Riley rolled over onto his stomach, tangling himself in the sheets, and half-opened his eyes to watch the morning light beaming through the window. He took in a long, deep breath through his nostrils then released it in a contented sigh. He felt well-rested and relaxed.

The room was warm and clean, and he felt no sense of fear or urgency to get up and leave. There was no lingering scent of cigarettes or musky odor of beer, only the fresh clean smell of his bed sheets.

He could hear someone walking down the hallway on the other side of the door, but no rush of panic or horror passed through him. No fear of the person on the other side of the door. No assumption that that person was going to hurt him.

He untangled himself from the sheets and sat up, pausing to look around at the floor. There were no bandages or other medical supplies anywhere, because he didn't need them. The only things on the floor were a couple of scattered papers and drawings, crayons, and some Legos off in the corner. It was so peaceful and warm in here.

He tensed, an awful, sick feeling taking over in his stomach as the image of his father passed through his mind. Then, the memory of him bleeding, falling, dying, all while staring at Riley in disbelief and fury. Riley felt nauseous.

No longer wanting to be alone with his thoughts, he hurried out of bed and left the room, went down the stairs, and was incredibly relieved to find Brooke sitting on the couch in the living room. He paced himself, not wanting to appear as though something was wrong, and sat so close beside her that they were now stuck in the middle of the cushions and leaning against each other.

"Morning," he figured he should say something.

She grunted. He knew by now that the girl was not a morning person. Actually, he was a bit surprised that she was awake this early on a Sunday. She turned her head a little to get a look at his other arm.

"Does your arm hurt?"

"No." Yesterday, Lucy allowed him to keep his arm free of the sling as it was already healing rather well. She still insisted on keeping it wrapped tightly in a tourniquet that was so thick it was more like a cast. As it was, he didn't have any pain.

"Good," Brooke muttered and turned back to the TV.

"What are you doing today?" He was desperate to keep himself distracted from those awful memories that kept popping up in his head.

She hummed a sound that was similar to 'I don't know.' "I might go back to sleep. Sniper woke me up because he had to go outside and I couldn't fall back asleep, but now I'm feeling sleepy again. I'll probably sleep 'til like noon… Or until the boys show up to bug me. Are you going to Butters'?"

He could hear the sleepiness in her voice. "Yeah, if you're going back to sleep then I'll go hang out with him. He always wants me around anyway."

She smirked. "So do you."

He blushed a little, but grinned and nudged her in her side with his elbow. "Whatever."

After Brooke had gone back upstairs to her room, Riley went to the kitchen to get something to eat for breakfast. His stomach was feeling a little better, but just to be on the safe side, he ate a light breakfast of toast and a single mandarin. After, he left through the front door and walked across the yard to the Stotch's residence next door.

"Oh, good morning Riley." It was Butters' mom who had answered the door. She stepped aside to let him in. "Butters is upstairs in his room. He hasn't come down yet, so I think he might still be asleep."

Riley thanked her and went upstairs. He knocked on the door but there was no response. After waiting a few moments, he turned the knob and quietly opened the door to peer inside. Butters was indeed still asleep, on his back with his limbs sprawled out, head to the side, and the blanket only covering one leg while the rest of it sagged on the floor.

He stepped into the room and closed the door then went over to the side of the bed to look. He pursed his lips, trying to hold in a laugh. Someone had a rough night…

"Butters," Riley said.

Butters grunted and turned his head the other way, but still did not wake up.

Riley took notice of a stuffed toy sitting on the bedside table. It was the little pink bunny Jake had given Butters the other day. He stared at it, wondering what the boy was doing right now. Was he safe? Surely. Jake always found ways to weasel out of trouble and dangerous situations. But, all of Jake's thieving and illegal dealings would come back to get him one day, wouldn't it? Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he could convince Jake to leave. But where would he go?

Riley inhaled deeply and released it in a sigh then turned his attention back to Butters. He suddenly remembered the annoying thing Jake would do to wake him up sometimes. Riley reached his hand out and grabbed Butters' nose between his thumb and index finger and held the nostrils closed. He waited, and after a few seconds, Butters made a strange sound like the air had gotten caught in his throat and he woke with a start.

