AN: Wow, okay let's just say I haven't written anything for this for about a year. Only spell checks when posting the chapters! It was really hard at first, but once I got into the swing of it all just flowed out :) So I hope my writing technique has improved, but not changed too much for you guys. Please enjoy!

NOTICE: I saw that in previous chapters, when I jumped to new characters in new settings, the website didn't add in my little spacers (***) for some reason. I've found a way to change it though, so yaaay. You can understand it all better now! :D

EDIT: I've had to change some of the conversations. I had completely forgotten all about proxies and I thought it would be important to mention it in this chapter :)


Chapter 2

God, it was late.

It was past midnight and Brontworth had been in the ERL for the whole day. He was hungry, tired and his neck had a crick in it which twinged occasionally. He dropped his glasses on to his desk and dug the palms of his hands into his eyes. Stars burst into his vision. He had been working since five am in the morning and he was looking forward to a break. Brontworth sighed, pushed himself away from the table and stretched, hearing a satisfying pop in his neck. He gathered his large stack of papers and shuffled out of the laboratories, switching off all the lights and locking doors as he went. Chamberlin had left hours ago but Brontworth didn't doubt that he was still working-hunched over his microscope at home. Brontworth had assigned Frame the task of setting up 24-hour surveillance on the Periali home. He'd complained at first, claiming it was 'boring and a waste of his time', but one mention of his daughter, Laura, had shut his trap with a click. Blackmail was almost too easy.

He'd ordered Frame to tell him everything. He wanted to know when the daughter left for school, who she played with, when she came home, what she did alone-God, he wanted to know what her bowel-movements were! He had to know everything if he was going to do this right. It was going to take a hell of a lot of planning and brilliance. The foul thing they were dealing with was crafty. It was calculating. It knew how to wait for centuries. If Brontworth wanted to get to the end of this with his life, (even if he backed out, the beast would find him eventually) he would have to be bold, but still play it safe. This…this was the hard part. Knowing how to get its weak spot and pick the exact moment to strike.

Chamberlin had offered his best advice, giving up his time and resources to do what he could. Brontworth knew very well that Chamberlin didn't care about the money-that had never been a part of it for him. It was all for the thrill of it, the puzzle, the chase. Chamberlin could easily have gone into the police force and thrived like Brontworth had, yet his sharp tongue and lack of regard for the law weren't exactly the best qualities for the job. So into politics it was. Brontworth laughed at the irony of it.

Brontworth shut the last door and locked it. He tipped his head back and sucked in a breath of the icy air and exhaled, watching it unfurl in white wisps above his head. It was very close to the end of autumn and the freezing rains and bitter winds were a sign of what was to come. He was exhausted and looking forward to the comfort of his own home. He began a brisk march to his car and climbed in, setting down his research on the passenger seat. The drive was silent save for the gentle hum of the engine and his thoughts. He started creating a mental list of the jobs that were done and what he still had to complete.

Research and set up twenty four hour surveillance on the Periali' homes (without the families notice)-Done.Learn as much as possible about the creature-In progressAnalyze the saliva sample-Inconclusive (hopefully Chamberlin had gotten a bit further along since he last saw him)Investigate the claims of a tall, thin intruder in an Irish drug store-In progress

The surveillance on the family had been up and running directly to his home for over a week now and the only strange thing was how much the girl danced and laughed. She also stared out of her window a lot, as if searching for something. But that's not so different to any other kid, he mused. So far, nothing of value had been found. But something was bound to turn up; the girl was shrouded in mystery and reeked of trouble.

Brontworth had been researching the creature for years. His information was extensive but unreliable at best. He was constantly on a quest for credible material and it seemed as if for the first time in over a decade he'd had a breakthrough.

The DNA was a complete enigma and he didn't know whether to be frustrated or excited. It was most certainly not anything Chamberlin had seen before, which left only one other option. But it was like the DNA was broken. There were parts missing, which was common in long frozen specimens or old DNA at crime scenes. It didn't make sense! The sample couldn't be any more than 24 hours old, yet it behaved as if it belonged in the 80's.

Brontworth would never admit it aloud even if he was the only person on earth, but he thanked the lucky stars that he had Chamberlin working with him. The man was a genius; he would definitely make sense of it all.

He slowed down to a halt at a red light, rain gently starting to patter down. He waited for a measly two cars to pass and he growled in frustration. He hated waiting, even for things as mundane as the traffic. He took off as soon as the light turned green. The rumor had surfaced a couple days ago through one of the online forums he'd joined. The Irish break in held promise. Hardly any claims on the internet had credible evidence to back up their stories. The websites were full of false alarms of course and he paid a lot of it no attention, but the video had appeared at the same time on several other sites, including the non-paranormal ones. It had done the rounds on the news programs and plenty of chat shows had a good crack at it. But of course, they had all moved on and now Brontworth was ready to take a peek at where it happened.

