6 Is That A Song There?

by ReneeLouvier

This is the fourth, and most likely last story in my Trilogy. Please read Remembering, Sadie, and finally Demon before heading into this story. Thanks.This is the story about Gonzo and how he deals with his losses.

Prologue

A small box lay in the corner of an otherwise cluttered room. It was old, and slightly tattered. It had been shipped, and blown up; burned and sat upon. That box had definately seen better days. The faded lettering on it's side did not do justice to it. It read "Gonzo".

He was in mourning. He had cried harder then anyone else. Until very recently, she was his only family that he knew. Of course, he had gained friends, and a girlfriend of sorts. He had many friends. But...he never got to say what he had wanted to say. It was almost like when he was little. Always getting yelled at, always getting picked last for games. When they had all left, he thought...perhaps it would be best. Just him, and Scooter. He found out fast, that friends don't always stay forever. They leave, and they stayed away.

Then, it was just him and Nanny. They had become so close, son and mother, best friends. He showed off his crazy antics, she always laughed. If he got hurt, she helped him. If he got lonely, she played with him. It was wonderful. So he had thought, looking back. But everytime he looked around that large room, he remembered. It was just him. And him alone.

He was so alone in this world it seemed.

Chapter One

"So, what's that box again, Gonzo?" Rizzo asked Gonzo, as he packed away somethings back into his closet.

"Oh, that...it's nothing." He replied trying to get his mind off of it, and onto his latest act for the show. He didn't really feel like talking about it at all, even to his rat friend.

"Nothing. Nothing isn't nothing to you, pal. So what is it?" He glanced at Gonzo, folding his arms over, while sitting in his hammock, looking down at Gonzo.

Gonzo stopped for a second, and glanced inside the box, he saw his old red jumper, and his small stuffed toy chicken. He smiled. He reached inside the box and stroked the tiny chicken softly, with one finger, while he tucked the jumper down further into the box. Then he pulled his hand out, and closed it again, carefully placing some packing tape over the top of it.

"So? Are you gonna tell me or what?"

"No. And don't go into that box, okay?"

Rizzo simply shrugged his shoulders, keeping an eye on Gonzo. He was acting unusual, even for Gonzo. He wouldn't talk about why he was gone for nearly the entire day a few weeks ago, before the Winter show. Nobody would talk about it. He remembered Bunsen and Beaker keeping holed up inside the Muppet labs for a few days as well. Nobody would speak of that day, he was getting a little worried.

"What happened, Gonzo? You can tell me, your buddy, Rizzo." He asked, genuinely. He really worried about Gonzo.

Gonzo sighed, and looked back down at the small box in front of him. He sat down on the floor, and fingered his chili pepper vest for a moment. She had given him that for Christmas two years ago. He loved that old vest. She remembered his birthday...or more like his "finding day" as he had called it.

Rizzo watched Gonzo, as he was silent. He saw Gonzo stand up, and set the box in the closet and close the door. Then he smiled, and turned around to Rizzo brightly. He seemed a little too happy it seemed. He was trying to hide his emotions, and Rizzo knew it.

"Why don't we see what's going on for dinner tonight?"

"Yeah, food! Hope it's edible this time..."

Chapter Two

He wondered what she thought, when she had found him. Did she think he was an alien? Or that he was simply a forlorn bird forgotten by it's mother? His mind traveled back to a few days after Scooter had left. Back when it was just him and her.

-----------

"So, Nanny...what happened that day?" The little blue weirdo asked his Nanny, as he clambered into her lap. She was holding a small photobook that was a beautiful blue color, like he was. The first picture in that book was of a small glittering rock it seemed.

"Ooh, what's that?" He asked, pointing at that first picture. The small glittering rock shone in that old photo, catching the sunlight's rays and reflecting them in small patches of light across the camera's lens.

"That's you, Gonzo. In that little...ship of yours. I found you on the beach that day." She replied, smiling. She turned a page, and it showed a young man, wearing black shorts, and a white tshirt, it looked like he was running towards the glittering stone. He was looking back at the person taking the photo, smiling, and waving his hand.

"Wow. Who's that?" He pointed to that other photo then, he really liked looking at photos with Nanny.

"That's my brother, Eli. He's the one who spotted you. He thought you were a glittering jewel on the beach that day." She smiled down at him, and he laid against her chest, looking at some of the other pictures. One of them was of Nanny, wearing a red tshirt and purple shorts, holding a small baby in her arms. The blanket around him was a shimmering red, with sparkling yellow trim.

"Am I still...a glittering jewel?" He wasn't sure how to ask that, he didn't really know what glittering meant just yet, but he laughed seeing himself as a tiny baby in her arms. "That's me! Wooah...I was small wasn't I?"

"Yeah, you were very small. I took you home that day, back to my house."

"Why did you call me 'Gonzo', Nanny?"

She paused for a moment, trying to remember why she had called him Gonzo, she remembered when Eli had looked inside the tiny ship he was in, and found a small notecard. It had read:

"Please, kind people of Earth. Take care of my baby brother, Gonzo. We will see him eventually, when the time is right. Many great regards, Ubergonzo."

She smiled, and patted his feathery head softly. "I called you Gonzo, because I thought that was quite a fitting name. Plus, you could be a great daredevil you know! The Great Gonzo...how does that sound?"

"I really like it Nanny. Ooh! I got something to show you, Nanny!" He hopped out of her lap, and he ran into the Nursery, grabbing a small blanket and tying it around his neck lightly, making a cape out of it. He climbed to the top of the sofa, and smiled back at Nanny.

"I, The Great GONZO will attempt...a flying backflip with a double turn, onto the sofa!" He then tried to do it, and he ended up on his back on the floor.

"Gonzo, be careful!" Nanny said, quite urgently. Although she normally liked his stunts, she didn't particularly like this one.

He sat up, and rubbed his head a little. "Ooww...that hurt..."

She knelt down beside him, and looked him over. "Are you okay, Gonzo? Did you hurt something?"

"I'm fine Nanny. Did you like it?" He smiled up at her. He loved to hear what she had to say, after all, she was the only audience he had.

She laughed, and picked him up. "I loved it Gonzo. Just, don't do that when I'm not around, okay?"

"Okay, Nanny."

The two of them settled down onto the couch, and started to watch Gonzo's favorite show, "Amazing Feats of Astonishing Stunts".

---------

Gonzo smiled, remembering just how much Nanny cared for him. She cared for everyone, but she made sure he got the attention that he needed. He stared at his dinner, and started to eat. He was glad it didn't speak to him, or was bubbling oddly.

Chapter Three

Gonzo finished his dinner, and walked over to the small table, and went shuffling around for some keys. He found them, and tucked them into his pocket, softly smiling.

"Hey, where you going at this time of night, Gonzo? It's really cold outside." Scooter piped up from the couch, seeing Gonzo starting to head out the door.
"Uh...just gotta do something before I get to bed for the night." He stammered, he really didn't want to say what he was doing. He didn't want anyone else to go with him.

Scooter sat up against the couch, and watched Gonzo check his pockets, to make sure he had enough money. He wondered just what he was going to do this late at night while looking at his money.

"Do you need anyone to drive you somewhere? I could get Fozzie, or Dr. Teeth you know? Or even I could drive you wherever you need to go.."

Gonzo just shook his head, and closed the door behind him. He had a thick purple jacket on, and one thing on his mind.

'Get to the florists before they close.'

----------

He cranked up his small truck, and headed out into the cold, unforgiving night. He wondered in his heart why he chose to do this, on this night. He saw the florists lights were still on, but the owner was leaving.

He hopped out of his truck quickly, running towards the man. "HEY! Hey, hey...can I get something still?"

"I'm sorry, I've closed up shop for the night. Why don't you come again tommorrow, I'll be open at 9am." With that, the florist smiled at him, and started walking down the street. Gonzo sat down on the sidewalk for a second, looking at his truck. He had wanted to get some flowers in there. For someone very special to him. But he wasn't sure what to do now, he saw the young woman walk out of her clock shop, locking up her door.

She stopped, seeing the small blue...whatever he was sitting on the sidewalk. "You okay buddy?"

"Huh? Yeah, I guess so. I had just wanted to get some flowers but the shop's closed. Most of the stores are closed now, and I don't know what to do. Nothing's blooming cause it's winter. So that won't help.."

She smiled, and opened her shop back up for a moment. She walked behind her counter, and found an old dozen of roses that the florist had given her eariler. Walking back outside, she handed them to Gonzo.

"Ed always gives me a dozen of roses at the end of the day, the one's that don't sell, of course. I usually put them beside my register. They're a little battered...but, would this work?"

Gonzo smiled, and he delicately took the roses from the lady. "Oh, yes. These would work wonderfully! Thank you!"

"My names Beth. Glad I could help you.."

"I'm Gonzo. Thank you, Beth."

"Your welcome, Gonzo." She closed up her shop, and started walking down the street to her car. Gonzo walked back to his truck and gently laid the roses in the seat beside him. They were beautifully arranged in a delicate wrapping of tissue paper and plastic. But those roses had seen better times. They were a little droopy, and one of them had a lot of petals missing. They still smelled good though. He figured, they would work for what he was wanting to do.

He got back in his truck, and drove off. He headed for a place he thought he'd never go to again.

------------

"So...here we are again, Nanny. I just wish..." He paused, looking up at the beautiful full moon, as it hung low in the sky. He laid the roses gently on her grave, and he sat down on the damp earth beside it. He absentmindly patted the ground.

"I wish I had told you how much you meant to me. I mean...you raised me! I never told my brothers and sisters that you raised me. They figured I just fought for my own here on Earth. On top of that...I never got to tell you I've finally found out who I am. You were right Nanny. I never believed you, but you were right. I was an alien, a unique whatever."

He looked down, but not with sadness, a smile on his face. He stratched his nose thoughtfully. "I wonder what Bunsen and Beaker did when they found out. They never really knew you I think. Or maybe they did, and they just never really talked much about you."

The grave was silent, as all graves are. Merely dirt, and stone. Grass, and most likely some worms or other creepy crawlies burrowing through that dirt. As sacred as it seemed, it was still was it was. Dirt.

He laid down beside the grave, looking up at the starry sky. He remembered doing this with Nanny many times. She would point out the constellations, Gonzo always remembered them.

Most people would think that it was weird. An alien laying on the ground, beside a grave, pointing out constellations to it.

"And see that small one, Nanny? The one that looks like a star? That's where I came from. Ooh, and that one looks kinda like Camilla.."

A lone spirit sat on the gravestone, silent. She smiled, watching Gonzo. She pondered if she should speak to him, let him know everything is alright with her, and everything will be alright with him. But..she let him be.

He kept pointing out the stars, until he fell asleep on the cold ground. Nancy didn't want to wake him up, but she knew he'd get cold. She floated over to his truck and found an old blanket in the back, she covered him with it, and she kept watch over him, so he wouldn't get harmed.

Chapter Four

He woke up, cold and shivering. He wondered what had happened that night. Wait, it wasn't nighttime. It was morning already.

"Oooh, he's awake, Beakie! He's alright everyone!" Dr. Bunsen remarked, smiling. He patted Gonzo's shoulder, laughing happily.

"Me mee mo meep!" Beaker was happy, he also reached forward and patted Gonzo's other shoulder. The others walked near Gonzo, and looked at him.

Scooter crossed his arms, frowning a bit. "Is this why you came out here, Gonzo?" His expression softened a bit, smiling. "You could have told us...you had wanted to come here. We would have come with you."

Gonzo sat up, and looked down at the ground. He saw the blanket on him, and he wondered for a second. He closed his eyes, it all came back to him and it hurt his heart. He had gone out on a limb, selfishly, and he caused his friends to worry about him. He stood up, and brushed himself off. He started to walk to his truck.

"I...I'm sorry...guys..." He mumbled softly, reaching for the keys in his pocket.

Kermit and the others looked at the grave for a moment. Fozzie took off his hat, as did Zoot and Floyd. Bean saw the grave, and he backed up against Miss Piggy. The little rabbit looked up at Piggy for a second, his eyes welling up with tears. Piggy just simply nodded, and he clung onto her leg crying softly.

He wished he could just shrivel up and leave. His sadness wasn't helped by Bean's crying. Although everyone else was cried out, he had never been told. He turned back to his friends, they were all watching him closely. Kermit stepped forward, looking very concerned for his friend.

"Gonzo?"

That one word. Just his name. He then remembered what his brother had said, when they had found him.

"Many zotars ago, you were lost to us little brother..."

He turned to Kermit, and he frowned. "I was lost, Kermit."

"Lost? What do you mean, lost? You know your way around this town very well, how could you be lost?"

"I just was. I-I don't know anymore. Okay?"

"...you don't know what anymore?" Kermit was flummoxed at what Gonzo had said. He wondered why Gonzo thought he was lost.

"I need to go, guys. I'll see you in a few days..." He stepped up into his truck, and was about to shut the door, when Scooter stuck his foot inside the edge of it.

"You're not leaving without us, Gonzo. A-At least let one of us come with you."

Gonzo sighed, looking outside of the truck's windshield. He saw the thin film of powdery snow on it. He fingered his keys, a thought lept across his mind.

'If I start it real slow, and inch forward, Scooter will back off, then when he's safely out of harm's way, I can speed off, leaving them behind. I can't let them come with me...I don't think I'd be able to take it.'

Scooter watched his friend thinking quite deeply, he grabbed the edge of the truck's doorframe and hauled himself inside quickly, sitting down on the seat, he closed the door and quickly buckled himself in. He looked over at Gonzo and he frowned softly.

"I know where you're going to go. And I'm not letting you go there alone."

Chapter Five

The truck was silently rumbling down the roads, slowly heading out of Hensonville. Scooter was watching Gonzo out of the corner of his eye. He wondered why he was acting so oddly lately. Well...out of character more like it. He's always odd.

They both were unaware about the passengers in his truck bed. Gonzo had the type of truck top that had small windows, and it raised above the cab of it. Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Bunsen, Beaker, Janice, and Animal were all packed in that tiny space.

"Like...where is he going?" Janice asked, as Animal gently had his arms wrapped around her, kinda scared himself of all the bumping and jostling around.

"He's probably going to Nancy's house, guys. He never got to speak to her, when she was at the hospital." Kermit looked out the dirty window, watching the houses pass by them.

Janice sniffed a little, looking out the window. "I never spoke to her either, so what does it matter?"

"Cause you weren't there for pratically 3 years of your life! Bean dragged you out of daycare one day, just so we could meet you!" Piggy was being unusually hostile, so Kermit wrapped his arms around her, and whispered.

"Piggy...please. The last thing we need is a fight back here. In a moving veichele."

She nodded, and leaned against Kermit. The only one missing was Rowlf and Skeeter. But Kermit figured even those he was there, he had stayed behind to watch over Robin for him.

The truck halted to a stop, and Gonzo hurried inside the small gas station, Scooter rolled down the window, and poked his head out of it, watching Gonzo go inside. Then he turned around, and opened the small window leading into the truck bed.

"What are you guys DOING here?"

Fozzie smiled, messing around with his hat. "Um...we came to make sure Gonzo will be alright, Scooter."

Scooter laid his forehead against the seatback, and glared down at the seat. "Why do I bother anymore?"

"What was that, Scooter?" Piggy asked, she didn't hear what he had said.

"Nothing, Piggy. If Gonzo finds you guys are back there, I...I'm not totally sure what he'd do. He's not violent by any means, but I can tell...he's not in a right state of mi--."

A slim blue hand reached inside and tapped Scooters shoulder, he stopped talking, and cut his eyes over to the window. Gonzo had no expression on his face at all. And a bag of drinks in his hand.

"I knew they were back there. I got you guys some drinks." He handed the small bag back to them, and then got into the truck and gave Scooter his drink as well. He sat back in the seat, thinking.

"You guys know where I'm going, right?"

No one dared respond. Then a shaggy red head poked through the small window.

"Go see Nanny? Right?"

"Yeah. We're going back to Nanny's house."

"But what reason do you have to go back there, Gonzo?" Piggy asked him, quite plainitvely.

"She gave me her house, guys. Granted, it's not much, but I own everything that was ever hers' now."

Chapter Six

"THEY WHAT?" Her scream could be heard ringing thoughout the boarding house, as she got right into Rowlf's face, he didn't move from his piano.

"They left, and they never even told me where they were going...to the grave to pick up Gonzo...then, then...THEY'VE GONE OFF TO NANNY'S HOUSE WITHOUT TELLING ME?"

Rowlf just simply nodded, picking up where he had left off in playing, Skeeter was about to have a connipition right there. She glared at Rowlf, and leaned against his piano.

"They told you why, didn't they? They tell you...and my brother, my twin no less decides he just isn't going to tell me, well that's fine and dandy!"

"It's cause they knew you'd act like this." Rowlf said rather calmly and quietly, not looking at her.

"ACT LIKE---" She just realized she'd been yelling for a good 10 minutes over it now, she took a few deep breaths, and looked at Rowlf. "...this. I've always yelled so much, sorry."

"No need. I'm used to it. Just was kinda glad for awhile there it was only one of ya." He chuckled a bit, playing a more upbeat tune now, flipping the music sheet over.

She smirked at him. Still same old Rowlf, wise beyond his age and whatnot like that.

"When are we leaving then?" She said looking out the window, wondering where her brother was. He was still not perfectly healthy yet, but, when was he ever in his life?

Rowlf slowly closed the piano, and looked up at her. "We're not."

"I want to see the house again, and I want to make sure Scooter's alright. You'd probably want to see it again, don't you?"

"Kermit asked me to stay behind to watch over Robin."

"Oh, pfft. My mother could do that for him, couldn't you Mom?"

Sadie glanced up from a magazine she was reading, and blinked. "I could do what?"

"Watch over Robin for a few days!"

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because me and Rowlf are going on a little trip."

She chuckled a little bit, putting the magazine down. "Um, sure. But I have no idea what this kid does, Skeeter."

Rowlf smiled, seeing Robin coming down the stairs, dressed in his Frog Scout uniform. "Well, he does Frog Scouts on Mondays and Wednesays, and today's Wednesday, so, take him to Frog Scouts."

Robin stopped at the bottom step of the stairs and looked over at Rowlf. "Arn't you taking me, Rowlf?"

"I've got something's to do, Robin. Would you mind if Ms. Sadie took you?"

"Not at all! Comeon, Ms. Sadie, let's go!" He hopped over and grabbed Sadie's hand and led her outside, then the two got in her car and drove off to his Frog Scout's meeting.

"Well, that was easy." Skeeter laughed, smiling at Rowlf. "Let's get going then, shall we?"

"Certainly." He said mockingly, with a sweet smile on his face. They walked out to her car, and went down towards the main shops of Hensonville. She stopped in front of the clock shop, she remembered something she had to do.

Rowlf looked around a bit, then over at Skeeter. "Why are we stopping here?"

Skeeter was digging around in her purse for a small plastic bag, inside it contained a beautiful silver watch on a thin chain. The watch seemed to be broken, the glass shattered. "I need to get this fixed, and Beth said she could fix this type of watch for me."

"Oh. Alright." He and Sadie walked inside the shop, and Rowlf looked rather bored, waiting for Sadie, as she spoke to another worker inside the shop. Beth walked over to him, and smiled.

"Hey there, long face. What's the problem?"

He cradled his head in his hand, looking to the side. "Eh, it's nothing."

"Come on, it's gotta be something. How are your friends doing?"

Rowlf wondered why this woman was asking so much about them. Skeeter walked up beside Rowlf, and poked him in the shoulder.

"Time to go, hound dog." She smiled, then looked up at Beth. "Oh hey Beth! Haven't seen you in sometime. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine, but I'm worried about your friend here. He looks really down."

Skeeter stopped for a moment, about to say something. She sighed. "A good friend of ours died a couple of weeks ago, and another close friend of ours...well, we're worried for him, Beth. So we're going to go see how he's doing."

"Oh." Beth felt kinda bored with her work at the moment, as she was actually about to close shop early today, she then smiled; remembering the small blue guy, and how forlorn he looked last night. "Gonzo, isn't it?"

Skeeter looked up very astonished. "Yeah! How do you know him?"

"I helped him last night, with some flowers he needed for someone...special. Could I go with you guys. I've been worried about the little blue guy all last night."

"Sure I guess."

"Um, I've also got a friend too, the florist beside me, he'd really like to come as well."

Rowlf looked at Skeeter, and he shook his head. "Random people."

She smiled, patting his shoulder. "I have a feeling these random people may help him, okay?"

"Twin's intuitition?"

"Nope. Woman's intuitition. Now, time to go. Get that florist and both of you hop in my car!"

After they had met each other, all four of them got into Skeeter's car, and they headed down to Nancy's house. A large bouquet of flowers were now sitting in Skeeter's trunk, while an old grandfather clock sat beside them. Nancy had brought that old clock in to get fixed, and she forgot to get it again.

Beth only thought it fitting to return it to it's proper house again. Rowlf just wondered how he got saddled with some guy he didn't know, and two women. Skeeter looked over at him, and she smiled as she drove.