"AH! …Oh. Oh! Hi, Riley!"

He laughed. "Uh, good-morning!"

Butters rubbed at his eyes. His hair was a mess. "Ugh. Is it morning already?"

"Were you up late or something?"

"No. I've just been really sleepy lately. I don't know why."

"Hm. Maybe you're getting sick."

"What do you mean?"

Riley shrugged and climbed on the bed with him. "Well, usually, when you're sick, you get really tired. It's because your body heals better when you're asleep."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He thought for a moment. "Maybe it's because, when you're asleep, your body can just focus on the sickness instead of a bunch of other stuff. …I think."

"Oh," he rubbed his eyes again. He felt a little dizzy when he closed them. Butters made a quiet little sound of surprise upon feeling something touch his forehead. Riley was lightly touching the back of his hand to Butters' forehead.

"Pretty sure you have a fever," Riley told him.

"Aw, really?"

"Yeah. I guess you should go back to sleep."

Riley didn't have to tell him twice. Butters felt so groggy and his eyes burned a little; he gladly pulled his blanket up and curled up beneath it. He was a tad surprised when Riley laid down with him.

"You're not worried about getting sick, too?"

He shrugged. "I never get sick."

"You've never been sick?"

"Not that I recall." He turned onto his side to face him. "I've never been sick, just injured."

Butters frowned. "That time that your dad really hurt you…and you called me for help… Did he ever hurt you that much before?"

"Yeah," he said quietly. He was staring into his eyes.

"W-well, where did you go then?"

"Before you, you mean?"

He nodded.

"Oh," Riley pulled his gaze away. "I usually just stayed in my room after… Ah, but, sometimes, if I didn't have enough supplies left to treat myself, or I just couldn't, I would go to Jake's place."

Butters seemed to perk up a little at the mention of Jake's name. He felt a mix of curiosity, excitement, and just a tiny bit of jealousy. "Oh! Where does he live?"

"An abandoned apartment building a few blocks from my… From where I used to live. Locke's a pretty shitty, rundown city."

"I thought it was a boulevard?"

Riley laughed a little. "Yeah. Locke is the name of the city, and that boulevard is named after it. I heard it all fell apart a long time ago. Don't know the reason, though. Not that I really care… Most of the people still living there are teenagers and kids abandoned or abused."

"Oh jeez. Uh, oh! Jake kind of mentioned the building he lives in. He said it doesn't have electricity."

"No, it doesn't. It's an old brick apartment building and it's pretty dark in the halls. The lobby where the main entrance is has a big fireplace, though. Jake stays in a room up on the third floor."

"How many floors does it have?"

"Only six, but the ceiling collapsed on the top floor a long time ago, so you can only get to five."

"Maybe we could go visit him sometime?"

"What?" he flinched. "Butters, you've only seen a single street in Locke. The city is so much worse than that."

"Oh, right… Do you miss Jake?"

"I –" Riley was caught off-guard by the question. "…Y-Yeah. I do." He noticed him squirm a little and look away. "Why?"

"I-I was just wondering! I-I mean, you – you guys were friends and all…"

He was surprised at Butters' sudden nervousness. "Uh, yeah… I mean, I guess so." He was even more surprised when Butters suddenly flipped himself over so that his back was to Riley.

"Well, I-I'm gonna go back to sleep. Okay?" he asked timidly.

"Uh, sure?"

It took a little while, but Butters finally fell back into sleep; Riley could tell he had fallen asleep by his now steady breathing. He moved himself closer and pressed his forehead against his back, wrapping his arms around Butters' waist. If all of this peace was only a dream…he never wanted to wake up.

Riley had fallen asleep as well after a little while, but he woke up again after about an hour or so upon hearing the hamsters gnawing on the bars of their cage. He sat up, glanced down at Butters who was still asleep, then got out of the bed and went over to the cage to look. The food dish was empty and the little rodents were chewing on the bars.

"Oh, you guys are hungry?"

One of the hamsters suddenly pounced on another in a blur of fur and squeaks.

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Riley opened the cage and shooed them off each other. "Okay, sheesh. You don't have to eat each other!"