Brontworth pulled his car into his driveway and swiftly entered his house, making himself some coffee and getting back to work. He hadn't been this busy since the Switzerland incident! They were certainly making progress. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless. That was when he received a call on his mobile. He snatched it out of his pocket and barked out,

"Commissioner Brontworth" Frame's deep tone came through the receiver. It was laced with anxiety.

"Sir? The girl's missing."

"I'm taking you to see my brother. Now, hush. You need rest."

Slenderman began a brisk walk almost nearing a jog. He hurried to the forest with a strong sense of determination. He had to get the girl somewhere warm before she caught pneumonia. The tender, damaged child in his arms whimpered in pain and he thought hard about what to do. He couldn't teleport to his brother's home, it was too dangerous! The girl could end up with a lung in her mouth or something! His cabin was close, but it was far too cold. It would take ages to warm up and Josie didn't have that kind of time. After what felt like long minutes (when it was really only seconds) he decided to take the chance.

He could feel the small girl in his arms tremble in the cold, even while wrapped up in his coat. She was completely soaked and clutched her wrist in a feeble attempt to numb the pain. Slenderman felt an uncomfortable feeling in his chest he hadn't felt before. It twisted and writhed and it was a horrible sensation. Slenderman didn't know what was happening to him, he never felt like this. He disappeared from the forest and reappeared in front of a large, cream coloured house.

He descended upon the front door and rapped on the dark wood vigorously with a tentacle. He stood back and surveyed the area. It was day time-they were in another part of the country. Slenderman shielded his face from the sudden change in lighting with the same tentacle, even though he had no eyes. He looked down and scanned the girl, looking for anything that could hint she wasn't all right. He saw nothing wrong and his heart relaxed in his chest. It was rare that a human was unaffected-and he was incredibly thankful. When he heard no sound from inside, he knocked on the door again, louder this time. He saw a flower bed filled with colourful tulips and sneered. His brother had always been so….feminine.

Birds were twittering in the background and he remembered why he hadn't seen his family for several centuries. They were always so horribly cheerful. Slenderman instinctively tightened his grip on Josie as the large wooden door swung open with gusto. A smooth face sporting a wide smile greeted them. The smile quickly faded upon taking in the full picture. Trenderman stood dumbfounded, clinging onto his wooden doorframe for support.

"S-Slenderman?! Is that you? You're all wet! What happened?" Trenderman gasped. Slenderman sighed and pushed past him into the house. Trender opened and shut his mouth several times before shutting the door. He followed Slender inside, wringing his hands in concern.

"I can't believe it's you! It's been what?" Trender rubbed the back of his bald head, "nearly a millennia! It's been too long, brother!" Slender was standing in the kitchen nervously, something Trender always found amusing. His little bro' was so unfortunately tall and being awkward didn't suit him.

Trender went to envelope his brother in a bear hug, but Slender dodged, hugging the bundle of clothing in his arms tighter to his chest. Trender eyed him suspiciously, if that were possible.

"Slenderman?" he asked doubtfully, "What are you holding? Is that a human?" Trender spotted a lock of brown hair flopping over the collar of Slender's black coat. He did ever so love that coat! It suited Slender's physical attributes perfectly! How he'd missed its beautiful black sheen, it was like leather! It could do with a touch up though, the cuffs were fraying and-Trender realized sadly that Slender had started speaking and he would have to start listening.

"Yes. I, uh…require your expertise. She's injured." Slender said tersely, proffering the limp bundle of clothing and human. Trender looked uneasy as he assessed the bundle.

"Uhh, why? I-I mean," he stuttered and Slender rolled his eyes. He was always so anxious around new people, even when they weren't completely conscious, "What's wrong with her?"

"She did something to her wrist and we've been out in the cold. She's all wet." Trender noted the use of the plural and took the girl from his arms gently- who knew what else had happened to her? Slender was always so spectacularly ignorant about human care. But why shouldn't he be? He guessed, it wasn't exactly a part of his profession, unlike some people. Trender puffed out his chest proudly at his thoughts and rushed into the bathroom, leaving Slender behind in the spacious kitchen. He turned the taps for the bath on to full and started stripping the girl of her clothes. He sat her on the side of the large porcelain tub and removed her shoes and wet socks.

She didn't seem to mind the undressing as she barely said anything. He shouted for Slender to bring him some towels and put them in the dryer to warm up. Slender grumbled a protest at being ordered around, but went to get them nonetheless. Trender gently asked her to lift her arms, and Josie complied, groaning slightly. Her clothes stuck to her frigid skin and Trender felt much sympathy for her. She must be freezing, even with all the steam swirling around. Trender started to sweat in the heat of the room and he began to grow red in the face. He removed his beige vest and rolled up his white shirt sleeves. He noticed the swelling in her wrist and he mentally cursed (he couldn't do it out loud, a lady was present!). That was going to be tough to fix.