"That's just the way life is, Rowlf. Never let women drive or make decisions."

Rowlf propped his chin in his hand, leaning against the window, watching the trees line the roads; thinking. He looked over at Skeeter, and smiled, his thoughts drifting back to an old song he and Kermit had sung.

'You can't live with 'em, you can't live without them, there's something irristableish about 'em...'

Chapter Seven

Sadie sat around this small campfire, watching the other boys do wilderness stuff. Telling ghost stories or trying to make fires with just two sticks. She was kinda hoping this would be short, as...well, she and nature aren't the best of friends.

"Ow!" She slapped another misqoutie away from her, sighing softly. "So when does the troop leader get here?" She asked Robin, smiling. While digging in her purse for some bug spray. With all those frogs and toads around she had hoped she wouldn't need it.

"Oh, he's not coming today." One of the boys piped up. Sadie looked around for a moment, she seemed to be the only adult there.

Another small frog laughed. "Yeah, whichever adult stays is the Troop Leader for today!"

Robin giggled a bit, and clambered into Sadie's lap, while two other frogs quite happily placed a dark green sash around her shoulders, and a small green hat on her head. She just sat there, kinda bewildered.

"Ribbit Ribbit, Scoutmaster...uh...Whatever-Your-Name-Is!" All the small frogs ribbited and laughed happily.

"Ribbit...ribbit...kids." She smirked, just shaking her head, looking down at her purse. The kids were really happy and everything, they seemed to like Ms. Sadie.

"She's Frog Scoutmaster Grosse, guys!" Robin piped up, smiling. He leaned over to Sadie for a second. "They're just playing around. Scoutmasters sick, and apperently everyone else got sick. The last adult that had to back out already asked me to find someone just for today."

"And I'm the lucky one?" She said smiling.

"Yeah, I guess so." He looked at his badges for a second, smiling.

Sadie thought for a moment, of something for 8 energitic frogs to do. And it had to be naturey too. She smiled, and started walking towards the small forested area.

"Well, guys. Let's go check out...some of the types of trees around here, and...um..."

The kids smiled, then one of the boys piped up. "Let's camp outside tonight! Let's have a camping trip!"

All the boys agreed, and Sadie figured, might as well. They'll enjoy it I guess. So they started to set up camp a little ways into the forest.

---------------

Gonzo's truck pulled up in front of Nancy's house, and he just sat there for a little while, looking at the house. Kermit and the others piled out of the back of the truck, and walked around a little bit, stretching.

"It has been awhile, hasn't it Beaker?" Bunsen inquired, while looking over that old house. Beaker was just silent, looking around.

Scooter opened the door of the truck, and just sat on the seat, looking at it. It has been too long, he thought. After their parents had come to get everyone, they must've just lost contact from her. He sighed, looking over at Gonzo.

"We might as well go inside. It dosn't do us any good just standing around out here."

Gonzo nodded. "Yeah, I guess we should go inside." He walked up to the front, and found his keys, and fumbled around with them. None of them fit the lock. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh what?" Piggy asked, it was so cold outside, they all wanted to get in that house and turn the heat up.

"The keys won't work. I don't have the right one, guys." He looked back at them, smiling nervously.

"Oh great. Weirdo here dosn't have the right key. It's so cold out here." She stomped around in the snow, trying to keep warm. Kermit was already shivering like mad. "Kermie?"

"T-Try...being a f-f-frog, Piggy..." All he had on was a thin red scarve, and quite a thin old brown coat. Other then that it was just him and the winter elements at his mercy.

Bunsen was looking at the old round window, and peering inside, he saw a small latch at it's bottom. "Piggy, do you have a hairpin on you?"

She was hugging Kermit tightly, underneath her own fur and leather coat now, trying to get him warmed up some. "Yeah, yeah." She pulled a silvery hairpin out of her hair, handing it to Beaker. "But hurry up, Kermie's about to freeze to death out here!"

Kermit gulped a little, leaning against Piggy. 'It's...not that bad, Piggy. We frogs just go to sleep until it gets warmer, that's all. We'd have to be literally stuck waist deep in snow to die from cold."

Piggy smiled, and hugged Kermit again. "That's good to know, Kermie."

"Ah-ha! Got it guys! He opened up the nursery window, and everyone piled inside, two at a time. The last inside was Scooter and Fozzie. Scooter's shoelace got caught on the windows edge, and he tugged at it hard. He tugged again, and got hurled into the room, landing on top of everyone else.

"Oow." He sat up, and saw he was less a shoe. Fozzie grabbed it for him, tossing it across the room. "Sorry, guys. You okay?"

Everyone stood up, mumbling. Fozzie closed the window back. It was kinda odd being back in the nursery, after so long. Piggy handed Kermit her jacket, while she walked down the hall out of the nursery to go down to the basement and turn the boiler on, get some heat in that old house. Gonzo walked around, wondering why Nancy had decided to give him...everything she owned.

He saw the closet, and he smiled, opening it. He saw it was just simply a storage closet. Clothes, and excess toys, and whole bunch of rollerstates as well. "Hm. I'm gonna go check out the other rooms, guys."

He walked down the hall, and saw a room just beside the kitchen, down a smaller hall, he never noticed it actually. He walked down the tiny hall, and opened the door. He noticed it was her bedroom. Quite simple, a large bed, with two nightstands. A soft chair in one corner, and a large vanity. He saw some pictures tucked into the edge of mirror. It was some pictures of the kids, of themselves as babies. A small book of emergency numbers sat on that vanity, beside a telephone. He flipped through it. He saw the number for Wilson's Pet shop; in case something had happened to Kermit. Hortense's for Piggy, and Emily's for Fozzie. He saw an emergency number for everyone. He was a little suprised when he even saw a number for Skeeter and Scooter.

"She knew about J.P. then." He nodded to himself, he flipped more through that book, but he never saw a number for himself. "So I was alone. Why don't I remember the others coming into the house then? Why don't I remember growing up with her, before the guys?"

"Maybe because you don't want to remember, Gonzo." Kermit said, while leaning against the doorframe. He was still shivering a little bit, but not outright shaking anymore.

"Do you need another coat or something?"

"No, I'll be fine. But thanks. But like I said, maybe you just don't want to remember because those memories are really sad."

"Then why do I remember the day I was left alone in the nursery. When it was just me and Nanny?"

Kermit stopped for a moment. He never knew Gonzo was totally alone here. "I thought Scooter had stayed behind. What happened?"

"You wouldn't know when we left anyways. You left us first, Kermit."

He sat down on the bed, beside Gonzo, and he smiled. "I know, but it was for good reasons. Still what happened?"

Gonzo nodded, looking down at the phone numbers again, he smiled a little bit.

------------

Scooter and Gonzo had both finished lunch, and were running back to the nursery to start back on their game. They were playing 2 man baseball. Gonzo did all the people, and Scooter was the pitcher.

"Alright, straight down the middle. Where I can hit it REALLY far, Scooter! Put some muscle behind it!" He was swinging the toy bat, imitating what he saw on TV last night.

Scooter looked at Gonzo, and frowned. "I'm trying my best Gonzo! Alright...swing batter-batter, swing batter-batter, SWING!" He threw the baseball as hard as he could, and Gonzo swung the bat as hard as he could, and they collided.

The baseball went hurtling towards the door, which was opening.

"NANNY WATCH OUT!" Both of them yelling, as they saw not Nanny's hand, but a male's hand reach out and grab the ball before it could hit Nanny's face.

"Sorry Nanny!" Gonzo yelled, as he and Scooter ran up to the door. They stopped at the bottom of the small stairs, looking up at the two adults.

The young man smiled at Nanny, and nodded. He had an unlit cigar in his mouth, as he smiled down at Scooter.

"Looks just like his mother, bless his soul." The man said quietly to Nanny.

Chapter Eight

"Hey there kids." The young man sat down on the steps, and smiled at them. "Hey there, Scooter. Do you remember me?"

Scooter shook his head, then took off his glasses, rubbing them a bit, cleaning them. He looked back at the man, and put his glasses back on. "No. I don't know you. Sorry.."

He smiled. "It's okay." He looked back at Nancy. He wasn't sure how to say this to the boy, that he was leaving. "You like playing?"

"Yeah, me and Gonzo play all the time together!" He had the catcher's mitt on his hand still. "We were playing baseball eariler...sorry about that."

A wonderful thought entered into his mind, he didn't want to worry the poor boy anymore then he might be already. "Oh that's fine! Hmm...would you three like to go to a play today?"

Gonzo made a face, looking off to the side. "A play, yuck. Like opera you mean?"

"No, not like opera. Vaudeville! Bright lights, beautiful secnery!" He stood, throwing out his hands, smiling, making something of a stage right there it seemed. "Singing, and dancing...feats of daring delight! I've got a couple of close friends, and some other players back in Hensonville who have created a troup. They're going to be doing some plays today in my theater!"

Scooter gasped, smiling. "Your theater! You own a theater!"

Nanny smiled, she leaned over and whispered to the man. "I think you've got his attention, Jerry. Gonzo's been wanting to go to that new Ripley's Museum of Odd and Amazing Things, I'll see if he wants to go there, while you take Scooter to the theater. We'll meet back in a few hours."

"Right, Nancy. Sounds like a good plan." He smiled down at Scooter. "Me and your Nanny have been talking boys. Now, Scooter, how would like to spend the day with me at my theater, watching the acts?"

Scooter's face lit up hearing that. He really enjoyed watching stuff like that on TV, but to see it upclose! "Wow, yeah!"

Nanny kneeled down in front of Gonzo. "Gonzo, how about we go the that odd and crazy musesum you've been wanting to go to?"

"Can we really, Nanny?"

"Certainly! Scooter will go with Mr. Jerry. You'll come with me, and after a few hours, we'll both be here eating supper together. Sounds like a good plan boys?"

Both of them were pratically dancing in happiness. "YEAH! GREAT IDEA NANNY!" They both yelled happily.

The four of them then left the nursery.

Scooter and Jerry went to the theater, and they saw beautiful acts in the repaired theater. Scooter got a bit bored by the comedian, so Jerry handed him his clipboard, with some clean paper, and a crayon. Scooter started drawing, until the next act came on.

Jerry leaned over and whispered to Scooter. "You can keep that clipboard if you want."

He giggled, continuing doodling on the paper. "Thank you!"

Nanny and Gonzo went to that odd museum, and Gonzo loved every minute of it. She held him up close to the glass so he could see the things he was too short to see. He saw the orginal cannon that the cannonball man had used, with it's cannonball on the ground beside it.

"Woooah! I want to be a stunt person, just like him Nanny!"

She snickered softly, looking down at him. "I don't think you could take a cannonball to the stomach, Gonzo!"

"I don't want to take a cannonball, I want to BE a cannonball!"

Nancy laughed, as the two walked on further into the museum.

Later that night, all four of them were back at the house, sitting at the table, eating supper. Gonzo was chatting away about the museum to Jerry. Scooter was picking at his food, not really eating.

Nancy laid her fork down, and looked over at him, worried. "Scooter, what's the matter?" Gonzo stopped chattering, and looked at Scooter as well.

Scooter sounded like he was about to cry now. "I'm leaving you guys.." He pushed his plate forward, and buried his head in his arms, sobbing.

Gonzo stood up in his booster seat, then toppled out of it. Normally, he's not one to cry, but he was so suprised by it, he did. Nanny picked both of them up, and carried them into the nursery, setting them both down on the couch, on either side of her.

"Scooter, what on earth are you talking about?" She knew full well what he was talking about, but she just didn't feel it was right to reveal that.

He sniffled, and took his glasses off, laying almost in Nanny's lap now. "He's my Uncle. I'm going to go live with him..." He almost started to cry again, but Nanny rubbed his back gently.

"Scooter, it can't be that bad...you...you're going to see your family again."

He just bawled, clinging onto Nanny's dress, his glasses on the floor. "I'LL NEVER SEE MY SISTER AGAIN!" He was crying so hard, he started coughing badly, this deep horse cough.

Nancy wasn't sure what to do, Gonzo was about to start crying again, but he looked way to tired to do so. He was just sniffling, laying against the armrest of the couch. She picked up Gonzo, while cradling Scooter in one arm. She laid Gonzo down in the crib, and she stood there for a moment.

"Why don't you get some sleep, Gonzo. I'm going to get Scooter some cough medicine. Alright?"

Gonzo just mumbled something, while he drifted off to sleep. His nightmares that night were of him being alone in this world. No family that he knew of. Nobody like him.

Chapter Nine

He opened his eyes, he wasn't in his crib anymore, he was back in Nanny's bedroom.
He felt so alone. He wished he could remember more then that. But his memory was blank.

------------

Scooter walked around the nursery, with both shoes off. He stopped and looked at the old cribs. He wondered how they ever fit in them in the first place. He absentmindly stratched his scarred stomach, looking at the old TV. He turned it around, curious if it still worked.

Piggy watched from the couch, a little bored. She heard a car drive up near the house, and she glanced over her shoulder, the first thing she saw was a redhead young woman, with thick glasses. She looked positively angry.

"Um, Scooter. You didn't tell Skeeter we were coming here did you?"

He was still crouched down behind the TV, reconnecting some wires, and was trying to see if it would turn on. "No. I didn't feel that she needed to know."

"Well, she's coming this way and she looks quite angry."

Before Scooter could stand up, she was in the nursery. She glared at him for a second, then shook her head. "Why didn't you tell me, Scooter?"

He looked over the TV, at her, and he smiled. "I didn't have the time to, Sis. I had to make sure Gonzo was okay, so I was the first to leave with him."

"Oh. So what's happened with him anyways?"

Before Scooter or Piggy could respond, the door opened again into the nursery, and Gonzo walked inside, smiling.

"We're going to use this house as something for children guys. Don't really know what yet, but it'll be great!"

Piggy stared at him, lounging against the couch, trying to keep warm still, the house wasn't completely heated up yet.

"You're what? That's sweet and all, but why?"

"Well, Nancy always helped me, and all of us, actually. She's told me once, she always cared for children. And this house is perfect for something for children! Can't really be an orphanage or anything like that, but...we'll all figure something out."

Skeeter smiled. "Who gave you the idea, Gonzo? Or did you figure it out yourself?"

"Well, actually Kermit and Ed here helped me with it. I was talking over with Kermit about what is good and well, not so good with the house, and apperently Ed overheard us talking, and he suggested something with helping children."

"And how would he know anything about Nancy?"

Ed smiled, and nodded. He was leaning against the open door. "All the plants in this house were real, and she bought them from me. She always had to buy more, cause you all kept breaking them." He laughed a little, remembering the many times Nancy had come into his shop, and brought a broken clay pot, with a badly damaged plant in it.

Skeeter nodded. "That sounds like a great idea Gonzo, Ed. But where do we begin?"

Scooter stood up from the floor, and looked around the room for a moment. "We'd need to get the floor plans, so we can know what we're looking at. Then we can also find out utilities, available acreage, and also what runs where underneath the ground."

"What are you talking about, Scooter?" Piggy asked, looking quite interested, but also confused.

"We'll almost have to bulldoze this house Piggy. It's in really bad shape."

Chapter Ten

"Bulldoze the house?" Kermit exclaimed, standing beside Gonzo now. "We can't bulldoze this house, Scooter!"

"I've been looking around the nursery for sometime, guys. It's in really bad shape. The pipes rattle, the floor feels like it has some underlaying damage to it. The walls are crumbling away from the foundation, and it's sunken in near this corner of the house." He frowned, he didn't like the idea of bulldozing it just as much as Kermit didn't like it.

"What if we just pitched in, and fixed it up?" Skeeter offered. It didnt' sound like a bad plan either, everyone was soon picking up on it, agreeing with her.

"That would work, but it would take a long while. And a good bit of money too. Gonzo, what do you think of it? Fix it up, or bulldoze it?" Scooter looked at him, wondering what he would say.

"We'll fix it up. We simply can't bulldoze this house, it has...way too many memories for us. Everyone will help pitch in, right?"

They all agreed, and the first thing they did, was put all the furniture housewide into the basement, then they pulled up the carpeting, and the wallpaper. Once everything was bare, they sat in the middle of the bare nursery.

"Heh. You wouldn't know this was a nursery now would you?" Scooter laughed a little, and laid back on the bare wood floor, looking around. The last thing they had to do was figure out how to fix the sinking corner of the house.

They closed up the house, and walked outside. They looked at the house, and walked back to their cars.

Gonzo's only thought was how was he going to save that house...which was now his? As he drove, his thoughts turned back to the day Scooter had left. He lost his only friend that was left then.

----------

"I can't believe he left Nanny..." Gonzo sat lonely at the breakfast table, slowly eating his cereal. Nanny sat beside him, eating some eggs and sausage, while drinking some coffee.

"I know, Gonzo. But Mr. Jerry is Scooter's uncle. He came to get him. I couldn't really stop him."

"But why not? You...you always are here for us? Why did you let them go?"

Nanny paused for a moment, and set her fork down. She wasn't sure how to answer that for the little guy. She wasn't sure either why she had even started to care for them. They had lived with her for nearly two years by then.

"Everyone has to move on, Gonzo. It's just the way of life, you know?" She took another sip of her coffee, and smiled at Gonzo. She patted his head softly. "Anyways, you'll always have me you know."

"Yeah..." He got off of the chair, after he finished his cereal, and he walked down to the nursery, and sat down on one of the pillows for a moment.

It seemed so huge to him. So empty. He grabbed Camilla and placed her on top of a ball, and tried to get her to spin with it, without her falling off. He watched the ball spin perfectly, until it hit the leg of Rowlf's piano. Camilla went flying, and landed in the open drawer, the ball rolled over, and hit Scooter's small printer. He just sat there. He didn't feel like moving.

He got up about 5 minutes later, and he grabbed Camilla, and shut off the lights, although it was morning, he crawled up into the crib and went back to sleep. He wished, when he woke up, he'd see his friends walking through the door of the nursery again.

That would be such a happy thing, he thought.

Chapter Eleven

Nancy sat in the TV room, not really watching TV. She wondered if she did the right thing. The twins were seperated now, and everyone else was gone. It was only her and Gonzo. She stood up, and walked to the nursery to tell Gonzo it was time for supper, but she saw the lights were off. She opened the door slowly, and softly walked inside. She a single small lump huddled underneath the covers of one of the cribs. She gently pulled the covers away, and she smiled sadly.

Gonzo had cried himself to sleep, she saw. His fur was matted by his tears, she leaned down and gently rubbed his cheeks and then picked him up, and walked over to the couch. She held him close, and starting humming softly. She didn't know how to help him to not miss his friends, but she could be the mother he never had, and probably will never see.

----------

Kermit was sitting by the phone, tapping the desk. He was waiting for an old friend of his to call back.

"He's taking longer then usual..." He muttered. The phone rang, and he grabbed it up quickly.

"Hi ho, there!"

"Hey Kermit! How you doing? You had left a message saying you needed some extra muscle over there?"

"Yeah, Ryan. Thanks so much. You and the guys really helped out when we needed it."

Ryan laughed on the other end, then he smiled. "So what's happened to the theater this time? Gonzo shoot himself into the ceiling? Crazy Harry?"

Kermit chuckled a little bit, looking around the room a bit. It was still bare walls and floors. "No, we're at an old friends house. It's in really bad shape, and we were hoping to get it like it was so long ago."

"Ah, a restoration project?"

"Exactly. When can you guys get over here?"

The doorbell rang, and Scooter opened the door, to find a guy talking on a cell phone.

"Check the front door, Mr. The Frog!"

Kermit poked his head out from the TV room and he laughed. "Wow, you guys are quick! ...How did you know how to get here?"

As he closed the cell phone, he and about 4 other men stepped inside the house. "I saw Gonzo's label on the back of the truck, and I figured this was the place!" He laughed a bit. "Kinda hard to miss "The Great Gonzo, Stuntman Extrodinare".

Kermit nodded, and he showed Ryan and his co-workers the extent of the damage. Ryan making notes all the way.

Gonzo just watched. He hoped the house was savageable. It would kill him if it was torn down. He watched Beaker tool around with an old invention of theirs. The solar powered one man band. He thought that was the coolest of all their inventions. He walked over there, and watched Beaker for a moment. Bunsen strangely enough wasn't intruppting Beaker, he was just sitting in the windowseat, idly watching something outside the window. He sat down beside Bunsen.

"What'cha looking at Bunsen?"

"Hmm? Oh, just watching some of the birds. That's a beautiful cardinal right there, see it?"

"Yeah. It is really beautiful."

Gonzo watched the small red bird hop from branch to branch in the old tree outside the window. He had then remembered when Nanny had hung that bird feeder outside the window. It was empty, and had been empty for sometime. The plastic was cracked, and faded with age.

He wondered how they would have been if they had never been with Nanny. He knows what they would have been like if they had never met Kermit...but what about her?

"Do you miss her, Dr. Honeydew?"

