Later that night**

Sherry pulls over and everyone jumps out as fast as is possible for us.

"Thanks, Mom!"

"Yeah, thank you Sherry," I thank her.

"Have fun, kids! I'll just be here listening to my tunes."

She rolls up the window and turns on a radio station. We hear heavy metal rock music coming from the car.

"Hey, uh, where are we?" Art asks.

Mike walks up to a gate and we follow behind him. We look through the gate to see… Monsters Incorporated.

"The big leagues," he says, excitement dawning on his face. I must admit, I've been here before and even I'm in awe with it all.

"Wow…" I say, but trail off.

"Nice fence," Art comments.

"Oh, we're not stopping here," Mike says, lifting a large pair of bolt cutters. I smother a laugh.

Mike clips a hole in the chains link fence that we all squeeze through.

I bite my lip and shake my head, though I'm still smiling and murmur, "Johnny's going to kill me."

"Not if he doesn't find out," Mike reasons, shrugging.

"You know what; I'm going to hold you to that. If any of you breathes a word about this, I'm going to have to subtly murder you; maybe in your sleep," I warn them dangerously and Art shivers.

A few minutes later we're climbing a ladder that will get us to the roof and Squishy doesn't look so good.

"This crazy, we're gonna get arrested!"

"Shh!" Mike shushes him. We reach the top and look down through a window.

I smile; it's just like I remember.

"Look at them! They're going into the human world and they don't even look scared!"

"My dad works down there," I say, quietly, "Your dad does too, Sulley, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, crazy, huh?"

I nod and place hand on the glass. This is where we belong, and this is where we'll go.

"Take a good look, Oozmas. See what they all have in common?" Mike asks and my smile widens. I get where he's going with this.

"No, not really," Squishy answers for the group.

"Exactly, there's no ONE type of scarer. The best scarers use their differences to their advantages.

I tilt my head, new ideas entering my mind.

"Look at that old guy racking up the big numbers!"

Mike's eye widens, "That 'old fella' is Earl "The Terror" Thompson!"

"What! Where? That's really him?" Sulley says in disbelief.

"He held the scare record for three years, until James Worthington…" Mike trails off and they all look at me.

I laugh uncomfortably, "Yeah, that'd be my dad. He always has- sorry, had- to one-up everybody, including his kids," I mutter the last part so no one hears.

"Oh, third door from the end!" Sulley notices something.

"Carla "Killer Claws" Benitez," I murmur, "she was my inspiration."

"Inspiration for what?"

"To join the scaring program at MU," I answered, not taking my eyes off of her.

"Look! It's Screaming Bob Gunderson!" Sulley looks like he can't believe his eyes, "I still have his rookie card."

"Me too," Mike watches him.

"Doesn't have the speed anymore but his technique is flawless," Sulley says and Mike joins him.

"You collected scare cards, huh?"

I turn away and look down again.

This is all so… inspiring. I let out a breath and look at Mike.

"This is great, Mike. This is exactly what they needed."

"I meant what I said the other day, about you being the best of us."

"Mike-"

"He's right," Sulley chimes in.

I put my hands on my hips. "Excuse me, Jimmy Sullivan, but were you invited to this conversation?"

"Yes, Aura, I just invited him. Sulley, help me convince Aura that she's more than just a piece of background scenery."

"With pleasure," Sulley answers.

"Gee, I don't stand a chance, do I?"

"Nope."

"Aura, you can do amazing things! You don't need to hide it, any more than we do. And anybody who's ever told you different is wrong."

"How about every other monster I know, except a select few? How about every elementary teacher, middle and high school teacher? What about them?" I snap, "I haven't exactly been living in what's called an "encouraging environment" lately." I do finger quotes and continue after taking a breath, "Just because I feel more comfortable this way doesn't mean I'm not a monster." Poor Mike and Sulley. They have just unknowingly walked right into an internal battle I've been having with myself for my entire life.

"Don't listen to them."

"Easy for you to say," I retort, "You don't have to deal with it."

"Yes, I do," Mike says, "And I understand how you feel, but you can't let it get you down."

"Mike, that may be, but how do you propose fixing my problem? My brother already hates me and so talking to him about it isn't really an option at the moment."

"He doesn't hate you. Who could hate you?"

"A lot of people, okay? I'm not exactly good at making friends. It's not that I don't like new people; I just don't particularly like talking to new people."

"You made friends with us," Sulley points out.

"This conversation is over," I state softly. "I'm going back to the van."

I climb down the ladder, feeling their eyes on me as I start running to the van. I don't actually get in the van, but I wait outside, leaning against the side of the van (and let me tell you, that music is as annoying when muffled, as it is when it's not muffled).

I mull over what Mike and Sulley said. They have no right to telling me all that. Although, if I'm truly honest with myself, it's really what I've wanted all along; for someone to tell me that I'm more than who my brother defines me as. I can choose who I want to be and-

…And suddenly I hear shouting. I look up and see the Oozmas running towards me in a peculiar fashion: Mike is running slightly ahead, and Sulley is carrying the rest of the team, and cops are running behind him.

