~ WITHIN THESE SHALLOW DEPTHS ~

A/N: Well, back again, despite the extreme lack of reviews. For some odd reason or another, I REALLY LIKE this story . . . better than a lot of my other fics. So this one will probably actually be updated REGULARLY. Can you believe it??

Oh, and to warn you yet again: there WILL be eventual Magnet/Zigzag slash. Nothing vivid or explicit, it'll probably be very light, but it will be slash nonetheless. YE HAVE BEEN WARNED!

By the way . . . I AM IN NO WAY MAKING FUN OF KIDS WITH ADHD!! The children in the chapter below have a SEVERE CASE of ADHD, which is why they're acting so weird. If you have ADHD, please don't take offense!! I have tons of friends w/ ADHD too, so I am REALLY not dissing them in this chappie. ::hides:: I PROMISE!!

CHAPTER TWO +++ Soon

*SAINT PAUL'S CLINICAL INSTITUTION FOR THE MENTALLY TROUBLED*

The dining hall was always loud. How could it not be? The room contained five hundred mentally troubled kids, after all. The counselors and staff members had divided the children up according to their "illness", but as it turns out, this wasn't such a great idea.

Over in the left corner were the kids with ADHD. All of them were running around yelling at the top of their lungs, dancing on the tables and throwing silverware. Magnet usually avoided this table. He had already been hit in the head with a soupspoon, a fork, a pair of tongs, and a ladle in the past two months.

Magnet sat at the table for kleptomaniacs. Well, he was supposed to, anyway. Instead, he and the other boys from D-tent just found a space to themselves. The counselors were always too busy trying to keep order over in the ADHD corner to notice.

The kleptomaniac table really wasn't much better. The boys kept stealing each other's food and hiding it in their pockets. When one discovered his sandwich was missing, he would usually run around sticking his hand in the others' pockets to reclaim it. As Magnet walked by this table now, he could see they were involved in a deadly food fight.

Magnet slid his tray through the line, a bored expression on his tan face. A nameless glob of mush was slopped onto his tray. Magnet wrinkled his nose in disgust. This gross stuff for lunch AGAIN?! Then he was given some rare, lumpy mystery meat, and a carton of very old milk.

Zigzag saw Magnet approaching the table. He waved wildly to get his attention. Over by the food line, Magnet rolled his eyes and waved back, then promptly turned towards the garbage can and dumped his tray.

"What'd you do that for?" Zigzag asked as Magnet took a seat beside him.

"Why do you think I did that?" Magnet retorted.

X-Ray looked up from his less than satisfying meal. "You're gonna be hungry, man."

Magnet shrugged. "I'll live."

Zigzag's eyes widened. "Oh my god, guys! Magnet's anorexic!"

Twitch twitched. "Really?"

Squid swatted Zigzag over the head. "Don't listen to him. Acute paranoia, remember?"

"That wasn't no paranoia," Armpit cut in, shaking his head. "That was just Zigzag bein' a dumbass, man."

Zigzag pouted.

Magnet sighed and stood up. "Be right back."

"Where're you going?" Zigzag asked curiously.

Magnet grinned. "You'll see."

The Hispanic boy nonchalantly strolled towards the food line, whistling innocently. He could feel the eyes of D-tent on him, watching his every move. Magnet sidled up to Dr. Hurley, Twitch's counselor, who was clutching a very large Chick-Fil-A bag in his hands.

"Hello there, Dr. Hurley!" Magnet said cheerfully.

Dr. Hurley smiled. "Why, good afternoon, José. How have your sessions been with Dr. Carter?"

"They've been going great! I think I'm really starting to understand the difference between right and wrong," Magnet replied, putting a knowing look on his face.

"That's excellent!" Dr. Hurley exclaimed, looking genuinely pleased. "Wonderful!"

"Well, bye, Dr. Hurley," Magnet said, smiling.

"Goodbye, José." The counselor set the Chick-Fil-A bag down and turned to the Coke machine, slipping in two quarters. While Dr. Hurley's back was turned, Magnet swiftly grabbed the bag and hurried back to his table.

Zigzag's jaw dropped. "Dude . . . is that . . . Chick-Fil-A?"

"Magnet, you klepto!" Squid said, laughing, as the rest of the boys reached into the bag for some decent food.

"I can't help it, man, my hands are like magnets," he replied, grinning.

The boys had just started chowing down on their chicken when Squid looked up and exclaimed, "Here comes Dr. Rosen!"

Dr. Rosen was Squid's current obsession. She was the youngest counselor at the institute, and as such had caught the attention of quite a few boys. She was very tall and very slim, with long wavy golden tresses and bright blue eyes.

"Oh brother," Armpit muttered, shaking his head in exasperation.

"Look at her," Squid breathed, eyes wide. "She's BEAUTIFUL."

"Squid, if you were any shallower, there would be a no-diving sign sticking out of your head," Magnet said, rolling his dark eyes.

Squid scowled. "I resent that."

Zigzag watched Dr. Rosen, eyes narrowed. "I don't think she's that attractive."

"That's because you're gay, man," X-Ray said knowingly.

"I am?" Zigzag asked, scratching his head.

"You must be, if you don't think SHE'S attractive," Squid said pointedly, eyes till upon the beauty.

"How can I be gay and not know it?"

Twitch twitched again. "Well, I know for a fact I'm heterosexual."

"No dude, YOU are AUTO-sexual."

Twitch twitched. "Oh. Right."

"So what does that make me?" Magnet asked.

"Well, I would say bi," Squid said thoughtfully, "except you're not attracted to EVERYONE, it's just that everyone's attracted to YOU."

"Uh . . . they are?"

"Come on, you're like a magnet!" Zigzag said cheerfully, slinging an arm around Magnet.

"I heard Dr. Rosen talkin' to that other young one, um, what's-her-name, Dr. Ford," Armpit spoke up. "She said she thought Magnet's accent was cute or somethin'."

Squid choked on his chicken. "She said WHAT?!"

Magnet wrinkled his nose. "Cute?"

"You've gotta admit, it's very endearing," Zigzag agreed, nodding.

Magnet stared at Zigzag. "Zig . . . since when have you known big words like 'endearing'?"

Zigzag blinked. "I honestly have no idea where that came from."

"The Apocalypse is coming, Zigzag's using big words!" Squid exclaimed, jumping up. "And people are calling Magnet's accent cute! THE WORLD IS GONNA END!"

"NOW who's suffering from acute paranoia?" Zigzag muttered darkly.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

*YELNATS HOUSEHOLD*

"YOU'VE GOT MAIL!"

Stanley bit his lip as he hesitantly clicked the little mailbox, dreading to see what lay within.

Oh damn, he thought. Another one from SW42697@hotmail.com. The subject of this one was simply "Soon."

Stanley reluctantly opened the e-mail.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT. WHAT IS MINE, I SHALL GET FROM YOU. WHAT IS MINE, I SHALL KEEP.

SOON. VERY SOON.

Stanley was shaking now. That had been the shortest one yet, but it had caused him the most worry. Did this person actually know who he was? Where he lived?

Stanley abruptly signed off and jumped into bed fully clothed. Something was going on. He fell into an uneasy sleep, those words resonating throughout his head . . .

Soon . . . very soon . . .

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A/N: REVIEW PLEASE!