Disclaimer: I borrowed elements of this fic from everywhere, I read an old fic with a story like in which Flippy and Flaky had a daughter and I thought 'I can do better than that' and so I don't own this story, no I 'researched' it from a variety of sources. God bless those people I aspire to beat.

Chapter 21: Placebo

The lamb's world had always been a little fractured but now it seemed to be falling apart like a jigsaw puzzle it's owner had got tired with. Pieces of reality and nightmare slipped seamlessly together so she could never really know when she was awake and between them both the man came back to stand right behind her.

"What are you doing just lying here? Do you really think that will achieve anything? Why don't you just finish them all here? What would your mother think?"

Lammy whimpered again at the sound of that voice, normally he would have been kind, gentle, supportive she remembered the times that he'd helped her and... But being out here scared him and, well... She tried to turn further to see Mr Pickles clearly, but as she turned a stab of pain shot through her chest, where she was sure that horrid blue blur must have broken something. Lammy winced and a pained bleat escaped her lips which raised a sly chuckle from the figure next to her, who twirled his moustache and leaned down on the little lamb's shoulder.

"Aw, does it hurt? Why don't you just keep your eyes on what's going on? What would your mother think?" Lammy felt a gentle hand guide her head back to face forwards, she fought against it for a second before relaxing. What was she thinking, it wasn't like Mr Pickles would ever hurt her. She smiled more now and could ignore the pain more easily when he was there. So she just watched the events unfolding around her with only mild interest.

In the centre of camp was yet another campfire and around it the others had arranged themselves in closely huddled groups, staying as detached from the others as possible while still trying to make their voices heard.

Handy was the one talking at the moment shouting and motioning violently with the stumps of his arms in response to something Lammy was sure the caveman had said (although she hadn't heard him speak). Even as far away as she was Lammy could hear every word Handy said though.

"No! I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing!" The beaver took a step towards the centre of the circle, "I'd burn down this whole damned forest if it'd get my children back and I'm not going to stay here while some freaking insane general from a war that ended years ago murders them." This last comment raised a yelp from some of his audience, notably his wife. Handy turned back to face her and for a second his eyes still sparked with overflowing fury, then his expression softened, he stepped back to Petunia's side, wrapping his arms around her and whispering something to her to calm her.

His show of anger was not forgotten by the rest of his audience though, a voice from further from the fire immediately rose up, "What are you planning to do then?" Giggles frowned at the back of Handy's head, with that look she usually reserved for Disco Bear but which had become a nearly permanent fixture on her face the past few days. "Wander around in the forest forever until we all die?" She rose from where she had been leaning on Cro-marmot's ice cube and began to move towards Handy, "Do you have any idea where we are anyway?"

Handy turned to face her, his face set in his usual scowl, "Are you saying we sit here waiting for my children's bodies to turn up. Is that your plan?"

A look of annoyance flashed across Giggles' face for a second, "No I'm just pointing out that without Flippy here to navigate we're screwed. Unless you plan to rely on that," She pointed angrily at Nutty, who had collapsed once again in a pile of twigs and his own drool, "Or do you just think if we keep walking for long enough this army will just magically appear?"

"It's a damn side better than just sitting on our butt waiting for that idiot of a soldier to turn up again."

"And what if Flippy finds them and comes back to tell us and we're gone?"

Handy grimaced as if it were obvious, "He can find them he can find us." His voice had risen even louder than before now, taking on a sound as if he were trying to hurl each and every word at Giggles' head and break her skull with them.

"And if he can't?"

They were barely a meter apart now both of them glaring at each other with no-longer concealed rage. Handy's voice seemed to be growing still louder, "Then he's a pretty lousy scout."

"At least he was better than you," Giggles didn't seem to notice the new wave of fire building behind Handy's eyes, "All you've done is yell at the sky and make idiotic threats to trees."

Handy's arm stubs were quaking now, "At least I have a reason to be here. Why'd you even come along anyway? You've got no kids, no family. Hell I don't even know why the heck we're even-"

His speech was cut short as Giggles' fist collided with the beaver's face, almost knocking him off his feet as he stumbled backwards trying to clutch his bleeding nose in his non-existent hands. Petunia gave a little yelp as her husband almost fell over her, struggling to get his balance and cursing with a volume and vocabulary that would have impressed anyone not already familiar with Handy.