Squishy shouts something slightly incomprehensible.

I raise an eyebrow and Sherry rolls down the window.

"WHAT?!"

I flinch. Too many loud noises coming at once.

"Start the car!"

"Stop the bar?"

I roll my eyes; this is so ridiculous.

"The CAR! Start the car!"

"Oh, Okay!"

I calmly open a door and climb in, bracing myself as I prepare to be squished.

A body is shoved roughly against me and I hit my wrist on the door before catching it in between the seats and twisting it. I pull it out quickly. It hurts.

"Mom, go!"

"Seatbelts," Sherry reminds us in a calm, sing-song voice.

"Okay, go!"

"Does anyone want gum?"

I'm too busy leaning over my wrist to make sure it doesn't get knocked by anyone to realize exactly what she's saying at this point.

"JUST DRIVE!" I hear Mike shout and the car lurches forward.

I hiss in pain, but before I know it we're off, leaving the officials that were chasing them far behind.

"Let's break in somewhere else!" Art exclaims.

The car ride is pretty loud, with everyone recollecting what they saw tonight; and then the chase. I really don't actually think that the adrenaline rush has died just yet.

We pull up in front of the house and I open my door, hopping out, but still holding my wrist so it doesn't flop. At the ROR house, I have a first aid kit because this isn't the first time I've injured myself doing something stupid (albeit fun, but still stupid) and I'm very sure that it won't be the last. But I don't want to raise more fuss than I have to and the less the Oozmas know about my injuries, the better.

Next Morning, Early**

I wake up and look at the clock.

4:00 a.m.

I sit up and wince as my wrist shifts. Fortunately, it's my left one, not my dominant hand.

I need to get this wrapped and iced quickly. Might as well go now. I grab a jacket and my shoes and exit the house quietly. Fortunately, the ROR's house isn't far; just two "blocks" from here.

I walk quickly, pressing my arm to my body, limiting movement as much as I can.

Get to the ROR's house: Check.

Getting in is a little trickier. Of course, then again if you know exactly where the spare key is hidden, then it's actually not that hard.

I run up the stairs, enter my room, and smile for a moment before diving (carefully) under the bed to fish out my first aid kit.

I fish it out and open it. I start by wrapping my wrist in the gauze with a make-shift brace. It's not bad sprain, so all I need now is a little ice, and I know exactly where to find that. I pack the kit back up and shove it under my bed.

I hear a snore across the hall and freeze, before swiftly exiting.

I creep down stairs to the freezer and open it slowly cringing when the light comes on. Closing my eyes, I quickly grab an ice pack before shutting it hastily. I situate the icepack on my wrist and hold it there as I open the door and step outside.

Made it.

**Late Morning, about 9:30; 3rd person POV**

Sulley knocks softly and pokes his head into Aura's room.

"Aura? You up?"

Aura has fallen asleep on the floor, leaning against the couch with a bandaged wrist and an ice pack that looks melted that sits on the wrist. Her phone lays on the ground next to her, dead. She inhales sharply, but doesn't wake.

Sulley's eyes are on her injured wrist. He nudges her gently and she stirs, yawning, but winces when her wrist falls out of her lap to the ground.

"What happened?"

She freezes and looks at him. Then shrugs.

"Nothing."

"Why is your wrist bandaged?"

"I hurt it last night, okay?"

"How'd you get it bandaged?"

"I've had lots of practice. I used my first aid kit in my room at the ROR's house. I was just going to leave it, but it really hurt."

She yawns again and picks up her phone, sighing when she notices it's dead.

She stands up slowly, but then sits back down on the couch, yawning.

"I'm going to go tell Mike you won't be joining us for training."

"Not necessary. I'm coming, I'm just a little bit-" she yawns again.

"Exhausted and injured. You're sleeping. No argument."

"Now you sound like Johnny," Aura grumbles.

"Goodnight," Sulley strolls out and shuts the door, completely ignoring her complaints.

"It's middle of the morning. I refuse to sleep at this time of day and-" she yawns again, "And… and I have things to do…" she finishes lamely.

However, despite her indignation, she falls back on the couch and closes her eyes. Before she knows it, she's fast asleep.

Aura's POV**

I open my eyes and blink a few times. I stretch and look at my clock.

"Shoot! I'm late for class!"

Fortunately I'm a favorite with the teachers here at MU, but it's Johnny I'm worried about. I have literally 1 minute to make to Scaring with Prof. Knight before I'm officially late.

Forgetting about my wrist I grab my bag and then immediately drop it again.

"Well, we can forget about using this arm for the rest of the day," I say to myself.

I use my other arm to sling my bag over my shoulder and gingerly shift it, holding my wrist as still as I can.

I open the door and walk down the stairs. I'm already late, so it's no use hurrying at this point.

I open the classroom door quietly and Prof. Knight looks up. I show him my wrist and he nods, continuing the lesson.

Johnny, who sits up at the front, also turns, but I hide my wrist when I see him looking and take a seat.

After class, he tries to push through the students hanging out in the isles but I make my escape quickly, knowing that he'll have a few questions if he catches up with me.