"Get back!"

He pulled her away and pushed her to the ground, landing on top of her.

"Lovely," he said. She looked into his beautiful amber eyes and blushed, "Y-y-you don't have to do that," she whispered.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Be sarcastic. Say things like lovely. You saved my life. Th-thank you."

"My duty," Ian Kabra replied as he brushed his lips against hers.

A harsh alarm broke the dream, followed by an annoying "Amy! Get your butt downstairs already! I'm hungry!" Grumbling, Amy Cahill got up and dragged herself to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror and stared at her crappy appearance; with a sigh she slipped into the shower and as the warm water caressed her body, she felt the remains of last night's dream dissipate down the drain.

Fifteen minutes later she walked into the kitchen where 13 year old Dan sat at the kitchen table holding his knife and fork like Wile E. Coyote. "Finally! I'm starving! You kitchen me eat pancakes now!"

She raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry? I don't think I understood, you know I don't speak dweeb. Now get outta here and let me work! Uhhh!"

Dan scooted out of the kitchen, probably to watch TV as Amy started making breakfast. Making breakfast had become part of her daily routine just as much as making lunch and dinner as they'd discovered early on that Uncle Fiske's cooking left a lot to desire since he'd spent most of his life eating at restaurants or heating things up in the microwave. Amy had always liked cooking so she'd quickly volunteered to cook and had had Nelly teach her a few things; the rest as they say is history.

Two hours later, she curled up in bed with a mug of Grace's special hot chocolate and a good book. She sighed content as she got ready for a peaceful Sunday winter morning; just as she was about to open the book she frowned knowing that there was something missing. Right on cue, Saladin bounded into her room and onto her bed purring; smiling Amy rubbed his belly and picked up her book again, ready to delve into its unsolved mysteries. It wasn't meant to be.

CRASH!

She jumped out of bed and ran out of her room. Leaning over the banister she saw the crime that had taken place: Dan, Atticus Rosenbloom and the remains of a beautiful Chinese Qing dynasty vase.

"DANIEL ARTHUR CAHILL! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?"

"Uh, hey sis," Dan said sheepishly, "We're just um doing spring cleaning!" he finished brightly.

"Bad move," Atticus muttered to him as Amy's eyes narrowed, her shoulders stiffened and she seemed to increase in height. The boys shrank away from her anger but at the last second she seemed to calm down.

"Brother dearest."

"Oh boy, we're doomed," Dan whispered to Atticus who nodded wide eyed.

"Do you understand what you just did?" she asked sweetly.

"Uh, we broke a very pretty Wing dynasty..."

"Qing" Atticus muttered.

"Shut up," he hissed. "Qing dynasty vase"

Amy nodded, "And do you know how rare, expensive and hard to get those vases are, Daniel dear?"

"Uh, I take it you can't buy at Wal-Mart."

"NO YOU CAN'T BUY IT AT WALMART YOU IDIOT! THAT WAS ONE OF THE REMAINING ARTIFACTS OF A DEAD DYNASTY OF ONE OF THE MOST CULTURALY RICH COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD! AND YOU, YOU DECIDE TO THROW IT AROUND LIKE A PIECE OF CHEAP PLASTIC!? YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

The boys gulped as she descended the staircase like a goddess of fury and revenge. But mercy seemed to be on the boys' side as Fiske Cahill walked out of his office, clearly annoyed by all the yelling, "What is going on?!"

"Oh, I don't know," Amy replied with a sweetly sarcastic voice as the boys quickly took refuge behind a bewildered Fiske. "I'm just kind of angry because my little brother and his little friend decided to start tossing a Qing dynasty vase across the living room with THAT as a result!" she snapped pointing at the remains of the vase.

Fiske turned around slowly and the boys gulped. "Boys, what is the meaning of this?" he asked calmly.

"We were doing spring cleaning?" Dan asked tentatively.

"It's not even spring yet!" Amy screamed at him still fuming.

"Amy, please," Fiske said calmly, "Perhaps it would be better if you went back up to your room and forgot about this incident. Atticus, please call your brother so he can come and pick him up and Dan…" he said turning around to face his nervous nephew, "I'd like you in my office please."

Dan glanced from Atticus who was wide eyed to a triumphant yet really pissed Amy to a stern Fiske and quickly hurried into Fiske's office. Amy turned on her heal and marched upstairs. "Now perhaps I'll be able to start that book," she muttered. Just as she sat down, she heard an explosion coming from Fiske's office and smiled. "Yep, I'll definitely be able to start now," she said cheerfully.

Hey all!

So I really hope you guys liked the start, I really love this story and wanted to know what you guys thoguht of it. I've bee working on in for a year already so it's prretty exciting posting the first chapter here. Let me know what you think.