As for Giggles, she moved forwards to strike Handy again but immediately found Pop and Cuddles' arms wrapped around her wrists, holding her in place. Cuddles tried to calm her but the damage had already been done, it was amazing that it only took a few minutes for them to calm her down enough to release her arms. And from the glares she and Handy gave each other it was a miracle that one didn't kill the other right there and then.

"Aren't miracles over-rated? Isn't it all such a shame? What would your mother think?" Lammy was sure the man beside her directed the last one at Giggles, it would make sense at least. She found herself wanting to laugh, it was just funny to see them all like little babies arguing over food. She watched them for a second more, running around and arguing, before she could contain her mirth no longer, breaking into a quiet, almost hysterical laughter.

Someone in the group must have heard her because the next thing Lammy knew someone was bending down infront of her carefully to check if she was okay. The figure, Pop her mind told her quietly, raised a hand and clicked his fingers a few times near Lammy's face. Lammy tried to bring her laughter to a halt but it kept on tumbling out of her, louder now and attracting the attention of the others.

Some of the people by the fire began to move towards the tree Lammy lay against, but Pop raised a hand and motioned them away, his face morphing from mild annoyance to a more sympathetic expression.

"It's good to see at least someone can still laugh." He turned away to sit next to her, almost sitting on Mr Pickles (Lammy pulled her friend out of the way with a quiet yelp) and sighed, "This whole mess is gonna kill everyone of us, if the forest doesn't get us we'll rip each other to shreds." He laughed sourly, turning back to Lammy- who had run out of breath and finally stopped laughing. "So I'm glad at least one of us has the right attitude. This whole damn thing is someone's idea of a sick joke and you know what?" Pop's face had darkened now and he seemed to be talking to the world in general now as opposed to just Lammy, "I'm not gonna take it!"

Pop seemed to have entirely forgotten Lammy was there now, his voice deteriorating into quiet angry mutterings that almost exactly matched Handy and Giggles'. Lammy forgot him too in a second, as a little jab of pain stabbed through her stomach. From where he sat in her hands Mr Pickles had twisted around to face her, that smile of his stretching from ear to ear.

"Well what are we going to do now? It's not like you can just get up and move yourself like this can you? And do you really think your friends are going to help you?" He gave a quiet laugh and tutted, "What would your mother think?"

... ...

Sonia's eyes flickered slightly as they opened again, slowly her mind came back into focus again working out the shapes around her far quicker than it had the first time and reeling through its usual conversation with itself. Finally- and as usual- it came to the conclusion that she was in trouble, more so this time since that huge beaver was standing infront of her this time.

The head medic watched Sonia's eyes for a second, shining a small light into her face before turning back to the people behind him and muttered something that Sonia didn't understand. Then, seeing the confused look on a small group of his medics' faces, translated, "Definitely confused for the time being." He looked over to a figure in the shadows that Sonia was sure was the Tiger general, "I can bring her round if you like, fully this time."

The general growled something and Gregor nodded, stepping forwards he reached over for a syringe. Sonia could only watch as the beaver reached back and pushed the syringe into her arm, watching her eyes closely he pushed down with his thumb and the medicine disappeared.

Instantly Sonia's world jumped into bright, simple focus. Suddenly she could make out all of the figures infront of her, the mangy, wrecked bodies of the medics and behind them the tall, powerful form of the tiger general. She felt herself flinch just watching the creature walk closer to her, something about him made the simplest action look terrifying, made the nightmares that had woken her sweating and screaming seem like silly childish games.

"It's good to meet you again," The tiger general's voice was quieter than she'd expected, than she remembered, as if he were talking to someone he had known for a long time, "To be honest I had hoped that I would have forgotten you but that has unfortunately proved impossible."

Sonia's head felt stable now but she still had no idea what the general was talking about, somewhere in her terror-addled mind one obvious question made its way through "What am I doing here?"

The general stopped his prepared speech for a second and looked more closely at Sonia, a slight frown crossing his face, "Why are you here?" He leaned in so his face was only a few inches from Sonia's, his voice barely a whisper of rage, "Your here because you ruined everything, every plan that was made, every mission put into action, you dismantled them all. You got me thrown out of the army and now," His voice suddenly rose to so loud that it forced Sonia to flinch and shut her eyes, "You just won't leave me alone!"

Before Sonia could even so much as think of a reply the tiger general had pulled away, slamming his metal claw into one of the tables behind the board Sonia was strapped to, his voice rising horribly again, "When I dream you turn them into nightmares, and when I wake up your still hanging over me." His grimaced at the thought, turning to Gregor and barking out an order in that strange language Sonia had heard the commander use before.

