A/N: This is probably the last update before I leave for my exchange program. I will of course try to update when I'm overseas but I can't promise anything regular just yet, being as I don't know what my host family has in the means of computer/internet connection. But I will try! Oh how I will try.

I saved my cat from a cat-fight last night. Sneeze. I'm listening to the Weakerthans whee!

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that are owned by Jhonen Vasquez. Because I'm not him, bless his soul. But I do own any characters you don't recognize, such as my original character.

Warning: Wow. I don't know. This contains violence and swearing… And probably some other things that I haven't thought of just yet.

Johnny returned to Devi's apartment half an hour later, a cherry brainfreezie in hand. Danielle had been drawing more and more pictures during the time she had spent with Devi, but the woman was still to get a peep out of her. When Johnny had knocked on the door, signaling his return, she could have cried with relief. The tension between the two females was thick in the air.

Opening the door, Johnny almost pounced inside.

'Is she sane yet?' he hissed, nodding to Danielle who was packing away the drawings she had done. Devi just sighed, and looked over her shoulder.

'Danielle, Johnny and I are just going to have a chat in the kitchen, alright?'

Danielle lifted her head, and nodded, showing she understood that she shouldn't interrupt them. The two adults crossed the room to the kitchen, Johnny immediately sitting down.

'So, is she sane yet?' he said, repeating his prior question.

'Johnny,' Devi began with a sigh, 'I could barely get anything out of her, let alone… "Make her sane".'

The man raised his eyebrow. 'So you're saying I should bring her back to you, then?'

'Well, yes. But I really think you should take her to a real psychologist' Devi shortly replied.

'I can't!'

'Why is that?'

'Because I don't trust them with her!' Johnny stood up quickly, is movements speedy and graceful. 'And I know you, and that means a lot to me. So in that I know you'll try your damnedest with her, whether you think you are or not.'

Devi lowered her eyes and grabbed a mug off the kitchen bench. Carrying it over to the coffeepot, she grabbed a spoon from the sink and began to ladle the powder into the mug.

'I'm seeing someone,' she said over her shoulder, her hand shaking slightly as it did so. 'For about two weeks now. He's really nice, and he hasn't done anything to think that I should be wary of.'

Johnny stared at her, his head cocked slightly. 'Why are you telling me this?'

Devi clicked the kettle on, and poured some sugar in with the coffee. 'I thought you should know. In case you get some wild ideas of us getting back together again. It's not going to happen, so I hope you don't think that we are. The only reason I've agreed to help Danielle is because I don't want to go around thinking- knowing, even- that I've not only permitted a possible new killer to walk around, but she may also have a terrible future ahead of her. At least by talking to her I'll know that I've tried to give her a second chance. Whether or not she takes it is up to her, but at least I would have tried.'

The kettle whistled, and Devi immediately poured the boiling hot water into the cup. Johnny watched her wordlessly as she sipped the coffee, her eyes stuck on him.

'Do you understand?' she finally asked, her tone snappy.

'Yes, I do,' he replied. 'But for your knowledge, I never intended as this as a way to get back with you. To kill you, even, and that's because I'm looking out for Danielle's wellbeing. I don't give a shit if you're with someone else; in fact it delights me to know that. I couldn't care less who he was or where he came from or where you even met him! And I don't know how you got the idea that this was just a means to get closer to you, to… to go out with you again!' Johnny finished his speech with a wave of his hand, his cherry brainfreezie spilling slightly at his wild gesture. Devi just sighed, and waved his hand at the man.

'Look, just go. And by the way, Danielle's birthday's on June the sixth. I suggest you get her something. Kids like presents.'

'Yeah, yeah, sure.' Johnny left the kitchen, and turned to Danielle, whom was sitting on the couch still, drawing another picture. 'Come on Danielle, we're leaving.'

The girl jumped off of the seat, and snatched her pile of drawings. Devi entered the room, still sipping her hot drink.

'Same time next week, then?' Devi asked. Johnny just nodded, and he and Danielle moved to the door.

