AN: I doubt he'd come anywhere close to this while he was lucid, but he won't remember. I'm certainly not about to tell him. (Which means you all have to shut up!) Takes place right before 'Mum'.
Christineoftheopera-I've seen that happen...Harley. Poor Harley.
Jonathan Crane-I most certainly am not!
Molly-Mum and Da are awesome.
Just-Me-and-My-Brain-Mum looks quite a bit like her, actually. Only not ginger.
Mary wonders, sometimes, what happened in the abandoned mansion across the way all those years ago.
She knows some of it-enough, anyway-but there's things she can't explain-old scars with no realistic explanation, for instance, or whispered pleas for mercy, brought out by delirium.
"Hush now, sweetheart." she soothes, trying-and failing-once again to get him to take a drink. He pulls his head away. "You're all right, she can't hurt you now."
He looks at her, his eyes glassy. He looks awful.
That's why they're here. Well, that and it's Christmas.
"Can you take a drink?" He shakes his head. "All right. Go on back to sleep."
"M'kay, Mom." he mumbles. She represses a little smile and decides not to mention this later.
THE END