Bunsen was silent, still watching the birds. His hands twiddling a bit, with a pen in them.

"Yes. Sometimes I do. I believe at one point in our lives though, our guardian did some kind of a memory wipe on us."

"Mee mo mo me" Beaker agreed with Bunsen. "Meep mee mo mee me, me mo meep."

"Yes, Beakie. That is true."

Gonzo looked between the two for a moment. "What did he say?"

"Our guardian, Professor Krassman, was quite an odd fellow. We were both his guinea pigs at many times. He had said 'Krassman was a cruel man.' Which in the end, unfortunately we had found out a little too late."

"A little too late?"

"It was after Krassman died, that while going through his notebooks and his computer, we had found out he was quite the beguiling man. He never cared for his subjects, and he did whatever he could to get the results to turn out like he wanted."

"...that's horrible, Bunsen. How bad was he?"

"He had attempted cloning on a live cat, which had suffered repeatedly from his tests. He finally got it to work properly, but it was after much suffering on the test patients part."

Gonzo just shook his head, he couldn't believe that one of his friends, the bumbling well meaning scientist was raised by such a cruel man.

"How long had you known him?"

"Ever since we were both merely infants I believe. Our parents sent us off to him, as we both showed high mental intellect. He was a mentor and teacher of sorts."

"Mo mee me, meep me mo mee." Beaker replied, setting a wrench down on the floor.

Bunsen nodded his head, smiling. "Yes, yes, Beakie. That was quite odd when it happened. Krassman is the reason Beakie here only speaks in meeps."

Gonzo looked to the side, and was a little astonished. "Really now?"

"Oh yes! It was some expriment that he's like that now. I don't know what happened, but only that the Professor had caused it."

Gonzo nodded, just wondering how Ryan and Kermit were doing figureing out how to save the hosue.

Chapter Twelve

Ryan's coworker Dave looked over the notes, and he nodded, talking amongst the other guys about the house.

Ryan turned back to Kermit, smiling. "The foundations good. And the walls arn't that bad off either. We're a little worried about that old boiler and some of the vents. Dave went inside them and he found a few things caught inside."

Dave walked over, and set a few things down on the kitchen table, so Kermit and Gonzo could see. Their was an old pink skate, a yellow beanie hat, multiple keys, and a very dried up shrunken sandwich.

"I'm suprised that those vents didnt' catch fire or anything. With so much stuff in them. Most of this stuff came from the vents around the nursery. Did you kids like to shove stuff down there?"

Kermit laughed. "It's probably Animal that did it. For a long time he thought those vents could be used as storage. If it wasn't for us, there'd be a whole lot more then just that."

Ryan chuckled a bit, looking back over the notes. "It shouldn't take long for us to restore the house, Kermit. We'll have to get everyone out though for awhile, so we can bug-bomb it. Way too many cockroaches in the walls, and we found a suprising amount of fleas in the nursery."

"Four of us were furred, and still are, so that's probably where it came from." Gonzo replied to Ryan, as Rowlf came walking inside the kitchen, stratching like mad.

"Hey Kermit, do you remember where Nanny kept the flea powder? We got something of an infestion down here. Me and Fozzie are about ready to stratch our fur off!"

Kermit frowned a bit, shaking his head. "You should do that bug-bombing as soon as possible, Ryan. And Rowlf, it's in the bathroom, underneath the sink if I remember right."

Rowlf stratched his ears walking back out of the kitchen going down the hall to the bathroom. "Thanks Kermit." A few minutes later Rowlf's yell could be heard throughout the house. "HEY FOZZIE! Found the flea powder!"

Kermit looked at Gonzo for a moment, smiling.

"See this?" He pointed to his neck and pulled a slender red collar up from under his shirt so he could see. "Prepared ahead."

Kermit laughed out loud. "At least Frogs don't have fur, so that's good."

"Thanks Ryan, we'll get everyone out of here in a few minutes, so you guys can start work. Thanks again."

"No problem Gonzo, glad to help old friends out." He smiled. "Just tell us when everyone is out, and we'll start setting those bombs out, we've got a lot in the back of our van."

"Great! Hey guys, let's get going!" He walked down to the nursery, and he saw possibly the oddest sight he'd ever see. Scooter, Skeeter, Beaker, Janice, Animal and Piggy were all stratching like mad where they had hair. When Ryan said an infestion, he wasn't kidding.

"Uh oh."

Piggy stood up, you could see around her hairline it was quite red, from her stratching so hard, she'd never had fleas in her life, and she was itching like mad now. "Uh oh what? You could have told us there were bugs in this house, Gonzo!"

She started to storm outside the door, with the others behind her. Skeeter looked angry, still stratching her head, with Scooter not far behind her. Bunsen helped Beaker push that old contraption out of the door, he stopped and looked at Gonzo for a second.

"Did you tell them about the fleas, Gonzo?"

"They found out themselves, they'll bug-bomb the house, once we're gone. Hey, why dosn't it bother you?"

He tapped his bald head, and smiled. "No hair! Nothing for them to feed on."

"Ah, let's just get going then."

Bunsen nodded, and watched as Beaker got assulted by a cymbal on the one-man band when the solar panels hit the sunlight. "Right. Oops, I forgot to turn it off!"

"ME ME MEEP!" He squealed, as he rushed to find the off button. He found it and sighed, as he kept on pushing it outside.

Everyone was finally outside, and Ed leaned over to Gonzo. "Are you sure it's not lice or anything?"

"Nope, just fleas. Everyone'll probably want to take some kind of a flea dip once they get home."

Beth sighed, rubbing her head, as she and Ed walked back to Skeeter's car. "At least it isn't lice." She shuddered. Skeeter and Rowlf got back into her car and they drove off, to go drop off Beth and Ed back at their shops.

"Quite a day, huh Kermit?" Gonzo asked looking back at the house, he could a bit of whiteish smoke filtering out from some of the cracks in the house, it smelled awful.

"Yeah, and we should probably get going too." He waved his hand in front of his face, it was quite noxious those thin trails of smoke and fog were.

Gonzo just nodded, as the rest of them, plus a One-Man Solarpowered band got into his truck. This time though Piggy and Kermit were up in front with Gonzo.

---------

After everyone had gotten flea dipped back at the house, they just laid around the living room, trying to get that stench out of the house.

"Now I know what that reek comes from every month. I thought it was Chef's cooking!" Scooter replied to Rowlf, wearing tshirt and shorts, rubbing his head, trying to get all that stinking water out of his hair. He put on his glasses, and he frowned. "Aw great!"

"What's wrong, Scooter?" Rowlf asked, sitting the multi-toweled sofa now.

"That dip water ruined my glasses!" He looked at them, they were stratched and etched because of the chemicals in the dip.

Skeeter walked out from the bathroom, wearing a robe, her soaking wet hair in a towel-turban. Her glasses in her hand. "You're telling me, Scooter. That stuff just about destroyed them.."

Rowlf looked between the twins, and he laughed softly. "Why didn't you two take your glasses off during that shower?"

Skeeter sat beside him, still sopping wet. "Niether of us can see without our glasses, that's why."

He nodded, and watched while Sadie and Robin decended the stairs, with another lady in tow behind them.

"Wow, Ms. Lisa! I really liked that story now. Thank you for...for coming over and reading it to me."

Lisa bent down and picked Robin up, and gave him a big hug. "You're very welcome Robin. I'm glad you liked the ending too."

Robin smiled, and started trying to tap dance, but he fell over, and looked over at Kermit. "Uncle Kermit! Would you do 'happy feet'? I wanna see you tap dance!"

Kermit looked at Robin, laughing softly, then he stood up. "Okay, Robin. We'll do it in the kitchen, were the hard floor is though."

"Okay! Can you show me how to do it too!"

"I will. Let's go then."

Chapter Thirteen

Rowlf sat down at the piano, and started to play 'happy feet, tapping along with the music. Lisa had stayed behind, and was watching them tapdance in the kitchen. Everyone was singing along with them, but Robin kept tripping up a little bit. And Kermit had actually gotten a bit rusty in his own tapping, so he probably wasn't the best teacher for the little guy.

She leaned over to Sadie, who was looking over the twin's glasses; seeing if she could salvage them at all. "Hey, Sadie? Should I show them?"

"Show them what, Lisa?" She smirked up at her. "You've not danced in nearly 3 years. You're just as bad as Kermit is."

"I could try. Plus, two teachers is probably better then one." She stood up and walked into the kitchen, her shoes gently making a clacking noise as she walked.

"Do you think I could join you Kermit? I used to tap dance sometimes."

Kermit smiled. "Oh, good. That sounds great." Then she and him started tapping away to that music.

------------

"Well the house is completely bug-bombed, Ryan. Found some really pesky critters in there, but we got it completely clean now." Dave reported to Ryan, as the house completely cleared out of the smoke.

"Great! We need to reinforce these walls, and get the carpeting and wallpaper up." Ryan said, while walking through the house, with a small air cansister forcing the rest of the vapor out of the house. One of the guys came up from the basement, holding a small box in his arms. He had found a small mouse inside it, dead when they looked through the furniture as to clear out all dead bugs and vermin out of it.

"What's that, Richard?" Dave asked, when he saw the box. Richard set the box down, and it was full of paperwork, halfway chewed through. He picked the dead mouse of it all, and handed it to Dave. Richard removed his airmask and coughed.

"Bleh, this stuff reeks. It looks like some important paperwork, but I can't really tell." He squinted a little bit, trying to read it properly through the chewed up, and marked upon spots. "It's so tiny."

"You need glasses man. I've been telling you that for years."

"Your face. It's just such tiny type, you try to read it then!" He handed the paper off to Dave, who couldn't read it as well.

Ryan was watching them fuss over the box of papers. "Would you two ladies shut it please? We'll just put this box on the kitchen table, and we will get to work. Gonzo can sort through that stuff when he gets back to check up on the house."

Dave nodded, and the three of them set back to work on the house.

----------

Scooter slammed his head into the doorframe, trying to exit his room. "OW!" He wondered when his new glasses were going to be coming, he really needed them now. Skeeter was having the same trouble.

That house still stunk of flea dip, and flea powder. They had to clean everything in that house, because once they entered, it went everywhere. Piggy was sitting on the couch, looking through some old photo albums, while Gonzo sat beside her, watching some TV. She had a very pretty blue silk small turban on her head. It was to hide the fact because of those fleas she had to have her head shaved. Skeeter also had to have that done too, but she didn't care one way about it. She just wore a baseball cap if it was cold.

Fozzie looked over at Piggy and smirked. "What happened to you?"

"One more word, fuzzball and you're gonna be a rug in front of that fireplace." She flipped the page, rather angrily. Skeeter then walked into the room, and Fozzie backed up a bit.

"Woah. Why are you bald too Skeeter?"

"Me and Piggy couldn't get rid of those fleas. So, we could only do one thing, shave our heads. We tried multiple flea dips and powders, but they wouldn't leave. I don't really mind it, I mean hair does grow back dosn't it?"

Fozzie just simply nodded, and Piggy absentmindly rubbed her head. She hated to be baldheaded like that. "Stupid Beauregard. I just wanted it really short, not completely gone." She mumbled stratching her head.

"You'd look like G.I. Jane if you had it really short, Piggy."

"It'd be better then this!" She ripped the turban off, revealing a very red head, two gently folded over pig ears, and absolutely no hair at all. Beauregard didn't do a good job shaving her head, so she had small little stratches and nicks all over. "It felt like fire when I took my shower eariler, Skeeter."

"It'll grow back soon enough. See?" She ran her hand over her own bald head, and if you looked closely you could see red hair already starting to show back. "Just give it a little while, that's all."

Piggy mumbled something and placed the small turban back on her head. Skeeter giggled a bit, walking back to her room.

Scooter stopped her for a moment, smiling, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I thought you were fine, sis. You didn't have any more fleas."

"I know. I just didn't want Piggy to feel alone, that's all."

Chapter Fourteen

Scooter's cell phone rang, and he picked it up, squinting at the front of it for a moment, before answering it. "Muppet Theater's resident gofer speaking, what'cha need?"

Skeeter giggled hearing that. She was laying on the couch watching Scooter, still giggling wildly.

"Skeet, shut up! It's my position and everything. Sorry about that."

Richard's voice could be barely heard over the din of noise on the other end. "HEY! HOW YA DOING?"

Scooter glanced at his phone, wondering why he was yelling. "What are you yelling for? It's really loud over there."

"YEAH IT IS, WE'RE WORK---" The loud noise suddenly stopped, and it was almost silent behind him. "WORKING...oh, we're working on the walls now, they've got the pressure cannon going behind us. So you're Scooter?"

"Yeah, I've always got my phone with me, so they gave you guys my number. Is everything alright down there?"

"Everything's going fine, we've found some old canister with some photos and other things inside one of the walls. That and a lot of things that got overlooked are sitting on the kitchen table now. Gonzo's gonna have to come down here soon, though, and go through it, we can't put anything else on the table."

"I thought everything was in the basement though?"

Richard sighed softly, and a rustle of papers could be heard. "No, I don't want you guys to do that. We'll do woodworking later. ...Fine, just let me finish talking with Scooter, and I'll go get that." Scooter could hear Richard making some odd noises. "NO! I don't know what in the world that is, Frank. Go ask Ryan, he'll probably know."

"What's going on?"

"Dave and Frank keep on asking me when we're going to get the woodworking done, and Frank just shoved something underneath my nose to ask me what it smelled like. They keep bothering me, and I'm trying to set up layouts of the house. Why don't you just get Gonzo to get down here. We need him to check up on somethings, and also get some of this stuff moved."

Scooter nodded, smiling. "Yeah, alright. I'll get him going. Just Gonzo I guess?"

"Yeah, sorry, but we dont' need anybody else in the house now as it is. We've only got two extra..." He coughed deeply, sounded like he was hacking almost. "Ugh...only got two extra respirators down here."

"That bad?"

"Oh yes. Sawdust, grout, drywall dust, and fiberglass too. We're trying to take out the fixtures in the bathroom. Apperently Nancy went for cheap and economical, everything is practially crumbling when we touch it now."

"With eight to ten kids to watch out for, of course she'd go for what's cheap."

Richard laughed a little bit, and coughed again. "MAYBE YOU COULD THROW SOME MORE DUST MY WAY GUYS! Sorry, I need to go now, just get Gonzo down here. Only two people, himself and someone else should come. And if more decide to come, they'll not be allowed inside, alright?"

"Right, Richard. He'll be down there in a little bit."

"Good, bye now."

"Bye."

-------------

Scooter stumbled his way, back to Gonzo's room, wishing he had his glasses back now. He stopped in front of his room, and knocked on the doorframe.

"Hey Gonzo! They need you to go down there. Check out some stuff...are you okay?"

Gonzo was sitting on his bed, with Camilla beside him. She was nuzzled up against him, making soft clucking noises. A small box was in front of him. He was holding a small toy chicken in his hands, stroking it softly.

"See this Camilla? This is my baby chick, I named her Camilla too."

"Bagawk?" She asked, pecking softly at the chicken.

"Yeah, she's got the same name as you."

"Bawk.." She sighed, leaning against Gonzo. Gonzo looked over at Scooter, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just looking over some old stuff. What's happening down there?"

Scooter clumsily walked into Gonzo's room, and was assulted by a toy cannon hanging from the ceiling. "Oww...they've found a lot more stuff. They need you to go down there, and move some of it out. They won't touch it until you check it out."

"Oh alright. Camilla, you'll stay here, okay?"

Camilla nodded, nestling down onto Gonzo's bed, and lowered her head, onto the small red jumper sitting on it. She closed her eyes, and started to go to sleep.

"Is everyone else coming too?"

Scooter sighed a bit. "Well they can come, but not inside the house, they're doing a lot of work that's throwing dust in the air. And they only have two extra respirators. So you and one other person can go inside the house."

"Oh. Will you come with me?"

Scooter looked a bit confused, but Gonzo wasn't sure if that was cause he couldn't see of if he was really confused.

"I mean, I want you to come with me. I...I don't want to go in there alone, you know?" Gonzo looked a bit worried.

Scooter smiled, then tapped his face softly. "I can't see Gonzo. Niether can Skeeter. We're going to get our glasses soon, but until then, I'm pratically blind."

"I'll lead you then. I really want you to come with me, Scooter. I don't think anyone else will..."

"Will what?"

"...will understand how I'm feeling."

Scooter stopped for a moment. He realized what Gonzo was saying. He never had any family it seemed, until he met his Uncle. He was as alone as Gonzo was, a long time ago. He knows what Gonzo was feeling, on some level.

Scooter nodded, smiling softly. "Alright. You lead me, and I'll follow."

Chapter Fifteen

The two stepped out of Gonzo's truck, and Scooter was standing by the truck, waiting for Gonzo.

"I've wondered something, Scooter. If you're pratically blind, how can you get around the boarding house?"

Scooter laughed, smiling. "I've memorized the layout of it. I tripped over a seat that someone moved eariler today. So, I know my way around, but that and the theater are really the only two places I know."

"What about Nanny's house?"

"Not yet. I know a few ways around, like from the nursery to the kitchen maybe, but I'm still worried I'll hurt myself. Especially with all those machines around."

"Well, I'll make sure you don't get hurt."

"Thanks Gonzo."

Richard walked out from the house, almost gagging. He was covered from head to toe in white dust, he had two respirators in plastic bags in his hands. He ripped his own one off, and coughed some. Then he sat on the outside steps.

"...are you sure you guys still want to go inside there?"

Gonzo nodded, walking up to Richard, and sitting down beside him. "Yeah, we really want to, plus you said you had needed me."

"Yeah, that is right. But it's getting worse in there. The inside drywall is literally crumbling into dust, and with the pressure cannon, it's like a tornado of dust in that house. Everything is coated in that white stuff. I got you two guys respirators and goggles, but other then that, be prepared to look like a ghost after this is all said and done."

Scooter frowned, and put the goggles and repirator on. He then took off his jacket, and laid it on the railing outside. His shirt was pulled upward for a moment, revealing his chest and stomach. Richard caught sight of his scarred stomach and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to you?"

"Hm?" He looked down at what Richard was looking at and he frowned softly. "I had a liver transplant a month ago."

"Wooh, I don't think you should go inside then, Scooter. It may be too dangrous for you."

Gonzo looked really worried, he didn't want to go inside alone. "We've got everything we need. Why can't he go inside?"

"I just wouldn't want to see your friend hurt. And personally if we didnt' need you too look over all that stuff, we'd not let you in either. But because we don't want to mess with stuff that's yours, we're letting you inside only for a little while."

He nodded, and Scooter looked straight at Richard. "I'll be fine. A little dust isn't going to hurt me. I'm tough." He made a strong looking pose, then he grimaced a bit, he stretched himself where he shouldn't stretch.

Richard smiled a bit, about to laugh. "Okay tough guy. Just be careful, and don't go wandering off. I want both of you to stay near me, alright?"

They agreed and went inside the house. A cloud of white dust erupted from inside, and settled on everything on the porch.

Scooter's jacket was now covered in it.

---------

"Wow. I don't even recoginze the house anymore, Richard." Gonzo said quite muffled through the repirator, he could still feel the dust in his mouth, even with it. Scooter was walking right behind him, his hand on Gonzo's shoulder. With his vision all he could see is white, and honestly, it scared him a little bit.

"Uh, are we near the kitchen yet, Gonzo?"

"Almost. Just be careful. Box is to your left, okay?"

"Alright."

Richard looked back at them for a moment, and although they couldn't see it, he frowned. "Is he alright?"

"He's having trouble seeing, that's all." Gonzo replied. Richard reached over and wiped Scooter's goggles off, he could see the young man squinting through them.

"It's not the dust Richard. I just can't see!" Scooter said, quite forcefully, as the respirator made his voice so soft.

"Can't see! Oh, that's great." He got a bit softer with his tone, towards Scooter. "Maybe you should have stayed outside, that would have been much safer. ...Never mind, we're at the kitchen now. We've left a few seats still out, but other then that, the'res no other furniture in this house. The kitchen we'll be doing last."

The three of them sat down at the table, and then they closed the doors, so they could take off their masks. The first thing Gonzo picked up was a photo album, and he flipped through it, he saw the old coffee stained picture, and he smiled. Scooter picked up the capsule, and he cracked it open.

"Wow. Nanny did put some more stuff in here."

Gonzo laughed a bit. "Glad Fozzie broke that wall, huh?"

"Yeah. It was so cool, we got to see everything that Nancy had put in there. And it's all still here too."

Richard decided to look at something as well. He picked up a bag and he looked in it. "Wow, she must not have worn anything that wasn't purple or red or pink, huh?"

Gonzo looked down at the bag, it was full of Nancy's clothes, lots of green and blue striped socks, and her usual dresses and sweaters. He smiled, then he saw something a bit odd, it was pure white. He started to pull it out, and he held it up. It was a beautiful pure snow white dress, very simple of course, but it looked unworn. It even had a tag still on it. He looked over at Scooter, who was still looking at the capsule's contents.

