Rondo (now press repeat)
"I'm so stoned," Gabe groans as he squints into the mirror above the Way guy's sink, trying to fix his hair. "Those eyedrops you gave me didn't do shit."
The doorbell goes and Gabe scrambles to answer it. William stands there awkwardly as Victoria steps into the room, eyebrows raised and staring at Gabe.
"Hi, Gabe. What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Victoria. He's, uh, just here to help out," William says, wondering why he suddenly feels like a third wheel.
"I just wanted to understand as much as I could about the procedure," Gabe pipes up eagerly as Victoria shrugs off her coat. "I think it's important for... for my job. To understand as much as possible about what we do. Well, not that I do. The work my colleagues do. Yeah."
"Alright," Victoria says with a shrug. "So, let's see what's going on here."
She sits down in front of the computer and immediately frowns. "Well, this is very odd. William, you've tried everything?"
"Uh huh. Everything I know how to do."
"What was happening right before he went off?"
William tries not to panic. "I was, uh, away from the moniter for a second... I had to pee..."
Victoria frowns. "Where was Brendon? Where is Brendon, as a matter of fact?"
"He had to go home sick."
Victoria sighs heavily. "Okay. I'm gonna go through the entire memory and see if something comes up."
"This won't do. What's the matter with you? All it takes is faith and trust... oh!And something I forgot. Dust!"
Mikey cuddles happily against Pete's side. "I always loved this movie."
"I've never seen you so happy, Baby Mikey," Pete laughs.
"Come on, everybody, here we go! Off to Neverland!"
"I found something," Victoria says in relief, quickly pressing buttons. "I have no idea how he got off like that, though..."
Mikey starts as the movie disappears from the screen, replaced with static. The next second, Pete disappears from underneath him. Mikey yelps and tumbles off the couch.
On the bed, the Way guy jerks and his eyes fly open.
"Oh, shit," says Victoria with a sigh. "That's not good. Has this happened with him before?"
"No." William tries to sound as sure about that as possible.
"Well, I'm gonna need to give him an injection, keep him sedated. He seems to be developing a resisitance to the treatment."
Gabe and William watch anxiously as she administers the dose of sedative. The Way guy's eyelids flutter before sliding closed.
"Okay," says Victoria in relief. "Back to work."
None of them notice the tear slowly making its way down Mikey's cheek.
Pete and Mikey are sitting on Pete's floor playing Jenga. Pete pulls a block out of the bottom of the tower, letting out a triumphant yell; Mikey cringes, expecting the loud clatter of the blocks hitting the floor, but it doesn't come. The blocks disappear before they can fall.
"Pete!" Mikey yelps, scrambling to his feet. "We gotta go!"
"Where?" Pete whines, pouting up at Mikey. "I'm having fun here. With you."
"Just come on!" He pulls Pete to his feet and runs to the door as the furniture vanishes around them.
The door of Pete's apartment leads to the hallway over Falta Inc. They hurry down to the end, to Dr Asher's door.
"Dr Asher!" Mikey yells, flinging the door open. "Please-"
Dr Asher's face is gone. She sits at her desk, blank and silent. Mikey curses, turning on his heel.
"Hide me somewhere deeper!" Pete suggests, grabbing Mikey's hand. "Under something you don't think about!"
"Like... under something embarrassing?"
"Yeah, I guess. Humiliation or something."
Mikey squeezes his eyes shut. "Humiliation," he mutters. "Humiliation. Humiliation..."
"Humiliation... humiliation..."
"Mikey!" Pete sounds torn between shock and amusement.
"I know," Mikey groans, tightening his hand around his dick under the duvet. "I don't like it either."
Pete averts his eyes, holding back laughter. "Jesus," he says. "Okay. How is this embarrass-"
Before he can even finish his sentence, there's a knock on the dooor. Mikey freezes as the door swings open to reveal Mrs Way.
"Mikey, darling? I was wondering-"
She cuts off and her face goes a bright shade of red as she realizes what's going on, and she quickly backs out of the room. "You know what, I'll ask you later."
Pete can't help but burst out laughing as Mikey rolls over and buries his face into his pillow.
Victoria is pulling her coat on when the alarm goes off again. All three of them groan simultaneously, and Victoria shrugs her coat back off.
"I feel like we're in for a long night," she says.
Pete tries to stop laughing and rubs Mikey's back comfortingly. "It's okay, Mikey! I'm sure it happens to lots of kids- hey!" He sounds shocked suddenly. "Hey, Mikey, look where we are!"
Mikey pulls his head out of the pillow and looks around.
"Oh no," he says.
His bed is sitting on the sidewalk outside of The Knitting Factor; there's loud music coming from inside.
"This is bad," he says. "This is really bad."
"You gotta hide me somewhere deeper!" Pete says as they hurry away. "Somewhere super buried!"
"Okay, okay. Super buried."
He and Gerard are walking home from school, both of them clutching at their backpack straps. They duck into an alleyway, the way they always do on their way home. It's a shortcut, and it lets them avoid one of the busier intersections near their house.
Pete is walking just behind them - Mikey had seen him last time he glanced over his shoulder. His hair is brown and curls tightly against his head, and he has black high tops just like Mikey's.
Mikey doesn't pay much attention to him, because Gerard is talking about Batman and it's super amazing. Mikey stares up at him in awe, and wishes he could be like his big brother.
Both of them are too caught up in the intricacies of Batman to notice the three boys waiting for them about halfway down the alley until it's too late. They're older than Mikey, maybe around Gerard's age - no older than sixth graders. Mikey looks on helplessly as they grab Gerard, and pin him against the wall.
"Don't hurt him!" he says tearfully, which makes the boys laugh. One of them grabs Mikey by the shirt and drags him over to Gerard.
"Either we hit him, or you do," the boy declares, grinning.
"No, I can't," Mikey whimpers. "I can't, don't make me."
"It's okay, Mikey," Gerard says, obviously trying to sound reassuring. "You can hit me."
"Yeah, hit him! Hit him!"
The boys are yelling, and Gerard keeps saying "It's okay, Mikey, it's okay", and Mikey is crying, and finally he can't take it anymore. He steps forward, his face crumpled up, and whacks his fist against Gerard's stomach. He does it again, and again, until the boys go quiet and Gerard looks like he's on the verge of tears.
"Come on, Mikey," says Pete from behind them. He pushes past the three boys and takes Mikey's hand. "Let's go. Come on, Gerard."
He pulls both of them out of the alleyway by their hands, and doesn't let go until he's at their house. Gerard runs inside, and Mikey and Pete sit down on the stoop.
"I'm so ashamed," Mikey sighs, putting his chin in his hands.
Pete wraps an arm securely around his shoulders. "You were a little kid. It's not your fault."
"I guess. I wish I knew you when I was a kid."
"Yeah? You like my hair?" Pete laughs. He pulls away and lifts his arms up above his head. "Here, feel better. You can tickle me this time."
Mikey brightens. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Go on."
Mikey dives in and Pete squeals, tumbling off the stoop onto the lawn. Mikey kneels next to him, his fingers attacking Pete's neck and stomach, giggling as Pete squirms and flails.
"Pete! Stop it!" Mikey gasps out through laughter. "Cut it out!"
"Nuh-uh. This is what you get for calling me short, fucker." Pete tightens his legs on either side of Mikey's waist to keep him from squirming away. His fingers dance over Mikey's neck and Mikey makes an embarrassing squealing noise.
"I'm sorry!" he chokes. "Have mercy!"
Pete disappears from on top of him.