Exhausted

Summary: Miss Peregrine passes out from exhaustion just seconds after resetting the loop.

-Based on both the movie and the books, and AU where the whole Barron/ Caul thing didn't happen, but hollows and wights stille exist.-

Two-Shot

Miss Peregrine followed her children out into the rain. Admittedly she was a lot slower than usual, but they didn't notice as she was behind them.

She placed the clock on the table next to the gramophone and moved the needle to the correct place on the record. Immediately 'Run, Rabbit, run' started playing, and she smiled at the familiar song. She put her gas mask on, along with the children, and took a deep breath, turning to face the house.

As the seconds dragged on and the rain fell, she could feel her eyes slipping closed of their own accord. Every few seconds she would have to force them open and focus her attention on the sky where the planes now flew.

She glanced down at the pocketwatch in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut for a second when the numbers seemed to be fading in and out of existance. When she opened her eyes again, she was brought to the realisation that she was only seconds away from needing to press the reset button on the watch.

As quick as she could, she pressed the button, pausing the world around her. The only things that still moved were her and her children. Everything else stood still, and, no matter how long she'd been doing it, she was still in utter disbelief that she had done it. She had paused time.

She looked away from the watch and up at the bomb that was inches away from killing them all. After blinking her eyes again and taking a deep breath, she looked back down at the golden watch in her hands. She started reversing time, watching the world around her go back in time. Even after centuries, ut still amazed her.

When the day had finished passing by and she and her wards were back to the second of September rather than the third, she put her pocketwatch back in her pocket. She could hear her children clapping and talking behind her as they took off their gas masks, but she couldn't concentrate. Suddenly everything was disorientating. She couldn't understand what was going in.

She swayed on the spot and this time when her eyes fluttered closed, she didn't stop them.

Some of the children called out the name of their headmistress who now lay on the floor with her gas mask still on. The other childen either stared in shock or gasped at the sudden sight.

No one knew what to do and it wasn't until Emma stomped forward with her lead shoes that the others went into action and ran forward to their headmistress.

Emma and Jake turned Miss Peregrine over from hwe stomach and onto her back. Luckily it wasn't raining anymore as it was now the second of September, so Emma took off Miss Peregrine's gas mask to reveal her pale face.

"What's happened?" Claire asked in a timid voice, Miss Teddy in her hands and the Twins stood on either side of her. "I-I don't know," Emma stuttered out, still unsure. "I think she's just passed out from exhaustion," Jake spoke, taking in the dark circles under Miss Peregrine's eyes and how unusually pale she looked. "'Just'?" Enoch repeated, "look at her! She looks like she hasn't slept in years," he pointed out..

"I do sometimes hear her downstairs in the kitchen," Horace told them.

"What?" Emma asked, looking up at him, away from Miss Peregrine's gaunt face. "Well, you know I have trouble sleeping. Sometimes when I wake up, I can hear her moving around downstairs," he said. "One time, I woke up from a particularly bad nightmare and went down to get a drink from the kitchen, and she was still up. She was cleaning the kitchen."

"When was this?" Enoch asked in disbelief.

"I don't remember. A while ago, I guess. I didn't think anything of it at the time because I went back to bed after getting a drink. I assumed she went to bed after cleaning up, but maybe she didn't," he admitted.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Emma snapped. "She looks after us, this house, and has to reset the loop everyday so we won't die. And now look- she's passed out on the garden floor seconds after the reset because she obviously stays up late just to tidy up after us all," she continued her rant, tears building up in her eyes. Horace looked to he floor, now realising that maybe he could have prevented it if he had mentioned this earlier. "Emma, stop," Jake interrupted, "it's not his fault. He didn't know this would happen. And even if he did, we couldn't have prevented this- Miss Peregrine is too stubborn."

"Either way," Enoch said, "we need to get her back inside. It's freezing out here," he pointed out. Emma and Jake nodded, moving away from their headmistress to allow Bronwyn to pick her up with an unspoken command.

The children followed Bronwyn inside and into the parlour where the young girl set Miss Peregrine onto one of the couches. Unsure of what to do now, the children stood silently around their headmistress, just looking at her and waiting for her to wake up. With a sigh, some of the children took a seat on the other couch. The others eventually joined them.

"When do you think she'll wake up?" Fiona asked after a few minutes. "If she hasn't slept as long as Horace says... who knows. We should probably get some sleep ourselves," Hugh answered, only just stifling a yawn. Fiona nodded, casting her eyes to the clock.

"You guys go to bed, I'll watch over her and wait for her to wake up," Enoch said, already making a decision for the others. "I'll watch over her, too," Emma agreed, shifting the heavy books that were on her lap to keep her seated. Enoch looked at her, "no, you're all tired. I'll look after her, you go to bed," he said, signalling he end of the conversation. Emma wanted to argue, to tell him she wasn't tired at all, but she couldn't help the yawn that escaped her mouth. Enoch smirked when he was proven correct, and turned his attention to Miss Peregrine when she breathed in deeply.