"Hey, Scooter. Look at this. I think this might be...Nancy's wedding dress."

"But I don't think she was ever married though." He looked at it, and he smiled. "That's quite a beautiful dress though. A shame she never wore it. Dosn't even look really like a wedding dress actually."

Gonzo nodded, and folded up the dress, and as he did a small card fell out of it, he picked it up and started to read it.

"Wooahhaooh!" Gonzo exclaimed, reading it again.

"What is it Gonzo?"

"Read it...just...oh I'll read it to you then."

"Dear Nancy,
I'm sorry, but my work has gotten too demaning lately, we'll have to postpone our wedding date until we can find the perfect time and place. My sister has agreed that you will be their new mother, if you don't mind of course my sweetheart. Just as soon as we can find the time, it will happen I assure you. Just keep your hopes locked away, until that precious day.

Love, J.P.G."

After Gonzo finished reading the note, he looked over at Scooter, silent. He was wondering who this guy was, and he saw Scooter's horrifed expression.

"J. P. G.? Oh, no...it couldn't be him..."

Chapter Sixteen

"Your uncle? It couldn't be him, Scooter." Gonzo said, looking at the note again. Scooter was picking over some photos, his lips shut tight.

"I can't believe him."

"Why not...he probably really loved her." Gonzo said quite softly, gently placing the note back inside the dress, and he put the dress back in the bag.

Scooter glared at Gonzo, frowning very deeply. "He couldn't love her. He's always told me he'd never get married! The only love he showed was for money.."

Richard just sat there, getting a bit uncomfortable, then he stood up, and walked outside the kitchen, he stopped and tapped Gonzo on the shoulder. "Just get this stuff out of here, and try to get out as quick as possible. Don't want you or your friend to get hurt, okay?"

Gonzo nodded, and then turned his attention back to Scooter as Richard left the room. "What do you mean, his only love was money?"

"He just barely cared for me, when I was growing up. I mean...he taught me how to take care of myself, the moment I didn't really need him for everything, he almost forgot about me. Either that or I waited on him hand and foot." He glanced at another photo, of nearly everyone in the nursery. He frowned again, but this time, it looked like he was about to cry. "He just threw money at me, Gonzo. If I needed something, he'd just hand me some money and say 'Go get it then'. He never gave me any attention at all. He..."

Scooter stopped talking, and he started to cough a bit, gathering up the stuff on the table. He looked over at Gonzo, and smiled softly. "We should get going, get this stuff back to the boarding house, okay?"

Gonzo could tell he didn't want to talk much about it. So they got the stuff, and took it back out to the truck. Scooter picked up his jacket, and threw it into the back as well, it was pretty much ruined now.

The ride home was deathly silent.

-----------

"So how did everything go, guys?" Skeeter asked, her new glasses glinting in the sunlight, as she stood at the open door. She had a second pair of glasses in her hand.

"Fine, Skeet." Scooter replied sullenly, picking up the glasses from her, after he placed a pile of boxes and bags beside the couch. He placed them on, and blinked a few times, walking back to his room. "Thanks."

She watched him walking back to his room, and she frowned a bit. "Your welcome, sourpuss. What happened down there?"

Scooter didn't respond at all, but the slamming of his door could be heard.

Gonzo just smiled a bit, carrying in the last bit of boxes, and set them down beside the pile Scooter had carried in. "Is Kermit around?"

"No, he went down to the theatre. Despite all the stuff that's been happening, he's said the show is going on. He also wanted you and Scooter to get down there as soon as you came back."

"Oh...I'll tell you later, it's about something we found." He started down the hall as well, still holding a photo album in his hands.

Skeeter started to walk down the hall, after him. "What about the theater? He said he really wanted to see you two."

"The theatre can wait, Skeeter. I have something else I have to do."

"Okay!" She settled down onto the couch, and started watching a soccer match on the TV.

Chapter Seventeen

Kermit walked into the house, quite peeved. He saw Skeeter asleep in front of a blaring soccer match on the TV. Robin was sitting on her stomach watching it.

"GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!" The reporter on the TV yelled, and Robin hopped up and down. Skeeter didn't really move much, just placed a hand on top of Robin, he wriggled out from underneath it, and hugged her hand a little.

"Wow! Skeeter did you see that? The Fracheesy guy made a goal!"

"Franchesco" She corrected him, not opening her eyes.

"Yeah, him."

She turned over a bit, and now Robin was sitting on her hip. "That's great. Now quit hopping on me so I can sleep, alright?"

"Okay. Sorry." Robin looked up and he saw Kermit standing there watching the two of them. "Hey Uncle Kermit's back! Hi Uncle Kermit!"

"Hey Robin. What are you two doing?"

"We're watching a soccer match, it's in spanish...so I really don't know what they're saying. But that one guy, he keeps yelling 'GOOOALL', so it's really cool."

The TV yelled that out again, and Robin looked positively excited. "I really like it when they do that, Uncle Kermit!"

Kermit laughed a little bit, watching his nephew getting so excited with just a simple yell from a soccer game. He looked down at Skeeter, and she looked exhausted.

"What's happened to you?"

She opened one eye, and looked up at him. "Fell off the roof eariler, tried to fix the dish." She pointed at the TV. "That's why we're getting that now."

"Oh. Are you okay?" He placed a hand on her shoulder worried.

"Yeah. Just a bit bruised, and worn out. I started to watch this game about 4 hours ago. They're like in...uber-overtime now." She laughed a bit, and watched as Robin frowned at the TV, then he smiled when they yelled again. "He came in worried about me, and I held him for a little while. I went to sleep, and he's been sitting on me for the past hour now."

Robin turned around, and patted her arm. "Can you teach me how to play soccer, Skeeter?"

"Sure. When you're a bit bigger though."

"AW! I want to learn now. I'm old enough! I'm 6 years old!"

"It's not age, Robin. You're too small. You'd get flattened by the ball!"

Robin frowned a bit, then settled down into her lap again, watching the game. Skeeter looked up at Kermit and searched his face, wondering what he was thinking.

"Did Scooter and Gonzo ever get to the theatre?"

Kermit frowned, his coat now in his arms. "No. I never saw them at all. Are they in their rooms?"

"Yeah. Scoot looked really ticked off about something, I'm a little worried about him. And Gonzo..." She shook her head. "I could never figure him out, and I'm not about to start."

Kermit nodded, and started to walk down the hall. He heard a lot of clicking coming from Scooter's room. He gently pushed the door open, to find the gofer sitting in front of his laptop, typing like mad.

"Scooter? You okay?"

Scooter didn't respond at all, but just kept typing away. Kermit decided just to let him be. Then he walked over to Gonzo's room. Camilla wasn't in his room at the time, and Gonzo was showing Rizzo the old photo albums.

"Man, you're just as weird then as you are now." Rizzo flipped the page, and he smiled. "Hey! That's you and Kermit and Fozzie. And Piggy too!"

"Yeah, Nancy took care of all of us. I really miss her." He smiled sadly as he looked down at a picture, of all of them with Nanny right behind them.

"Whoever took those photos keep cutting her head off though. Looks weird."

"Mr. Cruthers always took those pictures when it was all of us, or Nanny in them. He never seemed to take good pictures of her. But she didnt' care. She really just wanted those as pictures of us, not her."

"Yeah, I'd guess so. What's that thing?" Rizzo pointed to a small stuffed chicken in Gonzo's arms.

"Oh, that's my baby chicken, Camilla. I always had her with me, when I was little. I never went anywhere without her."

"Kinda like with your Camilla now? You must've named her after this, huh?"

"Yeah." Gonzo looked up for a moment, and he saw Kermit standing in the doorway. "Hey Kermit. What's wrong?"

"You never came Gonzo." He walked inside, and sat down beside Gonzo and Rizzo. "I really needed you and Scooter, and you both didn't come."

"Sorry about that. I guess I got too wrapped up in what I was doing eariler."

"How wrapped up were you?" Kermit looked a bit confused.

"What do you mean, Kermit? I've just been looking over all these photos with Rizzo here, for quite awhile actually."

Kermit was starting to get worked up now. "Skeeter fell off the roof, and no one heard it? You didn't hear it?"

Gonzo's eyes got wider. "She fell off the roof? Is she okay?"

Kermit looked back towards the living room. "I think so. She's been laying on the couch for quite sometime now, from what Robin told me. No one heard her?"

Gonzo looked down at the albums some more. "I don't know. Me and Rizzo have been in here for the past few hours now."

Kermit shook his head, and stood up, he decided he go back there and have a chat with Scooter about something.

Chapter Eighteen

Scooter was staring at the screen, obviously angry. He wished he could talk to Nancy now. He wished he knew what had happened. Why she...ugh..was going to be married to his Uncle. Instead he just sat there, staring at a story he was typing out. He heard a soft knock on his door. He turned around suddenly in his chair, still a bit angry at himself and what had happened.

"Unless it's fire, flood, or Crazy Harry, I'm not moving or speaking to you, so go away!"

Kermit frowned, looking down at the floor. He's never heard Scooter that...angry before. He was going to open the door, but he just let it go, and walked back to his own room. He stopped for a moment, and just stood there, looking down at the floor, he just felt so...torn.

'I know what Gonzo meant, when he felt lost in this world.'

Piggy watched Kermit, she could see his heart was breaking now. She remembered he never cried at her funeral, he was so strong. He never cried when Scooter was in trouble, he had kept it inside so the others wouldn't break down. She knew it was bad that he kept it all inside of him, he became a very troubled frog, and she could see it. She could see it in everyone. She walked over to Kermit, and patted his shoulder softly.

"It's changed, hasn't it Kermie?"

Kermit looked up at her, and he looked like he was about to breakdown right in front of her. "What do you mean, Piggy?"

"Nanny...and...that surgery...it's changed him hasn't it? It's changed everyone."

All Kermit could do was nod, as he started to cry softly, onto Piggy's shoulder. He hadn't cried before that night, but the years of missing Nancy, almost losing a great friend, and their theatre twice. It was too much for this frog to bear alone. So, he beared it with his friend, the one who always would stand by him, no matter what.

Piggy hugged him gently, yet tightly. "It is alright, Kermie. It will be alright. I will always be here for you, whatever may come our way."

Kermit sniffed a bit, then he just laid his head on her shoulder. He saw something brown through his tears close a door across the hallway.

----------

Fozzie sat in his room, after he saw what had happened out there. He held his old teddy bear, and stroked it softly, looking out the window.

"Why is this happening to us? Why did she leave so suddenly..." He let his thoughts trail off, looking out the window. He just sat on his bed, and pulled out his ukalele, and played a soft tune to himself, trying to get his mind off of everything that had happened.

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning came and went rather quietly. Scooter stayed in his room, still typing away, and Robin had fallen asleep on Skeeter, although she wasn't on the couch anymore. Kermit was wondering if there was any way he could change or fix what had happened to them. He sat at the table, slowly eating some toast. Piggy came down the stairs with her usual flair for dramatics.

"Hello, little people!" She exclaimed, and Kermit just gave a half-hearted nod. She looked around the room, and she only saw Dr. Teeth, Kermit, Rowlf, Clifford, and suprisingly Richard and Ryan at the morning table.

Richard looked up, and he smiled. "Just like you told me, Dr. Teeth."

"Heh, right on cue!" He laughed, and took another sip of coffee watching Piggy for a second.

She stood there, and looked at everyone for a second. "Where is everyone, Kermit?"

He just shrugged, and stood up, to go put his plate in the sink. He didn't say a word to her. Rowlf watched a little sad, then he heard some banging from the back room, one of the bedrooms.

"Scooter must like, be up now." Janice noted, as she looked down the hall seeing Scooter standing in the hallway, just glaring into his room. He huffed a bit, and grabbed his jacket, storming down the hall and leaving the house quite quickly.

"I'll be at the theatre, if anyone cares." He said to anyone listening, as he closed the door behind him. He closed it with such force that a picture fell off the wall.

They could hear some fussing outside the house, and Piggy walked over to the window, wondering what it was.

----------

"Scooter, what is the matter with you?" Sadie exclaimed, grabbing ahold of her son's arm before he left the porch. She had been sitting outside with Skeeter and Fozzie before he stormed out of the house.

"It's nothing, Mom. I'm going down to the theatre." He looked away from her, he didn't want to even look at her. Fozzie sat there, looking hurt already, he wanted to know why he was so mad, after all they only just went back to her house? What could have happened, he wondered?

"It is something, Scooter. Now tell me, please. What's bothering you?" She looked quite worried about him now. "What's happened?"

Scooter stood there, his arm still in his mother's grip. He turned around and wrenched his arm out of her grasp, quite forcefully. "...Uncle was going to marry Nancy. Did you even KNOW about that?"

She nodded, she didn't see that as a problem at all. "Yes, I knew. What about that, that alone couldn't be making you so angry sweetheart."

"You were just going to give us up to Uncle and Nancy wern't you? Just give us up, like we were nothing!"

Sadie stepped back, she looked very hurt. Her voice was soft, shaking. "Scooter...I-I couldn't help it. There was nothing I could do."

Skeeter just leaned against Fozzie, who has his arms around her, she was crying, she hated to see anybody like this. Fozzie looked up at Scooter, and he frowned softly.

"Scooter. You're making your sister cry." He patted Skeeter's shoulder, while she cried into his soft fur.

Scooter stopped, and he closed his eyes. He didn't say anything else, but he pulled his jacket tighter, and started walking off the porch. He looked back at them, and because of the sunlight, they couldn't see his eyes. Which was a good thing, he was crying too by that time.

"I...I'll be at the theatre if anyone cares..." He started to walk down the street, slowly. He pulled out his keys and started messing with them just to get his mind away from everything that had happened.

------------

Miss Piggy stood there, on the other side of the window, silent. Sadie was hugging Skeeter now, she couldn't stop crying now. Fozzie had taken off his necktie, and was dabbing Skeeter's eyes with it, softly. Kermit walked over to the window, and sat on the windowseat beside her. He didnt' really look at her. Piggy looked at him, and she looked worried and hurt at the same time.

"Everything's changed, Kermit. If only..."

He looked a bit angry, shaking his head. "If only what, Piggy? We can't change what's happened. It's not like we can go back in time and fix what's happened!"

"You've always said, change is for the better. You said it yourself, Kermie. But this isn't for the better. It's slowly pulling us all apart. What are we going to do?"

The frog, easily 2 times smaller then she, just laid his head on her lap, looking at the ceiling. He was broken, but he was still their leader. As a leader, he has so much responsibility. He felt he couldnt' bear it alone, everyone was pulling apart. They haven't left, no, but still. The boarding house used to be always in song, always happiness. Craziness. But after Scooter's surgery, and Nancy's funeral...it was...it had become silent. And cold. Not unloving, but just...

"It's too quiet, Piggy."

Piggy was softly stroking his head by this time, while he thought. She was unusually quiet for him showing this much love towards her. She stopped, and placed her hand in his.

"Hmm?"

"This house is too quiet. Too much...negitive stuff. We need to bring something positive in here."

"And what would that be, Kermie?" She asked softly, lacing her gloved fingers through his slender ones.

He sat up suddenly, a bright smile on his face. Piggy smiled as well, this was the happiest she had seen Kermit in the last few weeks. He leaned in closely to her, and he smiled. Piggy just smiled back, she wondered what he was thinking.

"Let's get married, Piggy."

------------

Everyone at the table looked suddenly over at the living room. They heard the window shattering, and a joyous loud scream.

"Wow, like I think Piggy just broke that window with her voice..." Janice replied suprised.

She saw Piggy run into the kitchen, doing this like happy calypso dance. "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"

Dr. Teeth smiled, and looked at her. "I thought you two were already hitched."

Piggy grabbed Dr. by his shoulders, and was positively bursting with energy. "That was just the movie, that wasn't real! BUT THIS IS!"

Then she went running up to her room, she had saved that wedding dress from the movie, and it was going to be really used now.

Chapter Twenty

Scooter sat in the empty theatre, his only company was Auntie Eleanor and Uncle Deadly. They actually had taken up seats where the old men sat during the performances, when they weren't there. Eleanor looked over the edge of the balcony, and she frowned.

"What could be wrong with him? He seems so troubled, dear."

He wasn't really paying attention to Scooter, who was sitting in the front row of seats, writing stuff down on his clipboard. Making some notes about something, it seemed. "I do not care for what is troubling the young man."

She slapped him in his chest, fuming. "You should! He's one of the reasons we're both here now!"

He nodded, and the two of them leapt down from the balcony to near where he was seated. Scooter didnt' budge an inch, but kept writing on his clipboard. He pulled off the sheet of paper, and balled it up, throwing it on the floor. He started again on a new sheet of paper. He set the clipboard down, and pulled off his glasses, rubbing his eyes.

"Scooter? What is troubling you?" Eleanor asked, a little concerned. The few times sees seen him, he's usually so happy and bright. Although she didn't mind him being dark and moody, she was used to that, and actually enjoyed it. But this worried her. It was completely different then what he was.

"It's nothing, Auntie Eleanor. I need to work on the records some." He picked up his clipboard, and started walking back towards the records room. He closed the door behind him, and typing was heard from inside, and the shuffling of papers. He turned the radio up some, as to drown out the typing that bothered him.

"I can never understand some people, Eleanor. Let us just leave him be." Deadly said quite offhand, as the two started to go back up towards the balcony. Before Eleanor went with him, she picked up the ball of paper on the floor, but she didn't look at it.

-----------

Gonzo was walking out of the house, towards his truck. And he was on the way to the theatre, as soon as he heard the fight between him and Sadie. He shook his head, as he got out of the truck, and he walked inside the theatre, looking around.

"Hey, Scooter! You still in here?"

No response came, he looked up and saw Deadly and Eleanor sleeping in that balcony, as they usually did around this time. He didnt' bother them. He knew where Scooter probably was, the records room. He stopped in front of the room, hearing the music, but no typing.

"That's odd. He's usually typing away in there..."

He opened the door slowly, and he saw Scooter sluGonzo stood there speechless in front of the phone, he stared back at Scooter, and he walked over kneeling down, putting his ear (or where he would have one) to his chest. He was still breathing, softly.

"Good...he's still there." He gently picked up Scooter, and sat him down on the floor, and he sat beside him. Scooter's head rolled over onto Gonzo's shoulder, he was out cold. Gonzo started to pat his cheek.

"Scooter, come on...you've given us a lot of scares you know...that trip couldn't have hurt you..." He was getting worried, he heard a small clatter, and saw Scooter's cell phone on the floor now. He smiled, and picked it up.

"I'll call the guys, they'll come over, and we'll be able to get you some help..or at least wake you up."

Scooter slid down into Gonzo's lap, still out cold, his breathing soft, as if he was sleeping. Just...he wasn't waking up at all.

------------

The phone rang at the boarding house, Kermit looked at the ID on the phone, he frowned a bit.

"Hi Scooter. What's the matter now?" He said a bit sullen, he tried to hide it but he couldn't anymore.

"Hey Kermit, something's not right down here." Gonzo's voice came from the other end.

"Gonzo? What are you doing down there? Rizzo told me you were in your room, still reminicing." Kermit said a bit hufflily, as he looked over at Piggy who was going over with Hilda and Mildred to let out a few pin tucks in her wedding dress. Kermit smiled, at least it got her happy for awhile. Got some more activity in this house.

Gonzo was silent, and he looked down at Scooter. "Something's happened to Scooter, but...I can't put my finger on it. He's breathing and he looks fine, but...he just won't wake up."

"Okay. Give a little time, and we'll get down there as soon as possible. He might just have passed out or something. I've seen him do it sometimes."

"Okay, Kermit. Just don't take too long, okay?"

"I won't."

With that, Kermit set the phone down, and turned his attention back to Miss Piggy and her wedding dress. He still wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing...telling her they were going to get married for real this time. He wasn't so sure this was right. He loved her, yes, but...was it too soon?

Piggy turned around to Kermit, smiling, holding up the fixed wedding dress. "Oh, Kermie! This'll be wonderful won't it! Getting married, and..." She stopped twirling around when she saw his confused and worried face. "What's wrong? Is it this dress? Maybe something in a beautiful shade of blue would look nice..."

Kermit held up his hand, for her to be quiet for a second, his froggy mind was churning. Why would that happen to Scooter. Why is Gonzo down there anyways, and why does Gonzo have this...close connection to him when Kermit dosn't? He didn't make any sense to him. He looked Piggy square in the eye.

"The plans will be put on hold for a little bit, okay Piggy? I don't want you talking about it anymore. I've got some important things...I need to check up on."

She pouted, getting angry very quickly. "WE are still getting MARRIED arn't we?"

He gulped, and backed up about two feet. "Yes! Yes, just...hold off for a little while. It isnt' the time, but the act...right, Piggy?"

She smiled sweetly, giving Kermit a crushing hug before he grabbed his jacket and left out the front door. He looked over at Fozzie, who was chatting with Skeeter outside. "Come on Fozzie, you're driving me down to the theatre."