'See you, Devi.' Danielle called over her shoulder, and the two left the apartment.

The drive home was relatively quiet, only the sounds of soft jazz music filtering through the car stereo. Danielle sifted through the drawings she had done, a lock of her dark hair dangling in front of her eyes. Johnny glanced over at her as he reached a set of lights, and watched her for a few seconds.

'What have you got there?' he asked casually, keeping one eye on the traffic lights, and the other on her.

'Devi and I drew some pictures. These are mine.' Danielle replied, holding up one of a cat with a lollipop-type tree next to it. Johnny gave a crooked grin, and turned to the road the lights still red. The car next to them had the stereo pounding, the car almost rocking on its wheels. There were several- probably five- men in the car, all laughing and smoking. The passenger in the front seat yelled something out of the window, at Johnny, which caused the man to look over.

'Danielle, what did that man just say?' Johnny murmured, straining to here. The girl just shrugged, glancing over her drawings once more. The man that yelled called out again, and this time Johnny heard.

'Oi, pansy, did you kidnap that girl to fuck 'er cos you don't have your own faggot boyfriend?'

Gripping the wheel with both hands, his knuckles turning white, Johnny called over his shoulder,

'Danielle, grab my bag from the backseat.'

She obeyed, and handed Johnny the bag. Reaching inside, he grabbed his tazer, handed it to Danielle and leaped out of the car. The men next to them only laughed and jeered, as Johnny swung the door open, and snatched the man who had poked fun at him.

'Ooh, I'm so scared little man, whatcha gonna do to me, eh?'

With a flick of his wrist, the man was in his (suprisingly strong) grasp. The man made a strange sound from the back of his throat, and the next thing he knew he was tossed into the backseat of Johnny's car via the front seat. Johnny sat back in the driver's seat, the traffic lights changed, and he was off again.

'What the fuck is going on here?' the man screeched in the backseat, sitting up.

'Such profanity in front of a young girl.' Johnny sighed, ignoring the fact that the man's friends were chasing them in their car. 'Danielle, would you mind taking care of our knew friend with the tazer?'

Danielle set her pictures onto the floor, and clambered in between the seats and into the back.

'Hello,' she said lightheartedly, playing with the tazer in her hands. She switched it on, and looked back up at him. 'What's your name?'

'Jason…' he replied slowly, keeping his eyes on the tazer.

'I'm Danielle. See you!' she called, shoving the tazer on his neck. Jason as he was now known, twitched wildly, a small scream escaping his throat as he finally lay still. Turning the electrical device off, Danielle climbed back into the front seat, pulled her seat belt on, and placed the tazer back into Johnny's bag.

They were quiet, Johnny occasionally looking back at Jason, his friends finally having lost the grey car. Once they arrived home, Danielle grabbed the bag and drawing, and Johnny hauled the body inside.

'There's some Skettios in the cupboard. I'll be down in the basement. Give me a yell if you're coming down so I don't end up hurting you instead, okay?'

''kay.' Danielle replied, and wandered off into the kitchen, leaving Johnny to his business.

It was getting close to nine o'clock and Johnny was still in the basements. Having finished her dinner long ago, as well as her homework, Danielle was getting impatient, being as Meat hadn't spoken to her, and Lola was snappy when she had talked. Setting the Barbie doll aside, the girl left her bedroom, and opened the basement door. It was dark, and a strong smell hit her as she descended down the stairs. Her hand trailed along the railing, the only light coming from the doorway.

'Johnny?' she called, hearing a loud scream. She squinted, her eyes slowly adapting to the dim light, and found the man standing over whom she presumed to be Jason, a screwdriver stuck in one of the latter person's ear. Blood was trickling from the orifice, his teeth clenched as he tried to suppress another scream. Looking towards Danielle, Johnny pulled the tool from the ear.

'Come over here.' Johnny told her, waving her over. Danielle crossed to the two, her eyebrows raised. 'Over there, I've got a drill. I would get it, but last time I left our new friend here, he tried to escape. Can you get it for me?'