"Come on," Jake said to Emma, removing the books from her lap and leading her out of the parlour with the other children. Emma cast one last glance at her mother as she was lead out, and frowned. She could be so stubborn sometimes, and it would surely be the death of her.

oOoOoOo

Miss Peregrine's eyes opened and she breathed in sharply. She couldn't remember falling asleep, but apparently. she had. She looked up at the ceiling above her and was confused when she saw the parlour ceiling rather than the one in her bedroom.

Confused, she looked around the room. On the couch opposite the one she was lay on, she could see Enoch. He was fast asleep, proven by his even breathing, but he was sat up and leaning against the arm of the chair.

Tutting, she slowly got up from the couch and stood up. She walked quietly over to him and, as careful as she could, she lay him down so he wasn't sat up in an awkward position. Luckily he didn't wake up, but he did make a noise.

Miss Peregrine looked at the clock and saw it was six am. Thankful she hadn't woken up any later as she needed to make breakfast, she left the parlour and made her way to the kitchen.

On her way, she was highly disappointed to see the back door was open. She quickly walked over to it and stood in the doorway, looking outside. The clock she'd taken out there last night was still on the small table, along with the gramophone. The needle was still on the record, but no songs were playing.

She stepped outside and went over to the table with the clock and gramophone. She took the clock off the table and lifted the needle, promising herself she'd come back and move it all later.

As she was on her way back inside, she almost walked passed something on the floor. She looked down, she saw her gas mask. With furrowed brows, she bent down and picked it up. There was some dry mud on it, but she quickly wiped that off.

She was confused. She'd woken up in the parlour which meant she must have gone inside and gone to sleep, but... the last thing she could remember was resetting the loop, and... Oh, she realised, I must have passed out. I'm not sure why, but I must have.. It's the only possible explanation. That meant her children had taken her inside and set her on the couch in the parlour. And Enoch must have been watching over me, but fallen asleep, she thought. While she wasn't happy with herself for passing out in front of her children and one of them looking after, she was touched.

Letting out a deep breath, she headed back inside.

oOoOoOo

When Enoch woke up, he was disorientated. He blinked hard and looked around at his surroundings. At first he was surprised ti find himself in the parlour, then he remembered why he was there. Quickly sitting up, he looked at the empty couch where Miss Peregrine should have been. Only, she wasn't there.

Suddenly, the smell of food made its way to his nose. He breathed in the mouth-watering scent and stood up, heading straight to the kitchen. He hoped he'd find Emma or Jake cooking, but he knew that was unlikely as it was eight am, and they're usually in bed still at that time.

When he entered the kitchen, he was met with the sight of Miss Peregrine cooking breakfast. As he had expected. He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath so as to not explode in anger. She shouldn't be working. Who knows how long she'd been in there fooking. She'd only just passed out last night from exhaustion and now she was up and about as if nothing had happened and she was completely refreshed.

"What are you doing?" Enoch asked, making his presence known. Miss Peregrine startled and whirled around in his direction. "Enoch!" She exclaimed, putting a smile on her face. "Glad to see you awake. Take a seat, breakfast is nearly done. I'll wake the others in a moment," she said, turning over some bacon in the pan she was holding. "No. Why are you making breakfast? You passed out just last night from exhaustion, and here you are, making breakfast for eleven children as if nothing had happened," Enoch snapped. Sometimes her stubborness made him angry becauase she would neglect her own wellbeing and needs in favour of theirs. And if what Horace said is true, then she obviously didn't care about her own wellbeing if she allowed things to get this bad.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr O'Connor. Can you go and wake the others, please?" Miss Peregrine requested, putting the food onto plates. Enoch sighed, but didn't protest as he thought maybe Emma or Jake could talk sense into her. She seemed to listen to those two more than him.

Without another word, Enoch left the kitchen to go and wake the others.

oOoOoOo

When everyone was awake and dressed, they headed downstairs to the dining room where Miss Peregrine had put their breakfast after preparing it in the kitchen. The younger ones quickly ran up to their food, feeling practically starved. Enoch, Emma, Jake, Olive, Horace, and Millard stopped in the doorway, looking around the dining room.

"Where is she?" Millard asked, noticing the absence of Miss Peregrine. They'd already agreed before coming downstairs that they were all going to talk to their headmistress. "Well she's obviously not in here," Enoch sarcastically said. Millard rolled his eyes, not that anyone could see him anyway. "We'll just wait for her here," Emma said, moving over to her seat and strapping herself down. Jake and Horace silently nodded, taking their own seats as they were hungry.

Enoch and Millard silently looked at each other. "Well, I'm going to find her. Are you coming?" Enoch asked Millard.