The animals watched expectantly as he took the dish and filled it from a nearby bag of hamster food. Before he could even remove his hand, the little furballs were climbing over him and each other to get to the food.

"There," he closed the cage door and watched them for a minute. "You little savages."

Paranoid that they would start fighting again, Riley sat in a chair across from the cage and watched the hamsters go about their daily activities. Most of them buried themselves and went to sleep, while two of them seemed to be competing over the exercise wheel until one lost and flew off the wheel. He found them cute but also annoying and stupid.

It wasn't until about one-twenty in the afternoon that Butters woke up. He turned onto his belly and stretched all his limbs out then sat up and noticed Riley. The other boy was watching the hamsters in their cage.

"Good-morning again."

Riley raised an eyebrow at him. "It's almost one-thirty in the afternoon, Butters."

"Really!?" He shot his clock a bewildered look. "Wow!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Huh? O-Oh. I…I feel better, actually," he smiled. "Not one-hundred percent, but better than this morning."

"That's good. Oh, you should separate your hamsters. Or get a bigger cage. They keep trying to eat each other."

"Aw, not again!"

Riley looked at him oddly.

"Sprinkles is always trying to eat Ham-Ham. And Lenny is always kicking Dewy off the slide."

Riley looked back at the animals. They were all the same colors and patterns. "How do you tell the difference?"

Butters slid down from the bed and went over to the cage with him. "Oh, that's easy. See, that one's Sprinkles, and that one's Ham-Ham… Or is THAT one Ham-Ham? No, wait, I think that's Jedidiah."

"Riiight," Riley rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I should color-code their uniforms."

"Their what?"

"Oh, that's right! I never officially introduced you to my REAL identity."

Riley blinked.

"Hold on, wait right there!" Butters ran into the closet and closed the door. "No peaking!"

He blushed a little and turned back to the hamsters. "Does he always do this?" One of the rodents ceased its grooming to look up at him.

"Okay," Butters said from inside the closet. "Prepare yourself, mortal! For I am –" he threw the closet door open. "PROFESSOR CHAOS!"

He was wearing an odd costume partly made from aluminum foil, complete with a cape, aluminum foil gauntlets, and an aluminum helmet.

"Do what now?" Riley said.

Butters let out a 'menacing' laugh. "Do not be afraid, Riley! I may be a villain, but I'd never do anything to hurt my friends!"

Riley's head cocked to the side. "Oh! Is that what this is?" He turned to mutter to the hamster, "Why didn't you warn me about this?"

"Now that you know my secret identity, you can't tell anyone. Okay?" Butters' regular tone had returned.

"Huh?" he jumped a little. "Oh, yeah. That's cool. I mean, whatever you want, Butters."

"These little fellas are my minions," he gestured to the hamsters. "There's also General Disarray…"

"Which hamster is that?"

"Oh, no, he's a person, not a hamster!" he laughed cutely.

"You mean someone else is involved in this?" He cleared his throat. "I-I mean, of course! How…silly of me."

"Hey! Riley, you can be a general, too!"

"What?"

"Yeah! I'll have to think of a name for you. But, together, we will spread chaos and entropy, a-and make our enemies rue the day they were ever born, you betcha! Uh, so whaddaya say?

Riley sighed a long, slow sigh that almost released all the oxygen within him, then straightened himself and smiled sweetly at Butters. "Sure, Professor. I'll do whatever you want."

He blushed. "Oh! R-Really? Well, okay then. Great! So, do you wanna go get some ice cream?"

Riley bit his lip to stop himself from laughing at the sudden change in subject. "You're feeling well enough?"

"Yeah, I feel fine."

"All right then, but I have a request. Please – and I will get on my knees and BEG if I have to – change your clothes."

"Ah, that's right. I can't be seen in public like this. Not YET. It'll blow my cover."

"Yes. That – That is exactly why I asked. Yes."

Once Butters had changed out of his costume, the two of them left to go to a small ice cream parlor on the main street. Most of their time there, Riley spent listening to Butters talk about new ideas for his minions' costumes and plans to conquer the world with chaos. As silly and embarrassing as it was, Riley's fondness of the boy was too strong to allow him not to go along with it all.

