Basil, Dr. Dawson, Fidget, and the Flavershams went out for the night to investigate what is the Sherlock Holmes household. They discovered a disregarded mess of spilled food. "How inconvenient!" Basil muttered, unmistakably annoyed by chaos that had been brought before them.

To his horror, it was Ratigan's gang who muddled things up for them.

"Everyone run!" Basil urged in a low whisper.

Dr. Dawson, Fidget, and the Flavershams did just that and came to a closet. They'd be much safer there or so they thought. They left it open for the detective just in case. Doubtless, he sped off in a panic so that his men wouldn't get to him, either, but luckily, Basil was much quicker than they were.

"Hmm, it's not like him to run from criminals on times like this," Olivia said and added proudly, "But he can sure run fast."

"Look guys! I found something!" Fidget called.

"What is it, Fidget?" Mr. Flaversham asked.

"It's a map," Fidget replied, revealing his companions the map he was examining.

"Let me see," Olivia said and snatched the map from his grasp, "Fidget, I must say, with this map we can venture out in the streets together and we must bring Toby."

"That's quite a stash Sherlock has," Dr. Dawson mused.

Before Basil, who was finally further away from Ratigan's gang, could go in, Fidget thought quickly. The bat slid over to the door and used his foot as wedge to prevent the door from closing as an attempt to save the detective's life.

"Fidget, why did you do that for?" Basil demanded.

"I did that for you," Fidget replied desperately, rubbing his only foot, which hurt from having it close to the door. "This is a trap! Ratigan and his gang are here and if you close that door, they'd want us to think you're a traitor, so I'm doing this for your own safety."

"Okay, I misunderstood," Basil said guiltily, "Thank you for telling me. Good observation. I'm impressed."

Hearing that compliment made Fidget smile. It was the best one he'd ever heard from Basil, anyway.

"Good job, Fidget," Olivia said.

"We're proud of you, Fidget," Olivia's father said.

"Good lad," Dawson agreed.

"I could've used some sort of wedge, but I didn't have time," Fidget pointed out. "I had to be quick when it comes to saving one's life."

"Good call," Basil told him, "Desperate times call for desperate measures." He ushered everyone out of the room and when his friends were out, he closed the door tight. "Very nice to be out, Flanchaps!" he said.

"Flaversham!" Olivia, Fidget, Dawson, and Mr. Flaversham yelled, reminding him that it was a dangerous time.

"Now's not the time to use our last names wrong," Fidget said, crossing his arms. "Ratigan's still out there, making an even bigger mess."

Hearing this, Basil admitted to Fidget in tears, remembering how Fidget and the others reacted to him mispronouncing the Flavershams' last name, "My father was like you once."

Of course, Fidget was still mad at him. "So, what you're saying is that your dad worked for Ratigan or is he tough as me when he gets mad?" He must've been thinking in his mind something like, "Oh, great! Another one like Basil?!"

Basil answered with tears still filling his eyes, "He did the same things you did and yes, he was tough just as you are." Fidget was listening, so Basil went on, "I tried to stop him from it, but I couldn't. He told me to keep doing my job and not think badly of him. Like you, he had nowhere to go, but to that rat you served and was completely brainwashed. I continued to do my job, solving cases, even before I met Dawson."

"Your dad served Ratigan for how long?"

"Two years."

Fidget's heart sank at Basil's story. "How old were you when he, you know…"

"Twenty," Basil continued, "I was all alone without him and that was when I discovered that Ratigan fed him to his cat! Why would he do that? I don't know! He described to me in a mocking tone as to why he did it because my father stopped cooperating with him. That was a good thing, but what's bad is my father is gone! That's why I lived alone with my maid, Mrs. Judson until I finally hired Dawson when a young girl showed up explaining all that you've done to her father. How will I recover from my father's death? I don't know, but all I know is he's long gone!" Worn out, Basil gravely sobbed tears of regret and grief.

Fidget sighed inwardly after Basil's story the detective accomplished. In spite the fact that he was still angry, he decided to console him. "That was the worst thing Ratigan could've done to you," Fidget sympathized, handing him a tissue and Basil blew his nose. Then, Fidget gave him a hug and Basil felt appreciated.

"I'm surprised that your father worked for him," Mr. Flaversham agreed.

Even so, the detective couldn't hold back the tears. That was when Dr. Dawson asked, "Did he inspire you to become a good detective?"

That went well! Basil stopped tearing up. "Yes, I got a magnifying glass for Christmas when I was about six years old and he was happy for me."

The thought of it warmed Olivia's and Fidget's hearts now that he was beginning to cheer up until Fidget decided to know more about Basil in his understanding. "Why were you so mean to other people?"

"How would you know if I hadn't seen you?"

"I've heard Ratigan tell me," Fidget replied.

"My father was kidnapped on my birthday, the day I turned ten," Olivia pointed out.

"Speaking of which, I was worried about your father's and your safety, but I should have held my tongue about my broken violin. I should've told you."

"That wasn't even important," Dr. Dawson said, "We had a child's father to save."

"And you and Olivia were mean to me, too," Basil said, though he was wrong, "You yelled at me and shushed me. Did it look like I wanted to listen to you or anything at that time?"

Fidget, Olivia, Dr. Dawson, and Mr. Flaversham laughed at his false statement. Just because they retaliate back at someone and shush him doesn't mean he had to force people to stay in a patronizing manner when their loved ones could be in deep trouble, especially if they're old enough to know the jeopardies that may occur, blame them for everything, make fun of them due to their differences, or worse, put them in danger! Who's the target in the cycle now? For certain, it wasn't Basil.

"What on earth is so funny?" Basil asked feeling flustered and bewildered.

"It's you- the same old Basil we've always known!" Fidget replied in between chuckles.

"Always being what you are!" Dr. Dawson agreed.

Basil of Baker Street glared at the trio of mice and the bat who chuckled at him until he soon forgot about his troubles and laughed with them. When they all stopped, they took a deep breath, and Fidget brought the map with him because it'll make good use for his adventures. Other than that, Basil had Ratigan and his gang arrested.

"Excellent work, old boy," Basil said.

"I knew it was you, boy!" Fidget beamed and Toby licked him.

"We missed you," Dr. Dawson said.

"What'll we do without you?" Olivia said, "Silly dog." Toby licked her.

"It's nice to see you again," Mr. Flaversham mused and they spent the rest of the night, lying next to Toby. The next day, all went well and thanks to the detective and bat who had their friends and themselves make it out of the dim room.

The End

Author's note: Well, that was intense!

*Regarding Basil's father, it isn't clear that he worked for Ratigan.