"Yes, Sir!" He smiled, standing up for a moment. "We'll be back in a bit, I guess Skeeter."

"Oh no, you're not going down there without me!" She leapt off the porch, and got into the backseat of Fozzie's studebaker. "My brother's ticked off, and I wanna know why, other then that stupid reason he gave this morning. It can't be just that."

Kermit sighed, as Fozzie backed out of the driveway and started down towards the road for the theater.

-------------

Scooter opened his eyes slowly, his head was pounding like a hammer against an anvil. He thought his head was going to split wide open. He looked up and he saw Gonzo's nose. "Hey, what're you doing down here at the theatre?"

He sat slowly up, and leaned against the wall, looking over at him. Gonzo smiled.

"I came to see how you were. What happened? You were...just out cold."

"I don't remember. I was typing out the list of what we made, to get it prepped for taxes, and my headache was getting worse...and then here you are, and I'm on the floor!"

"You must've blacked out then. Sure it dosn't have anything to do with that surgery, or going to Nanny's house?"

Scooter shook his head, looking around the room. The lights hurt his eyes, and he shut them tight. They heard the old clanking studebaker roll into the parking lot just then.

Chapter Twenty Two

Skeeter stepped out of the studebaker before the others did. She stormed inside the theatre, and went straight backstage. She saw Scooter sitting against the wall, holding his head for a moment, his glasses off. The lights were dimmed. She stared into the darkened room, and she flipped the backstage lights on.

"Oohhhh, turn those off Skeeter! Please!" He was covering his eyes with his hands, ducking his head between his knees. He felt horrible right then. She then turned off the lights again, to where the only light was the computer screen on the desk. She sat down in front of him.

"What is wrong with you? You chew mom out, over something she had no control over, she wasn't even 18 when she had us, so of course she had to give us up to Nanny to take care of us. What did it matter if Uncle Grosse and she we're going to get married! You didn't have to make MOM CRY OVER IT!" She was yelling by this time, very angry.

Kermit and Fozzie stood in the doorway, watching her rant to her twin while she sat on the floor. She pulled herself forward, and pulled his chin up, in the darkened light they could see tears streaming down his face. She was about to yell again, when she stopped, his chin still in her hand.

"I..I'm sorry Skeeter...I've caused..." He choked a bit, laying his head down on his arms, in quite a small ball now, looking outwards towards the wall. He frowned, and looked at her. "...I should have just died."

Gonzo grabbed ahold of Scooter tightly, and Kermit walked over and sat down on the floor beside them. Fozzie sat down between Skeeter and Kermit, he pulled off his ascot again, and handed it to Kermit, who then handed it to Scooter.

"If I thought like that Scooter, I wouldn't be here today." Gonzo stared at Scooter, tears about to fall from his own face. He realized why Scooter was saying that now. "It's not your fault she died."

"IT IS MY FAULT! If I had just died and gotten it over with, she'd still be here, and you wouldn't have to be dealing with her house, and putting other's lives in danger trying to fix that darned thing UP!" He laid back against the wall hard, closing his eyes tightly. Kermit reached up and placed his hand on Scooter's hand.

"..." He couldn't find any words to say. Skeeter just sat against Fozzie, trying to clear her mind of what could have happened to him. She was reminded of those painful memories back at the hospital. It was too terrible for her to remember, so she remembered that night they sang together. He...he was so happy. Sure, Nanny's death saddened everyone...but...

"You remember that song, right?" Skeeter asked simply, looking over at Scooter.

"Skeeter...no...no..." He was softly shaking his head, he did not want to hear it now.

Skeeter smiled, and started to sing very softly, smiling. Fozzie sighed remembering this song. Nanny sang it when someone was sick, or they had trouble going to sleep.

"Golden slumber kisses your eyes, smiles awaits you when you rise. Sleep, pretty baby, do not cry, and I'll sing you a lullaby. Care you know not, therefore sleep, while I o'er you watch do keep. Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby."

She finished singing, and looked over at Scooter. He was silent, listening. His glasses back in his hands. Kermit smiled. He remembered all those times they couldn't sleep as well, but he really remembered, when Scooter had a really bad cold, and was so stuffed up he couldn't even breathe right. Nanny had picked him up, and carried him into the TV room, where she had an old rocking chair.

----------

"Hey, Nanny's taking Scooter!" Kermit exclaimed. It was late at night, and it was when Nanny had done a late night check up on them, she noticed Scooter could barely breathe right.

"Maybe we should follow them." Skeeter replied. On that cue, they all clambered out of the crib, following her and Scooter. They stopped near the TV room's door, and watched. Nanny didn't know they were there.

"Scooter...you could have told me you had trouble eariler. You told me you were fine." She scolded very gently, while Scooter was in her lap.

He sneezed a few times, and coughed a bit. He sniffled looking up at her. "I just didn't want to bother you Nanny. You said eariler, you had a lot of stuff to do today."

"Even if I have the world to do, I'd stop to help you, you know that." She patted his head, and held out a small teaspoon full of cough medicine. He shrunk away from it. "It will make you feel better." He still pulled away from it. She thought for a second, and she smiled. She leaned down at gave Scooter a kiss on his forehead, and he smiled widely, just enough for her to shove the spoon into his mouth.

"Gack! Ick...ooh...that's nasty!" He coughed somemore, making odd faces at the nasty cough medicine. Nanny patted his back, his eyes were dropping a bit, he looked very tired.

It was almost a half hour later that night, Scooter still couldn't sleep. She patted his back, and tried everything she could think of off-hand. She then sat down with him in the rocking chair, and remembered an old lullaby.

"Golden slumber kisses your eyes, smiles awaits you when you rise.
Sleep, little Scooter, do not cough, and I'll sing you a lullaby.
Care you don't know, therefore sleep, while over you watch I do keep.
Sleep, baby Scooter, and do not cough, and I will sing a soft lullaby."

Scooter yawned, and she hummed the song somemore, rocking him gently. He was still coughing slightly, but he drifted off to sleep in her lap. The rest of the babies were outside the room, the two that were awake watching them, Kermit and Fozzie, fell asleep at the gentle lullaby as well.

Chapter Twenty Three

pocket. Gonzo was about to try to wake him up when he saw something odd on the screen. He stopped for a second and read it.

"December 11-14 show - $1,900 December 15-18 show - $2,500 Winter Splendor Show - $5,000 ..help me, hurting, help.."

Gonzo was speechless, he reached over with a hand, and his eyes widened a bit. He felt again, and he backed up, shocked. He walked out of the room, and shakily walked over to the phone.

Chapter Twenty One

Gonzo stood there speechless in front of the phone, he stared back at Scooter, and he walked over kneeling down, putting his ear (or where he would have one) to his chest. He was still breathing, softly.

"Good...he's still there." He gently picked up Scooter, and sat him down on the floor, and he sat beside him. Scooter's head rolled over onto Gonzo's shoulder, he was out cold. Gonzo started to pat his cheek.

"Scooter, come on...you've given us a lot of scares you know...that trip couldn't have hurt you..." He was getting worried, he heard a small clatter, and saw Scooter's cell phone on the floor now. He smiled, and picked it up.

"I'll call the guys, they'll come over, and we'll be able to get you some help..or at least wake you up."

Scooter slid down into Gonzo's lap, still out cold, his breathing soft, as if he was sleeping. Just...he wasn't waking up at all.

------------

The phone rang at the boarding house, Kermit looked at the ID on the phone, he frowned a bit.

"Hi Scooter. What's the matter now?" He said a bit sullen, he tried to hide it but he couldn't anymore.

"Hey Kermit, something's not right down here." Gonzo's voice came from the other end.

"Gonzo? What are you doing down there? Rizzo told me you were in your room, still reminicing." Kermit said a bit hufflily, as he looked over at Piggy who was going over with Hilda and Mildred to let out a few pin tucks in her wedding dress. Kermit smiled, at least it got her happy for awhile. Got some more activity in this house.

Gonzo was silent, and he looked down at Scooter. "Something's happened to Scooter, but...I can't put my finger on it. He's breathing and he looks fine, but...he just won't wake up."

"Okay. Give a little time, and we'll get down there as soon as possible. He might just have passed out or something. I've seen him do it sometimes."

"Okay, Kermit. Just don't take too long, okay?"

"I won't."

With that, Kermit set the phone down, and turned his attention back to Miss Piggy and her wedding dress. He still wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing...telling her they were going to get married for real this time. He wasn't so sure this was right. He loved her, yes, but...was it too soon?

Piggy turned around to Kermit, smiling, holding up the fixed wedding dress. "Oh, Kermie! This'll be wonderful won't it! Getting married, and..." She stopped twirling around when she saw his confused and worried face. "What's wrong? Is it this dress? Maybe something in a beautiful shade of blue would look nice..."

Kermit held up his hand, for her to be quiet for a second, his froggy mind was churning. Why would that happen to Scooter. Why is Gonzo down there anyways, and why does Gonzo have this...close connection to him when Kermit dosn't? He didn't make any sense to him. He looked Piggy square in the eye.

"The plans will be put on hold for a little bit, okay Piggy? I don't want you talking about it anymore. I've got some important things...I need to check up on."

She pouted, getting angry very quickly. "WE are still getting MARRIED arn't we?"

He gulped, and backed up about two feet. "Yes! Yes, just...hold off for a little while. It isnt' the time, but the act...right, Piggy?"

She smiled sweetly, giving Kermit a crushing hug before he grabbed his jacket and left out the front door. He looked over at Fozzie, who was chatting with Skeeter outside. "Come on Fozzie, you're driving me down to the theatre."

"Yes, Sir!" He smiled, standing up for a moment. "We'll be back in a bit, I guess Skeeter."

"Oh no, you're not going down there without me!" She leapt off the porch, and got into the backseat of Fozzie's studebaker. "My brother's ticked off, and I wanna know why, other then that stupid reason he gave this morning. It can't be just that."

Kermit sighed, as Fozzie backed out of the driveway and started down towards the road for the theater.

-------------

Scooter opened his eyes slowly, his head was pounding like a hammer against an anvil. He thought his head was going to split wide open. He looked up and he saw Gonzo's nose. "Hey, what're you doing down here at the theatre?"

He sat slowly up, and leaned against the wall, looking over at him. Gonzo smiled.

"I came to see how you were. What happened? You were...just out cold."

"I don't remember. I was typing out the list of what we made, to get it prepped for taxes, and my headache was getting worse...and then here you are, and I'm on the floor!"

"You must've blacked out then. Sure it dosn't have anything to do with that surgery, or going to Nanny's house?"

Scooter shook his head, looking around the room. The lights hurt his eyes, and he shut them tight. They heard the old clanking studebaker roll into the parking lot just then.

Chapter Twenty Two

Skeeter stepped out of the studebaker before the others did. She stormed inside the theatre, and went straight backstage. She saw Scooter sitting against the wall, holding his head for a moment, his glasses off. The lights were dimmed. She stared into the darkened room, and she flipped the backstage lights on.

"Oohhhh, turn those off Skeeter! Please!" He was covering his eyes with his hands, ducking his head between his knees. He felt horrible right then. She then turned off the lights again, to where the only light was the computer screen on the desk. She sat down in front of him.

"What is wrong with you? You chew mom out, over something she had no control over, she wasn't even 18 when she had us, so of course she had to give us up to Nanny to take care of us. What did it matter if Uncle Grosse and she we're going to get married! You didn't have to make MOM CRY OVER IT!" She was yelling by this time, very angry.

Kermit and Fozzie stood in the doorway, watching her rant to her twin while she sat on the floor. She pulled herself forward, and pulled his chin up, in the darkened light they could see tears streaming down his face. She was about to yell again, when she stopped, his chin still in her hand.

"I..I'm sorry Skeeter...I've caused..." He choked a bit, laying his head down on his arms, in quite a small ball now, looking outwards towards the wall. He frowned, and looked at her. "...I should have just died."

Gonzo grabbed ahold of Scooter tightly, and Kermit walked over and sat down on the floor beside them. Fozzie sat down between Skeeter and Kermit, he pulled off his ascot again, and handed it to Kermit, who then handed it to Scooter.

"If I thought like that Scooter, I wouldn't be here today." Gonzo stared at Scooter, tears about to fall from his own face. He realized why Scooter was saying that now. "It's not your fault she died."

"IT IS MY FAULT! If I had just died and gotten it over with, she'd still be here, and you wouldn't have to be dealing with her house, and putting other's lives in danger trying to fix that darned thing UP!" He laid back against the wall hard, closing his eyes tightly. Kermit reached up and placed his hand on Scooter's hand.

"..." He couldn't find any words to say. Skeeter just sat against Fozzie, trying to clear her mind of what could have happened to him. She was reminded of those painful memories back at the hospital. It was too terrible for her to remember, so she remembered that night they sang together. He...he was so happy. Sure, Nanny's death saddened everyone...but...

"You remember that song, right?" Skeeter asked simply, looking over at Scooter.

"Skeeter...no...no..." He was softly shaking his head, he did not want to hear it now.

Skeeter smiled, and started to sing very softly, smiling. Fozzie sighed remembering this song. Nanny sang it when someone was sick, or they had trouble going to sleep.

"Golden slumber kisses your eyes, smiles awaits you when you rise. Sleep, pretty baby, do not cry, and I'll sing you a lullaby. Care you know not, therefore sleep, while I o'er you watch do keep. Sleep, pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby."

She finished singing, and looked over at Scooter. He was silent, listening. His glasses back in his hands. Kermit smiled. He remembered all those times they couldn't sleep as well, but he really remembered, when Scooter had a really bad cold, and was so stuffed up he couldn't even breathe right. Nanny had picked him up, and carried him into the TV room, where she had an old rocking chair.

----------

"Hey, Nanny's taking Scooter!" Kermit exclaimed. It was late at night, and it was when Nanny had done a late night check up on them, she noticed Scooter could barely breathe right.

"Maybe we should follow them." Skeeter replied. On that cue, they all clambered out of the crib, following her and Scooter. They stopped near the TV room's door, and watched. Nanny didn't know they were there.

"Scooter...you could have told me you had trouble eariler. You told me you were fine." She scolded very gently, while Scooter was in her lap.

He sneezed a few times, and coughed a bit. He sniffled looking up at her. "I just didn't want to bother you Nanny. You said eariler, you had a lot of stuff to do today."

"Even if I have the world to do, I'd stop to help you, you know that." She patted his head, and held out a small teaspoon full of cough medicine. He shrunk away from it. "It will make you feel better." He still pulled away from it. She thought for a second, and she smiled. She leaned down at gave Scooter a kiss on his forehead, and he smiled widely, just enough for her to shove the spoon into his mouth.

"Gack! Ick...ooh...that's nasty!" He coughed somemore, making odd faces at the nasty cough medicine. Nanny patted his back, his eyes were dropping a bit, he looked very tired.

It was almost a half hour later that night, Scooter still couldn't sleep. She patted his back, and tried everything she could think of off-hand. She then sat down with him in the rocking chair, and remembered an old lullaby.

"Golden slumber kisses your eyes, smiles awaits you when you rise.
Sleep, little Scooter, do not cough, and I'll sing you a lullaby.
Care you don't know, therefore sleep, while over you watch I do keep.
Sleep, baby Scooter, and do not cough, and I will sing a soft lullaby."

Scooter yawned, and she hummed the song somemore, rocking him gently. He was still coughing slightly, but he drifted off to sleep in her lap. The rest of the babies were outside the room, the two that were awake watching them, Kermit and Fozzie, fell asleep at the gentle lullaby as well.

Chapter Twenty Three

Scooter sat there against the wall, listening to Skeeter sing. He didn't know what to say to her. He felt horrible for what he's done to his friends, what he had caused Nancy to do. Gonzo hugged Scooter tight, he was so worried for his friend now, he's always been worried about everyone. Kermit's mind was still remembering those nights, far off in his memory.

"She did that not only for you, Scooter." Kermit paused for a second, then he smiled. "She did that for everyone."

Scooter looked over at Kermit, but not his face, he instead stared at his flippers, and at the floor. He shrugged his shoulders gently, shaking his head.

"She did. If you had died, Scooter. We're not sure what we'd have done without you.." Fozzie replied, softly, one of his arms around Skeeter now, as she finished up the lullaby's humming. Scooter stood shakily to his feet, and stumbled a bit, almost losing his balance. He turned to them, frowning.

"What would you have done, Fozzie? If I had died?" He asked the bear, a tinge of anger still present in his voice.

Fozzie could tell his was a little angry, but at what, he wasn't sure. He looked around, trying to think of something to say. Nothing came to mind. Scooter crossed his arms, staring at Fozzie and Kermit now.

"You'd have lost your gofer, is that right? You just don't want to say it. You would have lost the scapegoat and the go-getter." He turned to Kermit, and he frowned deeply. "For once you'd have to get your own coffee, right Chief?" He said chief with a sneer, looking back at the computer. He sat down in the seat, and pressed the print button. He then shoved a stack of papers at Kermit.

"Here's the tax reports," He picked up another small stack of papers, again shoving them to Kermit. "...and the filing. And here's the ticket and act outlay for the next THREE WEEKS!" He finally set one last stack of papers, on top of the other layer, and he walked slowly out of the room, his clipboard in his hands. He stopped in the hall, and he glared at that clipboard.

It was the same one his uncle had given him years ago. He turned back towards the room.

"AND HERE! HAVE THE CLIPBOARD TOO!" He flung that into the room with such force, it almost hit Gonzo in the head, as it zinged past him, it clattered against the wall, the papers flying out of it.

The room was completely silent, as the heard Scooter's footfalls getting softer and softer, they heard the far doors slam as walked outside into the wintery snow and ice. Skeeter looked around the room, and she saw Scooter's jacket sitting on the chair still, that logo on the back seeming to taunt them.

Fozzie saw the jacket as well, he stood up and picked it up gently, holding it in his hands. "He'll get cold outside, Kermit."

Kermit for once didn't feel like caring so much. He'd cared so much for everyone, by now he just felt burnt out. He looked at Fozzie and he frowned a bit.

"He can get cold for all I care." He started to walk down the theatre's aisle, going slowly, his mind going over a lot of things. One of them being his wedding. Fozzie, Gonzo, and Scooter were going to be his best men. Fozzie his most-best man. He wasn't so sure if he wanted Scooter to be a part of it now. He kept walking, until he got to Fozzie's studebaker. He sat down, waiting for them to come out.

Fozzie still stood in the records room, with Skeeter and Gonzo. He was still holding Scooter's jacket in his hands. He looked down at it, and he frowned a bit.

"What's wrong, Fozzie?" Gonzo asked, wondering why he was frowning.

"It's going to drop below freezing tonight." He said, gripping the jacket softly.

Skeeter huffed a bit, walking towards the door. "So what? He'll come back to the boarding house, a little chilled, but he'll be fine. He's tough!"

"I don't think he'll be coming back anytime soon, Skeeter." Gonzo said simply.

Chapter Twenty Four

"Oh no. We've gotta go get him!" Skeeter said quickly. She was really worried about how her brother was acting lately. Gonzo shook his head.

"I don't think he'd be willing to just hop into the studebaker just like that. He's still kinda..angry with us. I don't really know why, other then him feeling guilty over Nancy's death. But it has to be a lot more then that. So what are we going to do?"

Skeeter frowned for a second, then she smiled brightly. "I've got a plan guys. I need you two to follow me exactly!" She leaned over and whispered into their ears, and they started to smile.

"Got it?" Skeeter asked.

"Got it!" Fozzie said brightly.

"Loud and clear, Skeeter!" Gonzo replied. Then the three of them headed off in two different directions. Fozzie walked out to his studebaker, and sat down in the driver's seat, and started up the car. Kermit looked over at him, oddly.

"Where's Skeeter, Fozzie?" He asked, getting worried about her.

"She just decided to hitch a ride with Gonzo, that's all." He said, smiling.

"Oh, good." Kermit said, nodding; as the two drove off towards the house. A few minutes after they had left, Gonzo's truck came creeping out from behind the theatre, with Skeeter in the back of it. The top of the truck was off, leaving a completely exposed truck bed now. She tapped on the glass of the truck, and Gonzo started the truck up, going down the street.

He had a feeling where the gofer was going now.

------------

Gonzo stopped the truck, and poked his head out of the window, looking back at Skeeter, who was already starting to shiver, despite her thick winter coat.

"I don't think we're going to find him..." He said, quite sadly.

She frowned, and leapt out of the truck. She had Scooter's cellphone in her pocket. She walked over to the truck.

"Go back to the boarding house, I'll find him myself."

"But you could freeze out there, Skeeter!"

She stopped for a moment. She walked back to the truck, she looked a little tired, but she thrust her hand inside the window.

"Give me the keys to the house."

Gonzo didn't do that, instead he looked at her oddly. He worried for her so much, and for Scooter's wellbeing too. But...it was already getting colder and colder outside. The snow was picking up as well. And if Skeeter was already shivering in that thick made for winter coat...Scooter... He shook his head, not wanting to think that thought at all.

