Timothy supposed he should be used to strange things happening around him without much explanation. From the moment his blindfold was removed and he stared into the face of an unearthly creature-a goddess, they'd later told him-his life had been utterly upended. Whole years, experiences, and people had gone missing from his mind. His wife and two of their daughters. Poof. Oh, and they were sirens, of course. And the son he still remembered adopting had died and returned as a ghost. And somebody was a magical fox who'd run off, and now there was a unicorn in his living room.

A badly out of breath unicorn that had collapsed on the living room carpet with heaving sides and foam flying off her muzzle.

Vivi had barely looked at him, her hair pink at the tips and her eyes glowing as she muttered, "Sorry, Dad, I can't explain right now." Lewis' voice coming out of her mouth was disconcerting to say the least. A moment later, Vivi had bolted upstairs, cradling a battered-looking Mystery, before Timothy could ask any questions.

He sighed. As usual, he was the first shoved aside when strange things were happening. Did they all just assume that since he was the token human, there was nothing he could do to help?

Well. Think what they would, he had a guest to take care of. Rolling up his sleeves, he pulled all dishes out of the sink, scrubbed the inside down, and plugged the bottom. Flipping on the faucet, he returned to the living room, gingerly approaching… Chloe. That was her name. Chloe. Of late he had recovered most of his verbal skills, fumbled recall only on occasion, and counted it a victory that most of his thoughts stayed in his head where they belonged.

"Chloe, come on," he said softly. "Cold water in the kitchen. Can you make it a few steps over?"

Tossing her head in what he could only assume was some kind of a nod, she strained to heave herself up, staggering after him with steps that shook the cabinets and sent a few pictures crashing to the ground. She thrust her muzzle into the rapidly filling sink as Timothy peeled off to grab a few towels from the linen closet.

"Let me in a moment." He nudged Chloe's muzzle aside and dunked the towels into the sink. "Don't suppose you can tell me what's going on?" he asked, wiping down her left side.

There was no answer at first as she was too busy drinking, so Timothy continued scrubbing her down. When he moved around to wipe down her right side, however, she lifted her head out of the sink, spraying water across the counters. "G-gomen. I am very confused, too. I think Vivi-chan and Lewis-sempai know what we're doing and why, but we ran here as fast as possible. Arthur-san went to get Kay-chan, we think. We think Mystery wants to take hostages against Arthur-san, so Arthur-san went to get Kay-chan and we stole Dulcie-kun and Lance-san so they couldn't be used against him. They are safe."

Timothy blinked. "But. Dulcie was at voice lessons."

Chloe's lips pulled back in an alarmingly human grimace that looked out of place on an equine muzzle. "Gomen… her teacher was… a little distressed about our entry. And exit. Ehehehe."

Swallowing hard, Timothy licked his lips and asked, "Chloe, how obvious was your abduction of Dulcie and Lance?"

Chloe's ears drooped and she ducked her massive head, mumbling, "We didn't have time."

Timothy glanced at the front door, picturing a gleaming white draft horse tearing down the street and jamming itself through their door from the outside. It was impossible to miss, yet he hadn't had a single phone call about it. Likelihood of other sources being called, like Animal Control? The local police? High. From there, it was a short information leap to the agencies monitoring them, who would descend en masse and cart them off.

Nobody wanted to involve Dib, especially since he was off doing fieldwork and "didn't want to be bothered." If they were about to be under lock and key again, though, Timothy would take the guy who'd already stretched his neck out for them and had the clout to demand custody.

He pulled out his phone, shooting off a text to Teles. Dulcie is safe. Removed from situation due to hostage potential. Come home, about to have company. Calling Dib.

He glanced up. "Chloe, I'm going to call Dib, but I need you at the back door. If there's no other way out of here, you all need to be ready to make a run for it."

"Ch-chottomate!" Chloe protested. "We just got here! I can't make another run like that! I'm no Saitama!"

"Find it in yourself or find another way," Timothy returned. "Unless you think you can help the situation by being locked up, too. Yes, Dib?" he held the phone up to his ear. "I'm very sorry, but it's an emergency."