The bath tub was full of hot water by now and he tested it with his wrist. It was warm, but not enough to burn her cold skin. He worked the rest of her clothes off quickly, leaving only her underpants on (he wasn't some kind of pervert you know!) and gently lowered her into the bathtub. He murmured words of encouragement when she whimpered and gave her a water proof pillow to put behind her head. She slowly began to relax and drifted off in the tub. Trender was glad, she was obviously starting to warm up, but he had to make sure she didn't slip down into the water and drown. Slender had returned with hot towels just as he was getting a chair for him and Slender. His face was pink from the heat of the laundry room. Trender chuckled and gestured for him to sit down next to him.

Slender placed the towel on the sink ledge and reclined comfortably in a wicker chair. His clothes were still wet, but he wasn't so cold anymore, merely feeling sticky from the humidity. They sat together in comfortable silence as they watched Josie's chest rise and fall with every breath. It was soothing for Slender, he didn't know why though. His mind slowed down and he felt calm as he listened to her soft breaths whisper past her lips.

Trender was amused by it all. He hadn't seen his brother in over eight hundred years, and then he just turns up out of the blue, completely soaked and demanding a bath for a little girl. It was rude, pushy and so very, very Slenderman. Slender groaned inwardly when he saw Trender shift in his seat. He wanted to talk, he always did. Couldn't he just leave him be? Why did he always have to ask questions?

"Is she a new proxy?" Trender asked conversationally. Slenderman had a few proxies from all around the globe, another one wasn't that different.

"I'm not sure yet," was his brother's curt answer. Trender laughed quietly. His brother had always been incredibly picky with his proxies. They had to be perfect. There was a long stretch of silence. Eventually Trender asked,

"Slenderman, what happened to her? Her wrist is broken. I can fix it, but it's gonna take time." Slender replied a bit too casually,

"Oh, she was being stupid. She ran away from her home and fell over in the park. I had to go save her." Trender raised a non-existent eyebrow. He doubted the he had to save her. "I took her to the human hospital but they wouldn't accept her, they were too busy." Trender replied immediately, his smile making a comeback.

"She can stay here if you want. I can look after her for you. It'll be nice, a bit of company. Haven't had any in ages, except Splendorman of course. But he's just …not quite the same." Slender nodded. He knew what Trender meant. He was pleasant company sure, but just not the same as…other people. Trender had meant it about the girl staying. She looked positively adorable! And her hair was so long! His mind was already starting to bubble with ideas for what he could dress her up in. It had been far too long since his last shopping spree, at least a week.

Silence reigned once more for some time and eventually Slender decided he wanted to have a shower and change his clothes. He stood up and asked if his brother for the directions to the other bathroom. Trender replied cheerily that they were upstairs, first door on the right. Slenderman swiftly left the room without thanking him and Trender watched him disappear, affection in his eyes. He had missed his brother a great deal. He could be cold, and harsh, and rude, but that was just his brother's defenses. He only put them up because he'd been hurt before. He knew about what he did with the human's he was fascinated by, and it made him sad. But after countless shouting matches and far too much of Trender's furniture being thrown around, he gave up. Slenderman could do whatever he liked, so long as he spared Trender the details. Trender just hoped that he would stop doing all of those horrible things and come out of his shell, be the kind person he knew Slender could be.

He looked at the girl sadly. She was still sleeping peacefully. He dipped his hand into the still water and tested the temperature. It was starting to cool down; he would have to get her out soon. Trender sent a telepathic message to his brother asking him to be quick. He wanted to get her out of the tub soon or she'd start getting cold again. Slender was dressed in his usual suit within ten minutes and the towels were warm again after a quick turn inside the dryer. They both dried her and clothed her in simple stuff Slender had brought from downstairs. Trender was slightly upset; he had wanted to pick the clothes. She had managed to stay half asleep the whole time and was leaning against Slender heavily when they were done. She was wearing a simple shirt and overalls. Trender silently admonished his brother on his choices; the colours he had picked out didn't match her complexion at all. Red would have really accentuated her clear skin-not purple!

Trender watched in surprise as his emotionally void brother bent down to pick up the girl. He carried her out to the living room with such tenderness he would never have expected. He watched as she nuzzled his neck and hugged him tightly.

He'd never seen anything like it before, Slenderman never acted like this around humans. He lay down on the long white leather couch and leant her against his chest. She smiled slightly and sighed contently.

Slender completely relaxed and as far as Trender knew, he had fallen asleep instantly. The girl snored quietly and snuggled closer, seeking his warmth. Trender jolted out of his trance and went to fetch a blanket. He made sure it covered both of them completely and he stood back, still at a loss for words.

He went back upstairs without a word and continued what he had been doing before they knocked on his door-knitting a beautiful blue scarf. He had decided who he was going to give it to now.


AN: WEEEEE, character development for Slender! I really hope you guys like what's going on with Brontworth and my description of Trenderman! Tell me what you guys think of it all please! I want to make this awesome for you lovely readers, so if you don't review, I don't know what to write!