"I'm going to find him. And when I find him, I'm going to go to the house." She said, forcefully. She didn't look normal to him, like this...newfound courage was inside of her. He handed her the keys, which she shoved into her other pocket. She leapt back inside the truck's bed, and found an old thick limb, and she gripped it smiling. She then crawled back outside of the truck, and patted his shoulder.

"You go back to the boarding house, Gonzo. You stay safe and warm. When I find him, I'll call alright? If I don't call..." She looked away for a second, down the snowy road.

Gonzo nodded. "I'll know what to do. When's the time to break it too them?"

She thought for a moment. "Give us 5 hours. That is about as long as we could stand out here, before we would catch hypothermia. And that's in the state Scooter's in. I can last about 10 hours, with this jacket."

"Right. 5 hours it is." He cranked the truck up, and she was already starting out down the road. He leaned out the window for a moment. "Hey, Skeeter!"

She turned back towards him again. "Yes?"

"Please...be careful!"

She nodded, and gave him a thumbsup. "I definately will, Gonzo! And thank you!"

She gripped the slender tree limb, she had grabbed it for support through that snow that was already starting to pile up among the streets. Although she was near houses, it was nearly 11 pm at night, and most people were asleep, not caring what was happening outside their very doors.

Chapter Twenty Five

Scooter trudged along in the snowy grounds. He was away from the streets, from what he could tell. It had started to snow when he had started walking, and it had gotten heavier as he walked.

What he didn't realize what that it was becoming a whiteout, all around him. He was starting to get disoriented from the cold, and biting winds. His head was still throbbing, from what, he wasn't sure of. He stopped underneath a tree, and he sat down on a large rock, he took his glasses off, and wiped them. He put them back on.

It was still all white around him, with the occisonal rock or tree. He could see no houses anymore.

"I'm absolutely stupid." He said to himself, as he rubbed his arms. He was only wearing a yellow tshirt, and a white undershirt, along with his jeans and red sneakers. He had nothing else on him. He reached for his pocket, to get his cellphone.

"I left that at the theatre." He closed his eyes for a moment, getting tired. He then stood up suddenly and walked around. "I can't sleep! I'll...I'll die out here if I do."

He kept walking, from tree to tree, from rock to rock. Trying to get his bearings again.

----------

Skeeter was looking around, trying to find her brother. She had thought originally that he would be going towards Nancy's house. But she got only a few houses away, and she saw nothing. She stopped against a tree in someone's backyard, and looked around.

A glimpse of yellow. A splash of orange or red against that white daunting landscape, she wished for. Something to show her brother was still alive. She walked on forward, and she looked around somemore. She saw a thin forest, near a small pond. More like some developers planted trees to make it look pretty, then a real forest.

"Could he have walked into the woods?" She wondered for a moment. Then she looked at Scooter's jacket, which was tucked into her own jacket. Keep it warm, for when she finds him. She closed her eyes, and kept on going towards that small outlay of trees. She had been trained for this kind of thing, these kind of elements.

"At least you did something right for me, Jessica." She shook her head, and starting walking with a higher step, so she would kind of walk across the snow, not into it.

--------------

He saw a small shimmer through the snow, he knelt down, and wiped some snow away. It was clear, with...fish frozen in it. He backed away, it was a little scary at first.

"T-This...must be some body of water..." He shook his head, and found another patch of ground, which suprisingly had no snow on it. It was underneath a huge bush of some sorts. He pulled away some branches, and crept up underneath it. He then curled into a very tight ball, his glasses tucked underneath his shirt.

'Why am I doing this?' He thought, for once his thoughts were clear, and he wasn't angry at anything, except for himself. 'Well, I guess I'll get my wish. I'm going to die out here, of the cold. And I bet no one will find me for quite sometime too.'

He stopped shivering, and he looked around. He remembered when the person stops shivering...that's a really bad indication of hypothermia. He wanted to get up, and keep walking, but all he could muster was sitting up against that soft brush of leaves he was underneath. Scooter looked down at the ground for a minute, he felt his mind was turning to mush. Snowy, white mush, just like the snow in front of him.

He saw his bright cherry-red sneakers. He wondered if anyone was trying to find him.

"I'm going to die anyways, might as well leave a marker of some sort. Cold feet arn't going to bother me right now!" He said, rather happily, for some reason.

His thought processes were very out of whack because of the snow and cold temperatures. He took off his shoes, and tied them together, then he hung them on a somewhat low branch on the tree in front of that same bush he was under. He was now in his socks. He knelt back down under the bush, and he pulled some branches off of it. He gripped them, and simply decided, he'll just go to sleep, so he didn't have to suffer the cold anymore.

Chapter Twenty Six

Kermit sat in the boarding house, looking at stuff Piggy kept shoving underneath his face. He wasn't really paying attention to her at all.

"Ooh, and we can get Jim to make the wedding cake, just like he did for the movie! He can even make those cute little sugar things that looked like us! Dosn't that sound great, Kermie?" She smiled at him, looking over the pictures from the movie, with a sketchpad in front of her.

Kermit said nothing, but kept his eyes towards the door. Although he was still a little angry at Scooter, he wanted to see the gofer walk through those doors so badly.

"Oh, and Fozzie can wear a fruit hat, and dance like Carmen Miranda during the bride's march!" She exclaimed, getting frustrated that Kermit wasn't paying her any attention.

"Oh...that's great Piggy." He said, still watching the door.

------------

She stopped near a small group of trees, and she looked around, shaking snow off of her hood.

"SCOOTER! SCOOTER!" She yelled, hoping that might get some response. She tugged one glove off, and looked at the time. It was nearly 1 am. He's been out in the cold for almost 3 hours now. She had to find him quickly. She started to walk faster, keeping her eyes peeled for anything, some sort of color.

She saw something red. 'Maybe it's it's a cardinal...' She thought, but she looked closer, and saw it wasn't a bird, but shoes. She ran as quickly as possible towards it. She saw a large bush, and knelt down beside it.

Scooter was curled up tightly, his glasses off. He had curled his arms into his yellow shirt, to keep some kind of warmth.

"Scooter..." She knelt down beside him, and picked him up. He was icy cold to her touch. She pulled off her gloves, and placed them on his hands; then she pulled his jacket from her own jacket, and wrapped it around him. It was somewhat warm due to it being right beside her body the entire time.

Scooter blinked a few times, feeling some warmth finally, he looked over at his sister, about to say something.

"Don't say anything, bro. I've got you, okay? Can you walk?" She tried to gently lift him up to a standing position, but he couldn't seem to comply. He was so cold, he couldn't feel himself, much little walk.

She then zipped up and buttoned up his jacket. She pulled a black wool cap from her pocket, and placed it on his head, his glasses in her pocket. Gently hauling him over her shoulders, firemen style, she started back for the road.

Finally she saw the black snow-covered road, and a street sign. She sat down in the snow, and sat Scooter in her lap, he just laid against her. Pulling out the cellphone, she pulled back the hood of her jacket, and dialed the boarding house.

-------------

Fozzie and Gonzo were sitting by the phone, and Fozzie was watching the clock anxiously.

"It's been nearly 3 hours, Gonzo! What if she didn't find him yet?" He started to pace, wringing his ascot, keeping his eyes on the phone.

Gonzo tapped the phone, waiting for it to ring. He also worried for them, but he didnt' let it show, lest he make Fozzie worry even more then he already was. Then it rang. 'Finally.' He thought, as he picked up the phone.

"Hey Gonzo! I found him! We're at the corner of Oznwickz and Hunt streets! Right underneath the sign itself. Get down here as soon as possible! I don't think he can take any more of the---"

Then the phone shut off on their end. Scooter's cellphone battery had died. The cold made it lose more life then it already had, so it just conked out. Gonzo looked over at Fozzie and he stood up quickly.

"You're driving. The Studebaker has more heat then my truck. They're at Oznwickz and Hunt. Let's get going." Fozzie nodded, and without anymore words they got into the studebaker. As they pulled out of the driveway, Fozzie looked over at Gonzo for a moment.

"That's nearly a 20 minute drive you know." He said sadly, as he pulled out onto the road, and started down, going towards Hunt street. That was the quickest way to get to Oznwickz.

Chapter Twenty Seven

Fozzie pulled the car near the sign, and looked around, it was so tough getting there, the snow was falling fast and hard. Skeeter opened her eyes, hearing the roar of the engine cutting through the pounding snow. She had her bare hand gently pressed around Scooter's neck, keeping that one part of his face, warm, and also making sure he still had a pulse all the while. She stood up, tapping on the window.

"Get out Fozzie. I'll drive." She looked determined, a stoic expression on her face.

Fozzie got out of the car, and Skeeter gently pushed Scooter towards him. She then stepped into the car, and started it up, as Fozzie got into the backseat with Scooter.

"Okay, Fozzie, hug him tightly, you have fur, and you're built for the cold weather. You'll be like a fur blanket to him, alright? Unbutton and unzip his coat, gently pull his arms out, and wrap your arms around him." She started up the car, and pulled it out from the side of the road. They all then began the long drive back to the boarding house.

Gonzo watched her, as she was instructing Fozzie what to do. "Then, take off his wool hat, make sure he'll respond to you, if he dosnt' just make sure he's breathing evenly."

"Skeeter...how do you know all this? I've only...really known you when we were little..." He wasn't sure how to ask this kind of question to her. Although he hadn't seen her in years, compared to how she normally had been acting around the boarding house, this wasn't like her.

Skeeter turned onto Oznwickz road, and then was driving evenly, making sure she knew where she was going. She sighed, and turned the heat up a little bit, taking off her own hood of her jacket, and her gloves one by one.

"My...my mother, not Sadie, but the woman who originally adopted me, she..." She paused, as she turned onto the road, going towards the boarding house now.

"That woman in black, right?" Gonzo inquired, looking back at Scooter, who Fozzie was hugging tightly, Fozzie was doing the right thing, gently warming him up.

Skeeter nodded. "Yeah. Her name was Jessica. Her husband was in the military, and I went through boot camp when I was only 15 years old. I was taught how to brave the elements, tough it out. On the side I did a lot of sports. If it wasn't for my vision, I would actually be in the army right now"
She tapped her glasses gently, as she got near the house.

Kermit was standing near the window, watching for them. She could hear Piggy ranting about something inside. She smiled.

"Jessica understood that I couldn't get into the military, but I was still trained by Steve, he was my father, so to speak. I learned how to shoot a rifle, and basic survial skills. I had thought I'd forgotten it actually, until I realized my brother was in trouble. I guess nesscity pulled it up to the top."

Fozzie held Scooter in his arms, as he gently stepped outside. "What should we do now, Skeeter?" He asked as he went up the steps.

She looked down for a moment. "Just get him inside, and put him on the couch. Get some thin blankets, and layer them on him. We want to warm him up slowly, too fast and that could hurt him almost as much as the cold would do. If I remember right, that would send him into shock."

Gonzo and Skeeter followed Fozzie inside the house, Skeeter pushed her way through the crowd of muppets that had gathered around the door, until they got towards the couch. Fozzie gently set Scooter down on it, and started to put some thin blankets on him. He piled about 5 of them on him.

Skeeter grabbed a chair, and sat down beside him, watching him. She saw everyone piling around the couch, watching as well.

"This isn't a spectuale you guys. Let him have some room, okay? He just needs to rest, only one or two of you should stay. He dosn't need everyone around him."

Only a few of them left. Still there was nearly 20 muppets around that couch. Skeeter stood up, trying to push them away from the couch. They were literally sitting on the couch, watching.

"HEY! I said he dosn't need to be crowded!" She shouted, yet still no one moved. She was starting to get angry.

"MOVE IT! MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" She barked out like a military sargent. "I SAID MOVE IT YOU PEOPLE! MARCH RIGHT BACK TO YOUR ROOMS NOW!"

Everyone started scrambling towards their rooms, until it was only Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf and Piggy watching. Skeeter sat back down in the seat, and kept her vigilance on her brother. He hadn't even moved since she found him, and he still was silent on that couch.

She knelt down in front of him, looking at his face. His cheeks weren't red yet, as they should be. She grasped his hand, and looked at him. Her voice was so soft, compared to her yelling just moments before. "Don't give up, Scoot. Please?"

Rowlf stood in the doorway to the kitchen, where Sadie sat at the island inside, on a stool. She had a box of tissues beside her, and a glass of cold coffee in front of her.

"He probably blames me..." She said sadly, to no one in particular. Rowlf looked back inside the kitchen, and grabbed another stool, and sat beside her.

"No one blames you, Sadie." He replied softly, placing his paw on her hand. She gripped his hand, her long red hair hiding her face.

"But why else would he...do something that stupid! Going out into the cold, when it's snowing...and he didn't even have his jacket." She looked back at them, her twins. One of them, could very well be near death and she wouldn't know it, and the other extremely worried for the other. "...even with it he wouldn't have lasted the night."

Rowlf couldn't find anything to say about it, but he just sat there, still holding Sadie's hand, as she stared at her children, her mind blank from all thought.

Chapter Twenty Eight

Skeeter had fallen asleep on the floor, beside the couch, where Scooter lay. Around 5 am that morning, when he finally woke up, warmed up, and seemingly fine. He looked over at Skeeter, and reached down into the pocket of her jacket and got his glasses, he put them on, and sat up on the couch. He looked around the room then.

Piggy and Kermit were asleep underneath the windowseat. Piggy had her arms around Kermit, she looked pretty bad, actually. Her hair was in shambles, and her white gloves was darkened with grime it seemed to him.

Fozzie was laid across the old heckler's chairs, snoring softly, his hat on his face. Gonzo was laying on the floor in front of the TV, with Camilla tucked gently underneath his arm. She looked up at Scooter, and started to cluck.

"Shhh...be quiet Camilla." He whispered to the chicken. She bawked softly, and knelt her head back onto Gonzo's chest, and she went back to sleep. Gonzo didn't stir at all, deep in a dreamless sleep.

Scooter stood up, and looked down, he was down to his undershirt and boxers now. He looked again, to make sure he wasn't dreaming for some reason, and was somewhat suprised, but he grabbed his jacket, and shook it softly, putting it on.

He looked over at the couch, and saw his other clothes, his yellow shirt, and blue jeans; they were stiff with dirt and from the melted snow. The seat they were on, was absolutely messed up, from that same dirt. He looked back over at Piggy, he noticed both of her white gloves, were dirty.

"She must've helped undressing me..." He whispered to himself, as he walked into the kitchen. He almost stepped on something dark brown, he looked down, and he saw Rowlf, curled up on a small blanket on the floor. Sadie was curled up against him, one of her arms around him. He looked at the island in the middle of the kitchen, and saw the box of tissues, with many used up around it. He saw the old coffee cup, half-way full of coffee still.

Walking over to the counter, going slowly, he picked up a large bag of oatmeal, and a deep pot. He grabbed some dried fruit, and some sweet spices, and the jug of milk. He smiled, starting to dump milk into the large pot, and set it on the stove, turning the heat on. He measured out some oatmeal, and then set that on the counter.

The least he could was make breakfast for everyone, after all the trouble he had caused them.

---------

Sadie turned over off of Rowlf, and she looked up. She was met by the vision of Scooter's chest trying to grab a pan from over the two of them. She sat up suddenly, and grabbed him into a hug, dragging him down onto the floor.

"SCOOTER!" She cried, as she hugged him tightly. Pieces of buttered bread went everywhere, when she did that.

"ACK! Mom...mom...hi." He finally managed to say. She picked him up and hugged him again, she smelled something on the stove, it smelled really sweet, and she heard it bubbling.

"What's that, sweetie?" She helped him stand up again, brushing him off. She started to pick up the bread from the floor, tossing it in the garbage can, as she went about.

"Oh it's some oatmeal, with dried fruit. Warm, filling and hearty." He walked over to the stove, and turned the heat down, throwing some more apricots and figs inside the bubbling pot. He looked guilty then, looking down at the pot. "I just decided to make everyone some breakfast. I mean...uh..."

He stopped talking, and started stirring the pot, trying to keep his mind off of what he didn't want to say, or even admit.

"Because your sister risked her life, to save yours? You made everyone at the boarding house almost have a heart attack sweetheart. You shouldn't have acted..." She stopped speaking for a moment, she noticed just from his body language he was starting to tense up. She knew it was somewhat in his right to feel like this, even though it was unjustifed.

"I take that back. You should have at least came here though." She ended, watching him for a moment.

"Bosses' still angry with me, isn't he?" He said a little sadly, putting the lid on the oatmeal. He picked up the loaf of bread and started again with what he was doing eariler, making toast for everyone. He laughed, a little spitefully. "Here I am, I had a fit over that I was the gofer, and that was the only reason they would have missed me..."

He laughed again, setting the bread on the pan after he buttered it. "And I'm making breakfast for them." He shook his head. "I can't even stop getting them what they want all the time."

Sadie smiled, and stood beside him, helping him with the bread. "Honey, look at what you're doing."

Kermit, Fozzie, and Piggy had woken up, as well as Rowlf, and they watched silently from the doorway. Scooter just shrugged his shoulders to what his mother had said.

"I don't know. What am I doing, Mom?" He said sarcatically, realizing what she was asking him. "I'm getting everyone breakfast, that's what I'm doing. I'm still the stupid gofer, the eager teenager who the best thing he can do, is get something for everyone."

Sadie laughed softly, putting her hand on his. "You're not getting this for them. Your doing this for them. They didn't ask you, nor did they tell you to do this. Your simply doing this, because you wanted to." She smiled at her son, nodding softly. "They still care for you, you know."

He shrugged his shoulders softly, and set the pans in the oven. He looked over and saw the sink, it was full of dirty dishes. "I guess I should start this then." Fozzie walked over there, and put his paw in front of Scooter.

"I'll do this, Scooter, you just do what you're doing.." He smiled, and started to wash the dishes.

Scooter was quite suprised. "Fozzie...how long have you..." He turned around, to see the others as well. A bright blush crept across his face, when it hit him.

He's standing in the kitchen, in his underwear and socks. Skeeter and Gonzo were up now, and Piggy let out a playful whistle.

"Decided to let the world see ya, huh, Scooter!" Piggy laughed, as she walked over towards the coffee maker. She slipped off her gloves, and looked over at him, smiling.

"Can't have breakfast without coffee, huh?" She started the coffee maker up, getting out the strongest coffee they had. Scooter chuckled a little bit.

"I thought you hated making coffee, Piggy." He smirked towards her.

"At least this thing works!" She replied, as she pressed the button for the maker, and started up the second one with the same super caffienee coffee.

Rowlf and Gonzo were lining up bowls and plates for the oatmeal. Kermit went out into the main living room, and stood right in between the two staircases, with a small megaphone in his hand.

"BREAKFAST TIME EVERYONE! GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT!" He yelled happily into the megaphone. The morning stampede began.

Chapter Twenty Nine

Everyone was sitting around, eating breakfast and the like, wilst Piggy kept making smooching faces at Kermit the whole time. Dr. Teeth and Floyd were talking away about the music in next weeks show, and Skeeter and Sadie were finishing up cleaning the kitchen, talking to themselves. They ate breakfast first.

"What would have caused him to act like that...he put himself in so much danger, Skeeter." She asked her daughter, as she scrubbed the oatmeal out of the pot, her long hair tied back in a ponytail.

Skeeter didn't want to say anything, but Sadie had stopped scrubbing and looked straight at her. "Skeeter? Maybe I should be a bit more blunt. Do you have any idea why he tried to kill himself?"

She said that last part a little too loudly, and everyone stopped to hear what Skeeter had to say, even Piggy turned away from Kermit to hear it.

"He felt guilty for Nancy's death, that's why." She said somewhat simply, no real expression at all, as she set more bowls in the hot, soapy water. She dried her hands off, and started to walk towards the stairs. "I'm going to go check up on him, okay?" She laughed softly, trying to make light of something, get something moving again, it was like the world seemed to stop for a moment in her eyes. "You know, make sure he didn't try to drown himself in the bathtub or something."

Walking up the stairs, she heard singing from the bathroom. She opened the door slowly, it got louder, and she grabbed a back scrubber from the rack beside the shower stall.

Scooter was singing quite exrubently, laughing a bit as he sang. "...If I can borrow a coat to wear, oh, I'd step out in style. With my sincere smile, and my dancing bear! Outrageous, alarming, Courageous, cha-HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He doubled over in laugher, as Skeeter shoved the back scrubber over into the shower stall suddenly, rubbing his head with it.

"GOT YOU!" Skeeter laughed so hard, still scrubbing his head with the bath thing. "I got you, bro." She smugly smiled, as he shut off the water, and grabbed the towel. He stepped out of the stall, dripping wet, and he reached for his glasses.

They weren't on the sink anymore. He looked up and saw a streak of orange and red running down the hall.

"YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO CATCH ME BROTHER!" She wasn't sure why she was taunting him, but it sure was fun.

