John Jr was up to something.

Vanessa knew, because his bedroom door was locked. This was not something that had ever happened before. It was was also the first time that, to her mostly limited knowledge, John Jr had ever kept something secret from her.

Privacy had never really existed in their home. There wasn't enough room in their little apartment for a wealth of that most coveted of privileges. Faced now with John Jr's decision to distance himself from them, Vanessa was, somehow, intrigued and frustrated all at once. There was nothing in her life that she did not share with her little brother, and it hurt her a little bit to know that, after everything they had been through together, John Jr wouldn't trust her with this. Whatever it was.

"John Jr?" she called from the hallway, where she stood with her ear pressed up against the smooth grain, and knocked half-heartedly on the doorframe. "What're you doing?"

"Nothing!" came John Jr's boyish voice from the other side. He sounded confused. "Why?"

"…the door's locked?" Vanessa tugged absently on the cuff of her sweater. Golden eyes shone like lit candles on the door handle. Biting her lip, wondering why his confidence in her had faded to this, she willed it to turn.

Maybe she was wrong. Maybe John Jr was just wrapping her Christmas present, or something. He wasn’t hiding anything from her. No-- of course he wasn’t. Not anything that she wouldn’t get to tear open on Christmas morning.

"Oh, I know," John Jr sounded unconcerned. "That's because I locked it."

"What for?” It was rare for Vanessa to sound so earnest. But earnest she sounded.

John Jr didn’t answer. Vanessa sighed and slumped against the wall.

“Jeopardy’s on in five. Are you gonna come watch?”

“No,” he said, “...I don’t think so.”

“Come on,” she urged, “dad’s going to be home soon, and then we can make hot chocolate and decorate the Christmas tree. I’ll even let you put the star on the top!”

“Maybe later!” said the boy, “I’ll be... finished in a couple of hours.”

“What are you talking about? Finished what?” Wrapping presents just right could be a bit of a challenge, but John Jr was a clever boy. He wouldn’t have needed more than a couple of minutes.

Vanessa thought she heard his window open, and then close.

But that didn’t make any sense. It was cold outside. Destiny City was covered in a blanket of sparkling white snow. All of the windows in their apartment, including the balcony doors, were supposedly frozen shut. She scowled, eyebrows knitting together in suspicion, and rattled the doorknob.

“John Jr! What was that noise?” Vanessa called, and pressed her ear up against the door, “You know you’re not supposed to be opening the windows when its that cold outside! Let me in?”

Except for the gentle sound of Vanessa’s own breathing, there was silence.

“I said open the door!”

There was more silence. Somewhere in the background, a relatively well known theme song started to play over the television speakers. It filled up the apartment.

“I’m not going to ask again!”

Not that she’d been asking at all.

This time, when John Jr failed to respond, Vanessa swore softly under her breath and stomped down the hall to her own bedroom. She returned a moment later with a bobby pin, used it to pick the lock the way Hairy Pete had taught her to, and pushed the door open with her shoulder.

Except for the books that were piled up substantially in every corner, John Jr’s bedroom was like every typical little boy’s. The bed was unmade. Super hero posters hung from the wall. On the desk, beside the bed, a Buzz Lightyear alarm clock blinked up at Vanessa with the wrong time.

There was no sign of the boy who lived there.

Vanessa’s eyebrows flew up into her hairline. She chewed thoughtfully on the inside of her cheek, and stomped over to the window-- which had been very obviously unstuck and was, to her utmost alarm, unlocked. There was a fire escape on the outside. For this reason, it was always locked fast.

She opened it with a mighty heave, shivered when a cruel gust of icy wind swept inside, and peered into the alley. It was early in the evening, but very dark. In the light of a streetlamp, barely visible, there twinkled a lonely set of small footprints.

There was no doubt in Vanessa's mind who they belonged to.