. Suddenly it leveled and lunged up to the right. "Exposed!" Someone yelled in an English accent.

The camera now had Owen and James in frame. They were sitting beside each other on a couch in a room that looked kind of like a living room, Owen with his arm draped casually around James' shoulders and James with his good knee bent in Owen's lap.

Nia pointed with a gasp. "Those are my Dad's!"

"Why is Uncle Owen's hair brown?" Cleo asked, squinting at the stark difference then what was normal for the German.

"Maybe he dyed it for a disguise or something."

"Do spies really do that?"

"Can we help you Ackley?" Owen asked dully in the camera footage.

The camera moved forward as Blitz came further into the room and stopped a few feet from the couch. "Damnit, I was hoping you guys would be doing stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Dirty shit or something, I dunno."

"Your Dad's a perv Izzy," Kaya commented.

"Why the hell would you want that on video?" James raised his red eyebrows.

Owen extended a leg and kicked Blitz in the shin and the camera wobbled.

"Ow!"

"You're twisted Ackley."

"Not for that reason, I just wanted blackmail," came Blitz's voice. "For the next time I want some of the good whiskey. Hoffmann I know you know where it is in Zach's office. Besides, I found Deera's camera and this is fun bonus footage. I feel like those YouTubers that Jinx shows us."

"This is a rec room, made for foosball and drinking," James explained. "And come on. We're not Harrison, we don't get it on in communal spaces."

"Oh god," Kaya gulped.

"What would you have done if we had been making out in here or something?" James asked.

"Filmed it."

"You wouldn't get the chance," Owen glared at him behind the camera.

"I'll come back later then," Blitz suggested. "Or at lunch in tech room seven since I know you guys like to get each other off in--"

Suddenly Owen leapt to his feet and Blitz immediately bolted from the room. The camera started swinging and all that could be heard was Blitz running and some German swears.

"What did he say?" Kaya asked Nia.

The 15 year-old was suddenly looking sick. "Um. You don't want to know."

The computer screen went black for a second before a new video popped up, this one focused in a room similar to the one on the previous video. Someone was standing holding the camera, focusing down on Axel, Harrison and Quinn sitting on a couch.

"Ayyyy my boy is back from seeing his giiiirlfriend," Axel taunted.

"Shut up!" Harrison snapped.

"Awww Harry you're blushing!" Adira's playful coo was heard behind the camera.

"Fuck off all of you!" Harrison crossed his arms tightly across his chest. An embarrassing pink was spreading across his cheeks.

"I bet y'all finally did it," Quinn snickered.

"Oh no no no no," Kaya slowly covered her ears.

Harrison socked the Iraqi in the gut.

"Hmmm I don't know," Axel studied his best friend carefully. "If so he would be a lot more fired up. All that testosterone raging after finally getting fucked for the first time in months."

Harrison gave his best friend a murderous look. "I am going to kill you."