[A/N: As far as I'm aware, this is quite literally the THIRD Sulley/Hardscrabble fic on this site and the first multi-chapter fic for this pairing. Honestly, I'm shocked, as I assumed there'd be more content for these two out there. But oh well, I guess not.

I'll try to make keep them all in-character, but since it's been a long time since I've seen the films, there might be slip-ups. I apologize in advance.

I also would like to apologize for the short length of this chapter, it's just that I didn't have much in mind on what to write aside from whatever popped into my head. Sorry.]

Abigail wasn't the type of monster who got surprised very easily. Being one of the most famous scarers out there—alongside being the dean of the M.U. Scaring School—meant that she had very high expectations. And when it came to those with very high expectations, surprises were about as likely as the sky turning green.

For a long time, she had doubted that she'd meet someone who would surprise her—only to be proven wrong later on, by two former students of hers: Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan.

They surprised her when—after Mike had snuck into the door lab, with Sulley following suit—Sulley scared a bunch of adult humans, rapidly filling up the tanks with screams; the blue monster credited his friend with the idea.

That was the first time she had been surprised. And so, she was reluctant to see them leave the university. When they left, she had wished them luck, saying, "Keep on surprising people."

But at the time, she hadn't expected them—Sulley, in particular—to surprise her again. Yet, it still happened.

It happened when she woke up one morning. After she had done her usual routine of getting up, getting dressed, preparing and finishing breakfast, there was a knock on her door. Assuming it was a letter from one of her siblings back in Wails, she opened the door, only to see a newspaper on the porch.

She picked up the newspaper, her eyes widening as she read the title of the main article. It read: NEW DISCOVERY MADE AFTER INCIDENT AT MONSTERS INC, HUMAN LAUGHTER FOUND MORE EFFECTIVE THAN SCREAMS.

She skimmed through the article, until she stopped at two familiar names.

"Sullivan?" She couldn't believe it, of all the monsters, it was he who had made the discovery. After stumbling across his name, she continued to read the article.

Apparently, Henry J. Waternoose—the former CEO of Monsters Inc—had declared that he'd 'kidnap a thousand children before letting the company die' and of course, that was enough for the CDA to take him arrest him. However, Monsters Inc. wasn't put out of business, as Sulley—who had apparently been taking care of the human child that had been let loose into Monstropolis—had 'saved' it upon making the discovery. Now, with the laughter of human children, Monstropolis' energy crisis was at an end, and Sulley was now the new CEO of Monsters Inc.

It was a lot for Abigail to take in at first. It took a couple of seconds for her to soak in the new information she had just learned, before she finally smiled.

Yet again, Sulley had managed to surprise her.

Perhaps, she thought to herself, I should pay him a little visit. It has been a while since I've been to Monsters Inc. anyhow.

[End note: yeah, yeah, it's not exactly the best start, but it is a start nonetheless.]