"Skeeter! Give me my glasses back!" He ran out of the hall, wearing only his towel, running after her. She ran down the stairs, and into the kitchen, still holding his glasses above her head, as if they were the enemies flag. She stopped at the island, and leaned over on it, smiling so brightly.

Scooter grabbed the railing and leapt down the stairs, two at a time, determined to get her, and get his glasses back. Everyone downstairs at the breakfast table watched this incredible farce happen before their very eyes.

Fozzie leaned over to Gonzo. "Have they gone crazy?" Gonzo laughed watching the two.

"Naw, this isn't crazy. This is just...fun." He laughed some more, watching them.

"Skeeter, give me my glasses!" He stood opposite her of the island, he started to look a bit angry, he couldn't see straight without them.

"You have to loosen up some, Scooter! You're all tense, and angry. You're no fun anymore!"

"Fun? I'm plenty fun, I...I just want to get my glasses and get to work on some stuff for the theatre, for this weeks show."

"Work? You need to play, do something fun! Get away from that computer, and get out and DO SOMETHING. So what about the show? Kermit's handled it fine without you before, hasn't he?"

Kermit was about to say no, but Piggy interjected, smiling broadly. "Yes, Kermie's done fine without you, Scooter. Go and have some fun, do something just for yourself."

"Okay, I will. As soon as Skeeter here gives me my glasses." He smiled boardly, watching her closely. He wished she would go ahead and give him his glasses.

She smiled at him, wondering if he would really do something just for himself today. Then she smirked.

"You really want your glasses, bro?"

"Yes, please. I really want my glasses!"

"You really, really sure you want them?"

"YES! I want my glasses! Give them to me!"

She looked over at Fozzie and Gonzo, smirking. "Should I give it too him guys?" She was twirling his glasses over her head, smirking like the chesire cat now.

"Yeah, give it too him, Skeeter!" Fozzie said, quite happily.

"Alright, I'll give it too him!" She suddenly reached behind her back and slammed a pie in his face for no apperent reason, then she placed his glasses in one hand, and a towel in the next.

"There, I gave them too you, Scooter. You happy now?" She said, very sweetly.

He shook the cream pie off of his face, and he stared at it. Then he started to smirk a bit, that smirk turned to a chuckle, then a full blown laugh.

"When you said...you'd give...it too me! You really let me...HAVE IT!" He was laughing so hard just then, he really was so happy. He felt this weight of worry had been lifted off of him. He hugged his sister, still towel bound, laughing. She hugged him back, then patted him on the back.

"You know, running around in your towel might get somebody a bit bothered you know." She was giggling wildly then, laughing because Scooter was laughing, and because he was nearly butt naked at that point in the morning.

He rushed off to his room, still laughing over the cream pie incident. The darkeness over the boarding house seemed to be gone then. It was light, and it was very happy. Everyone enjoyed the rest of their breakfast in a clear peace, laughing all the while.

Chapter Thirty

Richard and Frank were putting up the last supports on the house, they were starting to go towards the kitchen, when they heard something odd from the basement.

"What do you suppose that noise is, Richard?" Frank looked down the stairwell, as Richard was installing the rest of the cabinets. Richard glanced down the stairwell as well, and he frowned.

"Probably just a rat or something. We'll get the exterminator stuff down there once we're done. I think I've seen some more roaches around here as well. Help me with this cabinet, would'ja?" He looked around, balancing the cabinet on his shoulders, he didn't see Frank at all. He then set the cabinet down on the table, and grabbed his screwdriver, brandishing it like a sword.

"Hey Frank...quit messing around. We need to get the house finished, and cleaned up, Gonzo's coming over here soon, ya know." He heard nothing down in that dark basement.

He heard some growling, and he looked around a little bit. "Hey...you rats get out of this basement, before I set out some stuff for you guys..." He was reffering to some rat poison he would set out later.

"Poison won't help you now, Richard..." An eerie voice said, it seeming to float away on the breeze. A grayed feminane figure appeared in front of him. "Leave this house now...leave...leave it now..."

Richard gulped and shoved the screwdriver towards the spirit. "Where's Frank! Where is he?"

The spirit laughed softly, as she crept closer to Richard, her long thin hair, intertwining with his own softly grayed curly hair. He backed up against the wall, getting more and more scared. He ran forward, or at least he tried to.

"Be peaceful now...and leave this house...or you will suffer the same fate..." She laughed softly, a cruel playful undertone hinting in her voice.

-------------

Gonzo got off the phone, talking to Dave and Ryan. He was estatic. "Hey, guys! The house is nearly done! They've just gotta fix up the kitchen, and sweep up, and we can all go and check it out!

The room rose in a great cheer. Piggy leapt up, and went to grab some of the special possesions that she had stored in her room, that originally came from the house. Fozzie, Scooter, and Kermit went to do the same thing. Then they piled it all into Gonzo's truck, and Fozzie's studebaker.

Gonzo, Scooter, and Skeeter got into Gonzo's truck, and they took off, with Fozzie not too far behind.

"Wow, I'm suprised they finished the house so quickly, Gonzo. What do you think pushed them to finish so fast?" Scooter asked, as they turned down Hunt street, going towards the house. They were about a 100 feet away, when they saw an ambulance roaring behind them, and speeding up to pass around them.

"Wonder where it's going?" Skeeter asked inncoently, not knowing of the larger problem that awaited them once they got to the house.

---------

Ryan was standing on the porch, with Dave sitting in the swing, watching the paramedics bring Richard and Frank out on stretchers. Both of them were in shock, but from what, nobody could figure out.

"Is there any underlaying health conditions that you know of your men having, Mr. Pracker?" The paramedic grilled Ryan, getting a bit frustrated.

"They have nothing wrong with them! Frank get's a lot of colds, and Richard has bad hay fever, but that's it! They just get upper respirtary infections during the spring and summer, that's why we work in this terrible winter weather!"

"I see. We'll stay for awhile, until they get better. It shouldn't take more then 10 minutes, Mr. Pracker. Thank you for your cooperation."

Just then, Gonzo and Fozzie pulled up onto the lawn, and got out. Scooter was the first over to Dave.

"Hey, what happened over here?" He asked, getting worried.

Gonzo started to walk over to Ryan, and Kermit and Fozzie followed him. He didn't say anything, until the paramedics left to go tend to Richard and Frank.

"Do they know what happened?" Kermit asked, very worried for his friend. Ryan just shook his head, and walked over to the porch swing, and sat down beside Dave. Scooter and Skeeter sat on the railings of the porch, joined by Gonzo, while the others sat in front of the swing on the porch itself.

"They said they just went into shock, Ryan. What were they doing a while ago?" He thought for a moment. "Hey, Richard was putting up some cabinets, and Frank was putting in the appliances. They were both in the kitchen."

Kermit thought for a moment. "We should go into the kitchen then, and look around. They might have seen something."

Just then, Richard was struggling over by the paramedics to stand up and speak. He looked over at Ryan, and he ripped the oxygen mask off of his face, and sat up.

"Guys! It...it was some kind of a ghost!"

Everyone looked at themselves, worried they might just meet an old friend of theirs. One they really didn't want to meet again.

Chapter Thirty One

The pale ghostly figure sat in the basement, watching from on top of the old boiler. It's hair was wild, untamed, and it's face was shaded from sight. It seemed to have no face whatsoever. It was waiting, for the right time to show itself right once more.

------------

Gonzo stepped inside the house, and walked back to the kitchen, seeing the door was open to the basement. It was one of two doors to it. The other one was in the nursery. He started down the steps, and he looked around, a flashlight in his hands.

"Is anyone down here? Hellooo?" He asked out, into the murkiness of the basement. Nothing responded to him. He sent the light casting over the entire basement, he saw a streak of gray flit up to the other staircase. He followed it, curious and wondering.

He stopped at the top edge of the stairs, it led into the nursery. Although Gonzo didn't know it, Scooter and Skeeter weren't far behind him.

"Gonzo! What are you doing?" Scooter exclaimed, almost 3 feet behind him. Gonzo shot up like a rocket, clinging onto the hanging light above him, and looking down. He saw the twins standing there, watching him.

"Uh...I was about to go into the nursery, that's what...and uh...look out below!" He dropped down to the stairs again, but the old stairs couldn't take the force of weight, and the three of them tumbled down to the bottom in a heap.

"Oowww, your foots in my stomach, Skeeter!" Scooter moaned.

"Well, your jacket's zipper is caught in my shirt!" She exclaimed, while trying to get it undone without ripping her shirt up. Gonzo just crawled out from beneath both of them, and sat down beside them.

The spirit came down the stairs, softly, and it looked around. It was going to do more, then what it had planned, but instead it sat on the ground in front of them.

"You poor children." The spirit uttered, watching the twins argue and fuss, trying to untangle themselves.

Scooter and Skeeter immediately stopped and looked in front of themselves. Skeeter's eyes went wide, as she started to back away, dragging Scooter along with her.

"Hey, sis! Quit that!" He tugged her arm, trying to get her to stop moving, and she finally did, once she hit the other wall. She was about to stand up, until the spirit came closer to her.

"Don't be afraid, it's only me...you should know me Skeeter." The spirit said quite softly, leaning in closely to Skeeter, it's face still shaded darker then the rest of her body.

Scooter looked the spirit closely all over, it seemed to be wearing a tight dress, and had long hair, which now was wild and untamed looking. He could see one thing that stood out, although it was gray shaded like the rest of the spirit, he could see it, clear as daylight.

A gunshot wound was above it's heart.

Chapter Thirty Two

Scooter pulled Skeeter's shirt out of the zipper of his jacket, quite forcefully, it heard and felt it rip underneath his hands.

"Hey...this was a really nice shirt of mine!" She complained, as he just waved it off towards her, his eyes kept tight on the spirit. She watched him, wondering what he seemed to notice.

"Are you...Nancy?" He asked, curiously.

The spirit laughed gently, staring not at him, but at Skeeter. "Why child...you shouldn't truely remember me. I only met you once, do you remember? That day..." She said her voice lilting high and sharp, yet with a forceful tone to it.

Skeeter was standing up now, against the wall, she knew who it was, but she couldn't bring herself to say. She was frozen with fear. Scooter could feel his twin sister's fear, but he wasn't sure if it was because of knowledge, or the lack of knowledge that she was terrifed.

"You were shot, werent' you?" He said simply, wanting to know more about that wound he saw on her chest. He stepped forward, wanting to touch this spirit, and at the same time, Skeeter lashed out and grabbed him tightly towards her, while the spirit darted towards the other side of the room away from Scooter.

"Do not come any closer, please. Yes, I was shot. That is how I died. But...it is not why, but who that I seek. For they must know, they will be punished for what they did to us." As she spoke, another figure appeared beside her, a tall man, firm in jaw and body line, standing at ridgid attention all the while. He had a wound in the back of his head, you could see the hole had gone completely through it as well.

"...D..Dad?" Skeeter mumbled, watching the two spirits now, deathly afraid for herself and her brother's wellbeing. She looked over at Gonzo, who had left the room a few minutes before, he had gone to tell Kermit and the others what they had seen.

"Whatever you are...I don't think you'll find who you seek down here! It's just me and my sister, now...get out of this house!" Scooter was getting defensive of his sister, ready to try to fight if he had too, although he wasn't sure at all how to fight these otherworldly beings.

The man stepped forward, standing in front of Scooter now. He was easily twice Scooter's height, and nearly three times his strength. He glared down at Scooter, frowning.

"This him, Jess?" He said, his voice as cold as ice. The female spirit nodded, glaring down at him as well. "Right then."

Then only something Skeeter could imagine happened.

-----------

Scooter knelt down, feeling the spirit going into him, he fought to keep his consiousness alive, but it was too strong for him. Scooter stood up, and looked over at Skeeter, although it was his body, it wasn't him anymore.

"Skeeter? Why did you do this to us? We did nothing to harm you, sweetheart!" Scooter/Spirit pleaded with her. He walked nearer towards her, his arms extended to her. She was terrifed now.

"Get out of my brother! I didn't do anything to you two! Leave me alone, please!" She was crouched into a small ball, her head ducked between her knees, about to start crying.

"But you did! You pulled that trigger, and you knew it was us! The entire time!" He started to get angry, and Scooter/Spirit grabbed Skeeter in his hands, and hefted her above his head, although it was Scooter's body, he had the spirit's strength once more.

She was slung across the room, landing in a pile of boxes. She yelled out loudly, to whoever would hear it.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY GET DOWN HERE AND HELP ME PLEASE!"

Scooter smirked, watching her. "You always were a crybaby, Skeeter. What did you tell them, when they found out you had left the military, just a crying little brat? You would have died the first day you went out onto the field. You know, that's why we only picked you."

"You...you don't mean that. You didn't get my brother, because Jessica said you had no room for him!"

"Heh. She only said that because your pitiful brother was too weak. He would have died at home, during the training. I'm suprised you lasted through that. You were tougher then we thought at first. But, you've gone soft, since you ran away."

"...My brother is not pitiful. He's strong, and he has a strong mind!"

"Then why is this body dying as we speak? I can feel his spirit loosening from my own, his body is giving up the fight. I tried to get him at the theatre, but his will was too strong. I had to convince him..."

"Convince him..?" She was stunned, watching her father speak through her brother.

"Yes! With such a strong mind, why would he go out into the frigid night without any protection? A man of his mettle would have at least brought his jacket with him. Or did you think your brother was that out of mind at the time?"

She frowned, and wanted to fight him, but she didn't want to hurt her brother. She was shaking with anger, and was circling Scooter as he spoke.

"Go on, fight me. You've always wanted this. Fight fair and hard, I've always taught you. But then, you decided to fight dirty one night, and that is why I'll never go away. I'll always find someone to inhabit, to taunt, to torture. And the best of all, I'll be getting you the best this night..."

She stopped circling, listening to him speak. She was getting even more afraid of what he meant, her mind reeling from what she felt in her heart to be true. Being twins means something more then just the same thoughts sometimes, it meant...they could feel the other's pain. She was silent, watching closely. He stepped back some, and smirked at her.

"The moment I vacate his body, he'll be dead. Right now, I'm the only thing keeping him alive."

Chapter Thirty Three

"That...that's not possible. He's doing great! I mean...we..." Skeeter stammered, watching Steve closely. She knew he could be playing her, he always did that, whenever she showed weakness towards them.

"Now, you're no doctor, Skeeter. How can you be sure? Are you 100 sure he's not dying? That I'm not the only one, keeping this body alive?" He laughed, cruelly.

It was a strange sight for the rest of the muppets, once they started down the stairs. Gonzo turned to Kermit, and was looking a little worried.

"Apperently, Skeeter's adoptive father's ghost is possessing Scooter right now. And...as we heard, he's claiming that Scooter's going to die, if he vacates it right now."

Kermit glanced a bit, at him, then down at the scene below them. "How do you know this?"

"It's gets the story moving along." Gonzo replied, then Kermit shook his head at that. "Anyway, let's try to help them!"

The whole group charged, with a yell, and started towards Scooter, who was still inhabited by Steve's spirit. Before they dogpiled him, he ran towards Skeeter, holding his head. He looked like he was in great pain.

"Skee..Skeeter! Don't believe him!" He shouted, he was acting more like Scooter, as he spoke to her, but Skeeter was scared, and worried. Scooter came closer to her, pleading.

"Please, it's me Skeeter! Your brother, your...twin. Please, you know it's me, not him! Just...ohhhh..." Scooter moaned, as he crouched back down on the ground, holding his head once more. The internal conflict waged on between him and Steve.

"GET OUT OF HIM, STEVE!" She shouted, wondering what she could do. She got emboldened, and charged Scooter, pinning him to the ground, knocking his glasses off. Her glasses flew across the room as well. She was on top of him, her full weight pressing down on his body.

"Fight your battles with me, not him. He has no part in this." She said, icily, staring down into Scooter's brown eyes. "Leave his body now."

He smirked, looking up into Skeeter's green eyes. Those eyes, they were the only thing that was different about them. Her emerald green eyes, they sparkled with malice. Steve knew that look. For her, it was life or death, tick me off and I kill you. He smiled wider, she had been trained well, it wasn't in vain, so he thought.

"Leave his body, you say? Then...how about this?" All of a sudden underneath her grasp, the tensed muscles of her brother went immediately limp, and weakened, as a grayed, darkened spirit left his body. Hovering right above his face, was Steve, his dark black eyes glinting happily it seemed. She could see no pupils, nor whites of his eyes.

"I'll take yours." Then he leapt into Skeeters body, and drove her back against the wall, pressing it tight. She fought very hard, against Steve, until he finally broke her down, she collapsed on the floor, her eyes closed.

Everyone rushed around the two, hoping they would be alright.

-----------

"Woah...where am I?" Skeeter's voice seemed to echo around the blackened space. "What's going on here?"

A tall man, clad in military uniform, with short cropped sandy blond hair, and sharp jaw walked out from the blackness to face Skeeter. He stared down at her, as he was nearly 2 feet taller then her.

"You wanted this, you know." He said simply, his icy blue eyes boring into her.

"I didnt' want anything. I thought..." She said, trying to be brave once more, but it almost failed.

"You thought. You thought. Such a small, insignifant phrase, isn't it? Thinking was never your strong suit, Skeeter. You should leave that to your twin. If only I could get the best of both of you, you would make the perfect addition."

"I would never join that twisted little army cult of yours. And I never will." She said, standing up once more against him, pulling herself up to her full height. He stared down at her, smirking.

"Is that why you pulled that trigger then, child?" He said simply, his face not showing an ounce of emotion.

She stopped cold, she knew that she almost was jailed, and...she shook her head, she didn't want to bring up such painful memories again. Steve walked over, and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking down at her, smiling. She knew it was a false smile, like before the crocodile eats that small mouse, it smiles at it.

"Let go of me Steve. I did that because you threatened my life." She stared straight ahead, not wanting to look at him.

"Yet you stand at attention around me. I've caused that much of an impact on your puny soul, I know it. Even though...you killed us..." He leaned down and placed a single finger on her chest, looking her in the eyes. "You still hold a place in that heart for us."

She frowned, and grabbed his arm, flipping him over her back, and she stood on him. "You will leave my body, leave this house, and you will never come back Steve."

"You cannot kill a spirit, Skeeter. I died outside, on the grass, in the fields. It was an untimely death, you know. So...I am free-moving. I shall follow you, I shall haunt you for all eternity..."

She gasped softly, grabbed the spirit by the neck, and she tried to choke him, he laughed coldly, the laughter echoing throughout the black space.

"I'LL NEVER LEAVE YOU SKEETER! I'LL ALWAYS BE AROUND! YOU WILL NEVER FIND PEACE IN THIS WORLD!"

------------

Piggy could only watch helplessly, as they tried to pry Skeeter away from Scooter, she was trying to choke him, for some reason.

"SKEETER! Get off of Scooter! Please!" Fozzie was yelling, while he and Gonzo were one each of her arms, trying to pry her off of him. Clifford and Beauregard had tagged along, to help with unloading the stuff off of the trucks, and Clifford was yelling in her ear, trying to get to wake up.

"SKEET! Come on, baby! WAKE UP! Shake this...whatever it is off of ya!" He grabbed her around her middle, and started to pull her in the opposite direction of her brother. They were tightly interwined, with Scooter trying to pull vainly at his sister's iron grip, and Skeeter choking as hard as she could.

Beau watched this, and the wheels were turning in his mind. He walked quickly over and tapped Kermit on the shoulder, who was pulling on Scooter, both hands slipped between Scooter's neck and Skeeter's hands.

"What is it Beau? We're...UGH...REALLY BUSY!" He pulled again, and Beau leaned down and whispered to Kermit.

"I think we should get Uncle Deadly, maybe he can help us."

Kermit stopped for a moment, then he looked over at Beaureagard. "That's a great idea, except Deadly can't leave the theatre."

"Then, we'll bring them over there! That should work, shouldn't it?" He smiled, as Kermit wriggled his fingers deeper between the two, keeping Skeeter's iron grip somewhat at bay. He was the only reason Scooter wasn't actually dead yet, as Skeeter was squeezing his fingers actually with full force, instead of Scooter's neck.

"Guys! Let's pick the two up, and haul them into Gonzo's truck! We'll take them to the theatre! Deadly can figure out what's going on with them!" Kermit exclaimed, and all together they lifted the twins, and ran with them, outside to the truck. Finally once they got into the truck, they were able to get them seperated. Skeeter kept lunging at Scooter, who was laying on his side now, in Piggy's lap.

Skeeter hasn't opened her eyes yet. Beau, and Clifford were the last ones out of the house. Beauregard has Scooter's jacket in his hands, and Clifford had the twins' glasses. They piled into Fozzie's studebaker and all of them drove like mad to the theatre.

-----------

Skeeter was still battling Steve, or at least trying to, inside the black void. She was lunging, and kicking, but she could never get close to him, something held her back from him. She pulled and struggled with all her might, but she felt someone's arms around her, keeping her from Steve. Steve was laughing coldly, watching her struggle.