Gregor sighed and stepped forward, raising another syringe and looking down at Sonia, annoyance written over his face, "The general says he can't keep speaking to you right now Soldier. For now he's satisfied just to know your taken care of." Sonia didn't like the emphasis he put on the last part, but she could do nothing as Gregor pushed the second Syringe into her arm and depressed the plunger.

Sonia's head span instantly, her vision blurred and the world suddenly seemed to have tilted to one side, she was sure if she could have she would have fallen straight into the wall. The last thing she heard was Gregor's complaints about people 'not appreciating brilliance' and 'hard work' then her hearing deteriorated into just a series of in distinct sounds. For a moment her brain still struggled to make sense of itself, before giving up and just letting her fall into unconsciousness.

... ...

A placebo. That's what Toffee had called it when she'd asked, so that was what Lucy thought about. A medicine designed to make someone feel better when in reality it did nothing to aid their recovery in itself. People used them a lot for psychological illnesses Lucy assumed. After all what other cure was there? But this was hardly what she had expected when Toffee had told her about them.

She watched as her friend rapidly lost consciousness across the room and felt bile rise in her throat. She tried to blink away the images that formed in the back of her mind when she saw things like this, images of the death and horror that had already infested her head. It could have been worse, she reminded herself, at least the tiger general had left.

She wasn't sure how long she was there for, frozen to the spot just letting the same thoughts cannonball around in her head, but the next thing she knew Toffee was standing infront of her, one hand stuffed deep into his coat pocket, the other resting lightly on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He didn't get a reply, but something about her expression must have told him, he frowned slightly, "The placebo?" This gained him an annoyed glare, "Sorry, her name was..." A look of concentration crossed his face and he giggled quietly, "Sonia right? Funny name..." A distant expression crossed his face before Lucy pinched his wrist lightly, pulling back to reality, "Ow. Don't worry, we'll get her out soon."

Lucy smiled at this, at least until a quiet laugh cut her off, "You really don't know why Gregor had that girl bought here do you?" She turned as quickly as she could to see that hideously gaunt skunk sitting on a chair behind them, resting his feet on an operating table. Dale sighed and leaned forwards, resting his hands on his knees and panting slightly.

"A shame," He laughed, "It's a good story too." He watched the looks of suspicion both children gave him but carried on regardless, "You see back earlier in the war there was this unit, enemies side unfortunately. Damn efficient too by all accounts," He leaned back and coughed before continuing, "I mean these guys were monsters. There were about twenty of them to start with and to be honest every single one of them were one man armies. Especially their sergeant, he took out an entire base by himself I heard."

Lucy glanced over to Toffee, to see a look of shock pass over his face, whatever it took to take out a base it was clearly impressive. Toffee flinched as Dale recommenced his speech tilting his head back and emptying a handful of candies into his mouth.

"These guy were legends, until they all died." Dale's voice remained level, as if he were talking about the weather and not the deaths of soldiers, even if they had been on the other side, "Well almost all, the last three apparently went down at the battle of Talaghan San Ag, that Sergeant of theirs went nuts apparently, it was quite the show down and since then well the general's never been the same." He glanced slightly to both sides after he said this, checking if anyone had heard him before continuing, "And it just so happens that he'll do anything to reassure himself that the Sergeant's locked up safely somewhere and that your friend looks enough like the guy to persuade him."

Dale paused for a second, watching the children's faces (most particularly Lucy's face) as his words took effect, then he leaned back further laughing, "Well fancy that, the mime doesn't even seem surprised." His laugh reverberated off the canvas walls and seemed to Lucy to be amplified a thousand times, "Now I really am considering my earlier offer, I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say."

Any other time Lucy probably would have backed away, would have frozen, but right now that part of her found something worse. She had thought of the general as the thing that would meet her should she ever find her way to hell, but to think of something that could scare him was... To think it was so close to her friend that it would fool him... She couldn't describe what it was.

A small smile crossed her face before she even knew what she was thinking, but something about this was so familiar, so simple. If someone had asked her if she knew one thing that was like her friend but terrified her she knew exactly what her answer would be.

The smile on Lucy's face grew now seeing that Dale had stopped concentrating on her and Toffee was now lounging in the corner smiling, like he was a thousand mile away but other than that appeared fine. She could feel a plan coming together in her head, it wasn't complete yet and she could see a thousand ways it could go wrong, but it wasn't like she had much choice.

Even so she smiled, it felt good to have something to hope for Lucy realised, especially after so long.