Danielle nodded, and moved in the direction Johnny was pointing in. As her back turned, her ears were filled with another high-pitched scream. Grabbing the drill, she returned, trying to wipe the blood off her hands that was on said tool. As she passed it to Johnny, who had stuck the screwdriver back into the man's ear, she clucked her tongue.

'You really shouldn't go poop your pants. It makes an awful mess.' Turning to Johnny, she folded her hands behind her back. 'Can Todd come over tomorrow night?'

'I don't see why not. Go run over and ask him.' He mumbled, plugging the drill into the socket on the wall. The screech of the whirring drill began and Danielle started up the staircase. As she neared the door, she heard Johnny cry over the drill 'See, I told you not to shit your pants.'

Leaving via the front door, Danielle started towards Squee's house. She halted as she approached the front door however. Every time she had seen Johnny go over to the boy's house, he had gone to the window. Danielle had no clue in the world why he did that, but deciding it would be best to follow what he did, she started towards the garage Johnny used to get towards the window. Walking about the little brick carport, it took her a while to climb up onto its roof. Tip-toeing across the roof, her feet causing the sound mimicking a cat walking atop the roof- only a lot heavier and a lot louder- Danielle reached the window. Resting her hands upon it, she peered inside, only to be met with black. There was a thin stream of light coming under the door, and in that she could see only murky shapes in the room. Placing a finger on her lip, she turned around, seeing if she could use anything on the roof to open the window. Finding nothing, she turned around once more, and tried to open the window from the outside. Find it unsuccessful, she knocked on the glass panel instead. There was a sound from the other side of the window, and soon Squee appeared on the other side of the glass. He opened the window, and cocked his head.

'Danielle?' Squee stared at her as if she had three heads.

'Hi, Todd. Can you help me?' Danielle replied, motioning to the window ledge, which came up to her knees.

'Er…' Squee reached over, grabbed one of Danielle's hands and helped her over. It took several moments before the girl was inside the safety of the boy's house.

'Thanks!' she said, cheerily brushing herself off. Squee stared at her, and shut the window.

'What were you doing?' he asked, sitting down on the foot of his bed. He was in his pajamas, the cuffs of his pants hiding his feet.

'Oh,' Danielle stood up, having landed on the floor, and turned to Squee. 'I wonderin' if you want to sleep over tomorrow night?'

Squee's complexion paled and he only gaped at Danielle. Sleep over? As in, stay over for a night at the crazy neighbour man's house with the possibility of not only being severely mutilated and the chance of seeing some of his victims? It was bad enough being his neighbour. Sleeping over would mean being closer to the man who haunts him. Saying yes to staying over would mean having his possible death looming over him, but it would also mean making the girl whom was grinning from ear-to-ear at her proposition even happier. Saying no would wipe the grin off her face.

And staying over would probably mean the aliens wouldn't be able to kidnap him if they decided to come. And Daddy was always telling him to get out of the house. It would make Daddy happy if he stayed over at the house next door.

'Okay, Danielle.' Squee replied with a sigh. Danielle squealed, and hugged the boy. 'Yay! We're gonna have a sleepover!'

'Can I bring Shmee?' Squee asked, pulling Danielle off of him. Danielle nodded, and started towards the window.

'Sure,' she replied, pulling the window open, and sitting down on the ledge, looking over her shoulder as she did so, her legs swinging back and forth.

'The crazy neigh- I mean, Johnny, he doesn't like Shmee.'

'Well… He'll have to learn to for one night.'

Squee grabbed his bear, and hugged him against his chest. 'All right. I'll see you at school tomorrow, then.'

'Rightio!'

And in the next instant, Danielle had dropped to the roof of the garage and then onto the ground. Squee heard a small 'ow' as she landed, and after a moment he saw the small girl wander back to her house her silhouette made by the streetlights.

'I hope I don't get hurt, Shmee…' he whispered, closing the window and lying back down in his bed.

So that little Todd fellow's coming over tomorrow night.

Yes, he is.

He'll be staying the night.

Yes, he is.

He'll be bringing that Shmee fellow.