"Sure," Millard shrugged. Admittedly he was as worried about Miss P as Enoch was, but he tried to act nonchalant and tell himself she was fine.

Enoch led the way out of the dining room, feeling the stares of the other children as Millard followed closely behind.

oOoOoOo

Miss Peregrine sat outside in the garden underneath the 'Squirel Tree' as she and the others called it. The birds were oddly silent, but she basked in the tranquility. With her amazing hearing, even in her human form, she could faintly hear her children talking and the sounds of cutlery on plates. She smiled to herself and lifted her pipe to her mouth to take a puff.

Her eyes drifted close, but this time it was of her own accord. She wasn't about to pass out, not now that she had gotten at least eight hours of rest after her most recent performance.

She laughed bitterly to herself as she breathed out smoke. What have I become? She silently asked herself, feeling the sting of tears behind her eyes. I can't even go to sleep at night for fear of being held under by my nightmares. I wonder if this is how Horace feels... Another cloud of smoke escaped her mouth and she realised she must have absentmindedly been smoking it.

She opened her eyes just in time to see a bird fly by, and she watched it, admiring how free it looked. How it could fly around in the bright blue sky and didn't have to worry about anything other than what sticks it would use to build its nest. Sometimes she envied birds- real, actual birds- but then she realised she had everything she wanted right here. Of course it was hard at times, but the small moments made it worth it (like being handed a drawing by Claire, or teaching the children whatever they wanted to know). But then, of course...

Her hand holding the pipe shook and she frowned, glaring at it. Resting it in her lap, she leaned her head back against the tree and looked at the sky.

"Miss P?" She heard. She turned her head to the left to see two of her wards coming over to her. She immediately stood up from the floor and wiped some mud and grass off her skirt, plastering a smile on her face. "Enoch, Millard. Good morning," she said, mentally taking note of the frown on Enoch's face. "Good morning, Miss. What are you doing out here?" Millard asked.

"Oh, I was just admiring the birds," she told him, thanking the Birds themselves when one happened to fly by at that moment. "Oh, are you coming inside or breakfast?"

"I don't think so. I'm not that hungry," she said, flashing an apologetic smile. Enoch looked down, wondering how to approach the subject as his last attempt hadn't gone so we.

Deciding to just get on with it, he looked up. "We know you haven't been sleeping, Miss P. That's why you passed out yesterday. You're exhausted," he pointed out, knowing it was the truth and ready to argue with her should she deny it. "I don't-" she started only to get cut off by Enoch. "Yes, you do! Don't try and deny it this time. Horace has trouble sleeping, too, and sometimes when he wakes up, he can hear you moving around downstairs. No matter what time it is, you're always awake," he snapped. Miss Peregrine was taken aback- never had any of her children spoken to her like that before. Millard looked at Enoch, almost as shocked as Miss Peregrine was.

"You might not care about your wellbeing, but we do," Enoch continued before Miss Peregrine could say anything. "We don't like it when you randomly pass out because you're exhausted. And we don't like it when you stay up till Bird knows what time just to tidy uo after us."

"Enoch, I think you're being a little harsh," Millard said, taking in Miss Peregrine's gobsmacked expression. "No, I'm being truthful," Enoch replied, not looking away from Miss Peregrine. Their headmistress sighed, but didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. Lucky for her, Enoch did, "if you don't start looking after yourself... we'll be forced to call in another ymbryne," he said. Miss Peregrine's eyes widened and she stared at him full of shock. "What?" She and Millard asked at the same time. Obviously he hadn't told the others about it. "You can't do that," she denied.

"I can and I will. I think Miss Avocet would live to come and have a chat with you seeing as you're not going to listen to us," Enoch replied, looking more serious than usual. "You wouldn't," Miss Peregrine corrected, prepared to leave this conversation. "Try me. If you're not going to look after yourself then I'll call in someone who will," Enoch folded his arms. Millard stood silent, watching the interaction with interest. He wasn't sure whether or not Enoch actually would call Miss Avocet, but Miss Peregrine seemed to think he wouldn't so he didn't know what to think.

Internally Miss Peregrine was screaming. There was the very high chance that Enoch would call Miss Avocet over to their loop, but the irrational part of herself (the part that let her stay up every night until she passed out) wouldn't back down. She was having a mental argument with herself, one part of her brain telling her to stop being so stubborn, and the other half telling her to just give in. Give into what, she didn't know, but fifty percent of her wanted to.

"Enoch, you can't," she repeated herself, trying to steady her breathing. "And you seem to think I won't," he said, raising an eyebrow, "well, just watch me." With that, he stormed back into the house, leaving Miss Peregrine and Millard alone by the tree. Miss Peregrine almost swore out loud right then, realizing what she'd just done, but she quickly remembered she was with Millard so she bit her tongue and followed after Enoch to hopefully catch him before he could make that dreaded phone call.