They spent the rest of the afternoon at Stark's Pond, where Riley was trying to teach Butters how to skip stones over the water.

"I did it!" Butters cheered. After many failed attempts, he managed to get a stone to skip two times over the water before it plunged into the depths. He turned back to Riley excitedly. "Did you see?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "See? I told you, you could do it."

Their game was interrupted when a police car pulled up and came to a stop close-by and two officers stepped out. The boys watched curiously as the officers approached.

"Riley Stewart?" One of them asked.

"Y-Yes?" he felt sick all of a sudden.

The officers exchanged looks before one of the took out a pair of handcuffs. "You're under arrest for the murder of your father, Clay Stewart."

He felt his blood run cold. "I –"

"Anything you say can, and will, be used against you." He moved behind him to place the cuffs on the boy.

Despite the fear and panic he felt, Riley was submissive and didn't try to argue or resist them.

"Wait," Butters said. "W-What's going on? Riley didn't do anything!"

"Save it, kid," the other officer said. "We've got what we need as proof."

"B-But –" he looked at Riley. "Riley, you – your dad left, right?"

He wouldn't look directly at him. "Not…physically."

"What do you mean? Y-You said that he left. You – Did you really…?"

"I…didn't mean to…"

"Huh?"

"He hit me in the head with a bottle. I couldn't see. I just…grabbed something and hit him with it. I didn't mean for him to…to die."

Butters felt like his heart stopped for a second.

"Already got the confession," one officer said to the other. "Let's get him squared away."

"W-Wait!" Butters said, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "He was just defending himself! His dad was the bad guy!"

"Murder's murder, kid," the cop said. He lightly nudged Riley's shoulder towards the car. "Let's go."

"No, but – !" Butters ran over to Riley and grabbed his shirt. "Riley! I don't want you to go…"

He pressed their foreheads together. "I don't want to leave… But it's true, Butters. It was an accident, but… I'm sorry. I love you."

His breath caught in his chest. "Riley…" he whined.

Before he could say anything else, Riley pulled away and entered the back of the police car without another word. Butters watched, horrified, as they drove away.

.

Brooke had joined the boys at the park after Kenny had shown up at her house to invite her to play. She didn't understand how to play basketball, though, and wasn't very intent on learning. Instead, she played fetch with Sniper and watched the boys play.

They had been there all afternoon and were gathering up their things to leave when Butters showed up crying and panicking.

"Whoa, dude, Butters calm down," Stan told him. "What happened?"

It was hard to understand him in his panicked babbling. "Abuduh – uh – Riley – dad – police!"

"Riley's dad's a police officer?" Darren tilted his head.

"Police – take!"

The boys exchanged confused looks. "Hey Brooke," Darren called. "You got any idea what he's freaking out about?"

"What?" She walked over from the benches and looked concerned when she saw Butters. "Butters." She pulled him into a hug to use her soul to calm him down. "Okay. Now, tell us what's wrong."

He sniffed and pulled away. "Riley and I were at the pond, and some police officers showed up and took him away for murdering his dad!"

Everyone jumped. "What?!" Kyle squeaked.

"Holy shit, dude!" Stan said. "Riley killed his dad?!"

"I knew it!" Cartman shouted.

"No!" Butters shouted, surprising them. "I-I mean, he was just defending himself!" He turned back to Brooke. "His dad was –"

"I know, Butters." She stopped him.

"You – you do?"

"Yeah," Stan said. "You do?"

She nodded and hugged Butters again. "Don't worry, Butters. I'll take care of it. He'll be okay."

"What are you going to do?" Kenny asked.

She sighed softly. "First, I'm going to take Butters home. Then, I'll have someone retrieve Riley, and I'll have the royal guards do a LOT of erasing… Lucy's going to scold me."

"Not as much as Quinzel will."

They turned to see Lucy standing there with her hand on her hip. She closed her eyes with a sigh after seeing Butters. "But I suppose the trouble and paperwork will be worth it if it means helping Riley. I have grown quite fond of him myself."

"Y-You have?" Kyle stammered.

To be continued…

Next chapter will introduce an old new character. By that I mean, a character from a single episode of the show will be making an appearance in the next chapter.