Yes, he is.

Stop saying that.

Lola groaned, and turned her head to the toy beside her. 'You are so annoying!'

Reverend Meat gave his wide grin, and took a step towards the Barbie. 'And you know you love me like that.'

'No, I don't.' Lola hissed, pushing the toy away from her. Meat rocked slightly, and fell onto his back. He squirmed about on the floor, much to Lola's amusement, but soon found his footing again. 'Look, Meat, I don't like you at all. If I wanted to, I could grab one of Johnny's knives and skewer you with it. How would you like that, eh?'

Meat just waved one of his chubby, plastic hands, and turned his back to the doll. 'Look, hun, you're swell, but you should relax. I think this whole Danielle mess is working you up. You should just calm down, let me take over. She's not as hard as to twist about as I previously thought. Maybe I won't even need your help- I don't think I will with the way things are going.'

Lola glared at the toy, and marched over, spinning him around. Being as she was taller than Meat, she leant over him, hands somehow on her hips. 'Look, bub, I'm not going to let you wreck her life. Yes, she may be going mad, but I'm not going to be held accountable for it. She can hear me now, and that's more then I want. Johnny's even getting her to talk to Devi, you know that? Devi's a strong person; she defeated her own voice! And if I can, I'm going to get Danielle talk to Devi- more willingly than she already is, that is.'

Meat grew angrier with this. 'She is living with a fucking murderer! A murderer, you ass! Whether we help her or not, she is going to go insane, whether you like it or not! I know it hurts you to hear that, but whether she talks to Devi, whether she has that Squee kid stay over lots, she is going to go nuts!'

'Nobody goes insane without our help, you of all people should know that. Whether they are schizophrenic, delusional or just plain antisocial, we have helped some how, and for once I would like to remain a doll, and not get someone insane.'

Meat halted as he heard Danielle trample down the hallway. He hopped over to the mouse hole in the corner of the wall, and entered it. Lola was already in her prior position.

Ah, but Lola, you are not just any doll. You're the doll that vies with the attention the Chucky from those horrible movies gave that kid You make people insane, and you know that, so why fight it?

Because I'm not like you, you ass.

Yes you are, you just don't know it yet.

Danielle entered the room, and glanced at Lola. 'Todd's going to stay over tomorrow night, Lola, isn't that great?' She picked up the doll, and hugged her against her chest.

I'm never like you, Lola hissed, making sure Danielle couldn't hear.

Yes you are Meat replied, make sure too that Danielle couldn't hear his part of the conversation. And with that, he left the room.

Lola focussed her attention back to the girl, and with as much joy she could put into her voice, she agreed with the girl. Yes, it is. Remember to have fun, and to play it safe, you don't want to hurt yourself, do you?

'No, I don't,' Danielle replied, and sat down on her bed, kicking off her sneakers as she did so. She set her doll down beside her, and sighed loudly.

What's wrong, Danielle?

The girl paused, and bit her lower lip.

Danielle tell me, you can trust me.

'Well…' the girl paused, and closed her eyes. 'My Dad got out of jail.'

Your father?

'Yes.'

How do you know?

'It was on the news this afternoon, when Johnny and I were going to Devi's.'

Do you think he'll find you?

'I hope not…' there was a pause, and Danielle picked Lola up, smoothing down the doll's hair. 'I like it here. I like Johnny and I like Todd and Devi's okay… I don't know her really, but she lets me draw and that's good.'

Yes, it is. There was a pause before Lola started again. What will you do if your father finds you here?

'Dunno.'

What did he do to get into jail, anyway?

'Mummy said he was a bad man. I don't remember really, but Mummy always said he was a bad man and if he talks to me I should stay with her and not go with him. But Mummy's gone now, and…'

Go to Johnny if he finds you. Johnny's nice to you, you said it yourself.

'Yes… He'll keep me safe if Dad finds me.'

Yes, he will.

'Thank you Lola.'

No problem, Danielle.

A/N: Woo. Might update before I depart (on the 21st/22nd), but I doubt it. I want cake.