….

Something was wrong with Vivi's insides, and it wasn't the normal sort of wrongness. Lewis remembered what it was like to fend off the worst of a downswing from within. Like a tidal wave of tar and broken glass surging up and dragging all her brightness down, darkness consumed her thoughts with self-damnation and endless circles as it sapped even the memory of joy.

Sapped. That was an accurate word to describe what was going on inside her now, but it was subtly different and Lewis was having trouble putting his finger on it. At the beginning of her ministrations to Mystery, there was a fierce determination and a warmth of love that kept the oncoming darkness at bay. Only delayed, they both knew, but Vivi would not set Mystery aside in his need. Lewis went along with it, but as Vivi washed the dog, dried him, and carried him up to Kay's old room, it was as if everything slowed by degrees. Like a music box winding down to the last few distorted notes of its song. It wasn't just that the determination and warmth had vanished, but even the darkness both had expected to engulf her was no longer there.

Mechanically, Vivi tucked the unresponsive Mystery into Kay's old bed, nesting blankets around him. She rested her hand on Mystery's head, scratching, but wasn't looking at him anymore. Her gaze rested on the wall, her fingers kneading Mystery's scalp as comfortable numbness licked through what, a moment ago, had nearly been a full-on meltdown.

Only when his own anxieties began to fade did Lewis jerk their hand away from Mystery's head, seize the Hoshi no Tama in Vivi's pocket, and roar, "How dare you!"

Ah. Now Mystery was looking at them. Or rather, looking at their hand, which clutched his soul gem.

"You were supposed to be different from the Shiker." Understanding finally broke through from Lewis to Vivi. Mystery hadn't been taking the edge off her emotional state, he had been draining her to the dregs. The memories of the battered, wounded pup she'd taken in all those years ago began to bleed hurt, staining the edges of the numbness and rolling it back. Their grip on the gem tightened. "I'd understand you attacking me before I'll ever understand you attacking her."

Mystery gave no answer. His eyes didn't leave Vivi's closed fist even once.

The door to Kay's room swung open with a crack as Teles entered. Lewis' anger faltered at the stony expression on his mom's face as her gaze swept from Vivi to Mystery and back to Vivi.

"I don't want to hear any of it." Words whistled between clenched teeth as she loomed at the end of the bed. "The only thing I want to know is if Dulcie really is safe."

Vivi's knees knocked. Lewis hadn't counted on the extra intimidation factor of Teles having a full head of height over him. "Completely safe, Mom, I swear!"

"Then get out." Teles thrust her pointer finger toward the gaping doorway. "You and Chloe and the cursed dog. Out. Dib just confirmed to Timothy that we're due for a raid any minute."

"What?! What, why-"

"Arthur just came tearing through town as a giant fox and abducted my oldest daughter in broad daylight! Not to mention, Dulcie's voice teacher half lost his mind over your grand entrance. Just how smart was it, do you think, to come here with an obviously identifiable giant white horse? The only government confirmed dwelling of paranormal creatures right now is this house, so we're being raided. If we didn't need you gone, I'd be giving you a lot more what-for."

No time. Lewis held the gem between Vivi's thumb and forefinger, zeroing in on Mystery. "Don't move. Steal anything else from us, and I'll crush this myself."

Mystery flicked one ear and closed his eyes. Lewis tossed the gem over his shoulder to a waiting Deadbeat and scooped Mystery into Vivi's arms. "Mom, how much time do we have?"

"Don't ask," Teles answered, grim. "Just load up on your white horse and hightail it."

"What about you? And Dad?"

"Don't worry about me. Your father made a good and I will surrender quietly and wait for Dib to pull strings. Now get out of here."

…...

Note: Chapter title excerpted from Mr. Fear by Siames. Lots of struggling to get started on this chapter for both muse-drying-up and real-life-trouble reasons. Many thanks to R5h and Pipefoxesonthemoon (formerly Invader Sideos) who helped me in different ways pull back together and push through the question, "So what's happening with the other half of the gang?"