"You will never get to me, child." He laughed, watching her struggle. "Remember the tactics when held back? TRY THEM NOW!" He bellowed.

She struggled somemore, and suddenly reared around and bit down on the black void.

Chapter Thirty Four

"YEOOOWWW!" Beaureagard yelled, as Skeeter bit down on his arm, with full force. She wriggled tightly, trying to pull away from him. Kermit leapt over, in the moving truck and looked straight at Beau.

"Don't let go of her, Beau! She's strong, but we know you're stronger then her! Keep a tight hold on her!" He said, urgently. He looked down at Beau's furry arm, there were slight bite marks, but it didn't pierce through his skin.

"You're not hurt, just please...she might try it again, keep a tight hold on her. She must think..." He looked over at Scooter, who was silent, still breathing but asleep and exhausted, in Piggy's lap. She had her arms around him, keeping him from sliding everywhere in the truck bed. It hit Kermit like a ton of bricks.

"In Skeeter's mind...she must be seeing Scooter's body as that spirits. Somehow. She would never harm him, I know it."

Everyone watched, as Skeeter kept struggling in Beau's arms. He has his shirt rolled up to his elbows, so she wouldn't destroy it, and he ended up taking his suspenders and crossing them over Skeeter with her arms over each other, like a weird straightjacket of some sorts. Beau gently stepped off of the truck, once they got to the theatre, and he walked inside.

Dr. Honeydew and Beaker were waiting for them, as well as Uncle Deadly and Auntie Eleanor. Piggy had called them on her cell phone the ride over there.

-------------

"What have we here?" Bunsen inquired, as he looked over Skeeter she was now strapped to a small table on the stage, still fighting against the bonds that held her tight. Deadly was beside her, with Eleanor on the other side. Eleanor had one scaly hand in Skeeter's, gripping it tightly.

"What do you think, dear?" Eleanor asked Deadly, looking down at Skeeter. She leaned over and gently opened one of Skeeter's eyes. They were bloodshot, and rolled back into her head. "Frightful position she's in, Deadie. She's possessed isn't she?"

"Quite true, my love. She has a malcontent spirit dwelling within her. We must excise it then."

Kermit hopped up on stage, about to stop Deadly. "What are you doing? You don't know how to do surgery!"

"Surgery, frog? This is no surgery. I shant be cutting into her the least bit. Perhaps...I should find an old friend. He could perhaps help us." Deadly looked around a moment, and as if he called his name, Death appeared in his usual black flames and smoke.

"What is it, Deadly? I've spent too much time among the living as it is. I've finally gotten some nice quiet torturing of poor souls in, and you bother me! WHAT IS IT?"

Deadly merely pointed to Skeeter, frowning. "She's been possessed, and I am not sure what to do. This spirit inhabiting her, it seems to be a free-roaming spirit. I've never encountered those kind before, dear Death."

Death stepped forward, and looked down at Skeeter, his bony hand laid across her chest. On another table, not strapped down, was Scooter, but it looked like he was just sleeping.

"This is the boy's sister, is it not?" He said simply, his eyes, although he had none to speak of, were watching intently on her body. She kept twitching, and moving, trying to break those cloth and leather bonds that held her tight.

"Yes, it is his sister. For...for once, I'm at a loss of how to help her, Death. I had thought, perhaps..." He stammered a bit, trying to keep dignifed around his boss, but it wasn't really that well.

"Stand back, Deadly. I shall handle this." With that, Death tucked his sytche underneath his left arm, and he rolled up the sleeve on his right, revealing a skeleton arm, with threads of what was skin and muscles and tissue still hanging off from it. The bone was cracked and weathered looking, his fingers cracked with every move. He clenched his hand tightly, then unfurled it, plunging it into Skeeter's chest.

Piggy and Fozzie both shrieked, and fainted. Gonzo was on the edge of his seat, he thought this was pretty awesome to be able to watch firsthand. Kermit, he just wished she was going to be alright. Death withdrew his hand once more, a grayed spirit wrapped around his arm.

"You saught revenge, where it was not needed. Coronel Steven Walters, you shall not roam this plane anymore!" Death cast Steve's spirit to the side, and it simply dissapeared with a shriek and a smoky fog. Death looked down at Skeeter, who was limp; and looked almost dead.

"Deadly. Watch over them. Understand?"

Deadly nodded vigrously as Death left the stage, chuckling. "I know exactly which soul to continue on now..." His chuckle rose to a chilling laugh, as he finally left for good.

Chapter Thirty Five

Jessica hung around the old house, it had the same old tarp around it. She floated through the house, looking at the paintings. She wanted revenge against her death, but...she felt a sudden emptiness. It was Steve who had convinced her to do this, but...

"I still want to see that girl dead." She said to herself as she stopped in front of a picture on the wall. It was of all the muppets as babies, with Nanny behind them, her arms around them. They were all sitting on the couch, either looking at the camera or at her. Her vision fell on the twins, they were in the middle, near the bottom, hugging each other it seemed.

No, they were fighting actually. Skeeter had a grip on Scooter's head, and it looked like she was also tugging on his shorts at the same time. He had both of his arms on her's. She laughed.

"Even as babies, they must've fought all the time." She remarked, still to herself she thought.

"They did not fight as much as you think, Jessica." A soft voice came from behind her. If Jessica were alive, and not a spirit herself, she would have felt the room go ice cold.

"Who's there? Whatever, whoever you are, show yourself!" She turned around suddenly, looking in all corners. The lights flipped on, of their own accord it seemed. The heater churned up, turning on. Walking down the hall, she stopped in front of the door. She heard soft steps inside the nursery, and the sound of boxes being moved around.

Opening the door, she saw a pure white being, handling books very gently. Pulling them out one by one, flipping through the pages delicately, then placing them on the shelf. The being turned around, and glared at Jessica.

"You've tried to hurt them." Her voice was soft and caring, yet angry. "You will pay for what you've done to them. You've hurt them...too much."

"N...NANCY?" Her eyes flew open, flattening against the wall, about to phase through it, then she did. Nancy set the book down, and followed, flying as fast as she did.

"B-B-But...I...I couldn't help it. I had no...no room for them both!" She stammered, as she stopped outside the house underneath a tree. Nancy was in front of her, glaring down at her hard.

"I found out what you people do to those children that you adopt. But because it was legal and all, I couldn't stop you. Your family makes me SICK! You took children...just barely in Kindergarten even, and you...you..." She shook her head, she couldnt' even bring herself to say it.

Jessica hung her head down low, settling down on the ground. "We trained the children for our own army. Yes. Either they joined our army, or if they tried to revolt, the national army, so they wouldn't talk of it at all. Skeeter was a...prime candiate. She was strong, in will and in body."

"How in all the world would you even KNOW that?" She exclaimed, getting a bit more excited. She felt like just blasting Jessica away down to the pits of torture where her Father sent spirits who have done unspeakable things.

"Steve...my husband...he has many informants and...oh..." She didn't want to speak anymore. She curled up on the ground, and she felt cold for some reason. Though no blood could go through the spirit, she felt ice cold down to her heart.

Nancy sat down, watching Jessica. She closed her eyes, and shook her head. "So, who saw them? Who noticed them?"

"Professor Krassman! The two boys he picked up, told him of how strong Skeeter was, and how she was fearless it seemed, and they were really sad to have lost a good friend like that, and...those two boys pratically told Krassman everyone's life stories. So...Steve talked to him sometime after that, and then we decided to adopt Skeeter."

"But what about Scooter? Why wouldn't you pick him as well. Despite this was some unholy thing you two were doing, you couldnt' even stand to adopt him, keep them together?"

Jessica shook her head, looking at Nancy. "He...was too weak. And cautious, also he...well, those boys apperently called him a wimp. He was too strong in mind, but not enough in brute strength. Not to say Skeeter isn't smart of course, but she wasn't able to truly connect what we were doing, until..." She stopped speaking, watching Nancy's expression change from horror to just plain out and out anger.

"Okay. So because Scooter's apperently a wimp, and his sister's Wonder Woman, you don't adopt both of them, only Skeeter. In some way, I can understand that. I hate that you did that, of course; but it does...make some kind of twisted sense. But...why did she shoot you both?"

Jessica placed a hand over her heart, and looked straight at Nancy. "Steve tried to kill her one night. She was training with a rifle, in the pouring rain. It was drenching everything out there, and she already had the flu to begin with..."

---------------

"COME ON SKEETER! GET ONE STRAIGHT SHOT, AND YOU CAN GO TO BED!" Steve shouted in Skeeter's ear, as she held the rifle in her shaking hands.

It was drenching rain and small hail outside. It was a terrible summer storm. So the heat didnt' make it any better at all. She was sneezing and coughing, trying to keep that darned rifle straight, and hit the moving target at least once. Then she could go inside get some medicine and go to bed. But her hands didnt' want to cooperate anymore.

She stood up, and handed the rifle to him, her body soaked through, even to her underwear. She was wearing full fatigues, with heavy military boots on. At 18 years old, she knew how to shoot a gun and a rifle, how to build and dismantle a campsite in under 3 minutes. And she had extensive survival skills. But she still couldn't shoot a rifle or a gun properly in the rain or snow; she had only mastered the wind and of course normal conditions.

She shoved the rifle towards him, and started marching back towards the house. "Do you want me to die out here, Steve? I've got the flu, we'll try again tommorrow!" She was so angry at him. He pulled the whistle out and blew it hard, the shrill noise made her stop in her tracks.

"SKEETER RENEE GROSSE! ABOUT FACE, AND MARCH YOUR LITTLE RIGHT BACK OVER HERE! YOU WILL DO THIS AGAIN, UNTIL YOU HIT THAT TARGET ONCE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND, MAGGOT?"

She grabbed the rifle, and she got back against the foxhole. She was about to throw the rifle down and run away actually. She suddenly felt cold metal against her head.

His voice was smooth, and chilling. "Try any funny games, maggot. You just go ahead and try me. I'll make you meet your mother today, and no one will care a lick about you. See those hills out there?" He pointed out to the many hills and dips in the large backyard, most of which was actually a training course. He smirked, pushing the gun tighter against her head.

"Those...used to be your siblings. Before you and many others came."

Skeeter's eyes opened wide, and she kept her vision tight on the range, her left hand balancing the rifle. She reached down silently, and in one swift movement, ducked out of the way of his gun, and tried to shoot him. She barely missed, hitting his shoulder.

"You STUPID LITTLE !" He yelled, as he reeled back, the gun dropping from his hand, Skeeter had a nice burn mark against her head now, from the bullet of his gun. She grabbed the rifle and pointed it at him.

"You want to see moving target pratiatce, Steve?" She said, coldly. Steve already had his gun again, in his hand, it was a second one in his pocket. He had it pointed at her chest now.

"You shoot me, and I'll shoot you." He replied, smirking. It was a showdown for more then 5 minutes, until the door opened.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP WITH ALL THAT TRAINING AND GET INSIDE THE HOUSE, PLEASE?" Jessica yelled from the front door, startling them both.

A shot was heard, ringing throughout the yard. Steve fell dead on the grass, the blood mixing with the rain. Quite suprisingly, Jessica fell as well. Skeeter thought, from seeing her husband dead.

His gun had fired off, as he was falling to the ground. Jessica was dead, almost instantly.

Skeeter gathered up all her supplies, and stuff that she could carry, and that day, she ran, and she never looked back.

Chapter Thirty Six

Skeeter had ran, for so long. She was still dressed in full fatigues, and boots, an army hat on her head, and a satchel over her shoulder. A passing truck stopped, and rolled down his window.

"Hey soldier! Where ya going?" The kindly man asked. She noticed he had a small pin on his vest, it read "WWII Veteran" on it. She smiled.

"Anywhere from here, Sir!" She saluted him, might as well play along with being a real soldier, if he thought she was one.

"Well, hop on in! I'm going to visit an old friend." He opened the side door for her, and she hauled her satchel into the backseat, climbing up into the passenger's side. She sat there, so glad to finally have met someone driving. She had been walking for nearly 4 hours now. But because it was raining, she didnt' stop at all, for anything.

She looked over at him, and suddenly heard this loud barking and rustling in the backseat. Glancing over the backseat, she was met by the soft growls and barks of a large gray dog.

"Oh my!" She yelled, and shrunk down in the seat, getting near the dash, to get away from the barking dog. The man reached behind his seat, and petted the dog a bit.

"Down Sprocket! She's a new friend of ours!" The older man laughed softly, as he turned down the wet and winding road. Sprocket, as he was called by the man, seemed to smile, and he looked a bit sorry towards her.

"Oh...h-hey Sprocket! I used to have a good friend who's a dog, ya know." Skeeter said a bit sadly. She remembered Rowlf, and his piano, but it was just a small memory, she smiled at it though.

"Ah, we've never even been introduced yet!" The man exclaimed to her, smiling broadly. "The name's Jerome Christian, but you can call me Doc. What's your name, soldier? Or will you only give me your rank and number?"

Skeeter laughed a bit, smiling. "I'll give you my name, Jerome. I'm Skeeter Grosse. Glad to meet you." She looked down for a moment, smiling. "I'm really glad to meet you, Doc."

Doc nodded, and he looked around the corner, as he pulled the truck to a stop, in front of a house that was vaguely familiar. "Where's the rest of your troop then, Skeeter?"

Skeeter gulped, she really didnt' want to tell him, that she wasn't a real soldier. "I...I got seperated. So, I'm probably been dismissed already. I never was really good in boot camp anyways..." She looked out the window while saying this, she looked a bit nervous.

"I understand completely. If it wasn't for the draft, I wouldn't have been taken in either! I'd rather just stay at home and do my tinkering anyways. Could you help me bring this inside perhaps?" He pointed to the other side of the backseat, where a strange looking contraption sat.

"Sure thing, Doc!" She hopped out, and actually was able to pick up the device all by herself, and she held it in her arms, as Doc walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

The door opened, and he smiled, giving the woman a large hug. "Nancy! It's been quite sometime hasn't it?"

The only thing the two heard, was a large clatter, and then running footsteps.

Chapter Thirty Seven

Doc turned around, and all he saw was his device sitting on the pavement. Nancy started to walk out of the house, and she looked around a bit.

"Jerome? Who was that?" She seemed a bit worried, still looking around the yard. All she had seen was someone setting the thing down, and grabbing something from his truck; taking off at an incredible pace. She grabbed her raincoat as she walked out into the yard.

The only thing that could be seen was this soft blur of dark green against the pouring rain. She frowned a bit, then walked back over to Jerome and helped him inside the house with his device, as Sprocket bounded out of the open truck door and into the house as well.

--------------

"...I couldn't let her see me like this..." She was saying to herself as she was jogging down the road. She stopped in front of a building, it read Ed's Flower Shop. Apperently she was in this small town now, that house must've been on the outskirts of it.

She looked around, it was somewhat dark, as it was nearly 7pm already. The street lights were starting to turn on, one by one. She saw the coffee shop was still open, so she walked inside, and set her bag down beside a small table in the corner, she kept her hat on, despite it dripping water onto her face. She just grabbed a napkin and wiped her face off. She felt...ashamed for some reason.

'Well, of course I should feel ashamed and fearful. I killed a man, and caused him to inadverantly kill his wife! I could be jailed for murder!' Her mind was conflicting with itself it seemed, herself so deep in thought she didn't see the bearded man come and sit in front of her. He held two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Kinda rough night isn't it?" The man asked her. She didn't respond, she didn't actually hear him at all. He reached forward, and tapped her shoulder. All of a sudden the man was looking down the barrel of a gun.

"Woah! Hey!" He backed up, his hands in the air.

Skeeter blinked, and finally focused on what was in front of her. She saw the brown-haired man, with both hands in the air. She looked down, and she gasped, putting away her gun quickly.

"Oh, god...I'm so...I'm sorry." She buried her head in her hands, she couldn't believe herself. Just because...he touched her, she pulled a gun out at him. The man relaxed a little bit, and he set the coffee in front of her.

"A hard night, huh?" He asked her. He kept his eye on her, but he could tell she didnt' mean to do that. He wondered though if that gun was loaded or not.

"...yeah. I'm...I don't know what happened. I'm just so tense...and..." She stammered, watching him. She leaned down and did check her gun, she wanted to cry. It was loaded. She had just pointed a loaded gun at this sweet man. A man who had just brought her some coffee for pete's sake! She picked up the coffee and took a few sips of it, looking down at the table. She decided she'd ask him something.

"You ever hear of the New Order Militia?" She asked softly. The man nodded, looking concerned. "...and how he adopts children and...teaches them?" The man nodded once more, watching her. Skeeter looked up into the man's face, and she looked like she was going to break down right in front of him.

"I escaped from him. And during a training session, I killed him, in self-defense. In turn, without meaning to, he killed his wife. His gun went off in his hands, as he fell." She stared at the man. She was waiting for him to stand up, and go call the police.

"What are you waiting for? Just going to let me sit here and wallow in worry? Go ahead and call them, I'm not going to run away, or try to bomb this place or anything of that nature." She watched him, he didn't move at all, except drink some more of his coffee. He did frown a little when she told him of her killing him, but other then that, he was silent and as still as a rock.

"You killed him in self-defense?" He finally asked her, after about five or so minutes of silence.

"Yes. I was trying to hit moving targets in this...horrendous weather, and he wouldn't let me..." She sneezed loudly, and started coughing again. She was still very sick, and she could feel it. "..take any medicine. I have the flu right now, and I'm still as sick as a dog."

"I've got some cough medicine back here. Do you think that might help you?" He asked, turning the chair around to get up.

She looked at him. She thought, maybe he's going to go and finally call the police. It didn't matter anyways. She nodded, and he stood up to go to the back room. He came back with a small bottle in his hand, and he handed it to her. It was simply some cough medicine. She took some, and he sat back down.

"You could be indited for harboring a fugitive you know." She said, simply, taking another sip of coffee. She noticed the windows sign read 'closed'. It was only those two in there. Part of her training came to the surface, she watched him, no emotion on her face. She suddenly knew of about 5 different ways to kill this man. Easy target she thought.

Skeeter shook her head, frowning at herself and what she was thinking. She smiled at the man, and extended her hand to him.

"I'm Skeeter Grosse. What's your name, you kind man?"

"Name's Jim Henson. Glad to meet you, Skeeter. You need some more coffee or something?" He pointed to her cup, after he shook her hand. She shook her head, setting it to the side. He smiled. "Maybe you could join the real military. They could really use someone who knows that much about fighting and stuff."

"Thanks. I'll be going now." Skeeter stood up, and she thanked him again, as she walked back out into the pouring rain, her bag over her shoulder. She was going to find the nearest army base, and try to join.

Chapter Thirty Eight

Skeeter kept walking, until she saw the army recuitment building. She started to knock on the doors until she noticed a sign.

"Closed for Renovation." She laid her head against the door, and she sighed. "I guess I won't be joining them then. I just...I need to get away from here!" She reached out and banged on the double doors loudly, her frustration rising to a new height, even for her.

"Where would you go?" A lone voice asked her. She turned around, and saw nobody in front of her. The voice seemed to cough a little bit, and she looked down.

"What are you?" She asked it, crouching down on her knees, it was still soaking rain outside, and the small creature that had spoken was drenched in it, and was shaking.

"I'm a Fraggle! The greatest being that there is. And you, Silly Creature...why are you banging on those doors? Is that your residence?" The old looking fraggle inquired, all the while jotting stuff down in his notepad. Skeeter smiled, shaking her head. She picked up her bag, and went to walk over to a tree for a moment. The fraggle followed her.

"No, I don't live there. I...don't really live anywhere. My names' Skeeter, what's yours?" She didn't really know what else to ask, she was exhausted, and she was thinking in one part of her mind, that he could be some...comforting halluncation brought on by her flu.

"The name is Traveling Matt. Your quite a kind Silly Creature. Would you happen to know where I could take shelter from the..." He flipped through his notebook, and he smiled. "...the rain, as you Silly Creatures call it?"

Skeeter laughed softly, and she pulled out a small pup tent from her bag, and set it up quickly. "We can take shelter here, Matt. Um...I'm glad to meet you. I've never met a...Fraggle before."

Matt merely nodded, and crawled into the tent, and found a small spot in the corner, to curl up and go to sleep. Skeeter decided to just not ask anything else, and go to sleep as well. The next morning she woke up, and the fraggle was gone, leaving no trace.

"Must've really been a hallunciation then..." She said to herself, as she broke down her camp, and packed up. Starting down the road again, she walked a little farther into the city, hoping to find some type of work.

-----------

"Hi there!" Skeeter said happily, to a lady in the newsroom, she had already asked about getting a job as a reporter for the sports, something to do to get some money.

"You the new girl?" She asked Skeeter, looking quite disinterested at the whole thing.

"Yes, I am! Who do I speak to in here?"

"Just go through that door, and go talk to Mr. Takashi. He'll tell you what you'll do in here, and he'll insruct you further, alright?"

"Thank you so much!" Skeeter replied, she was so happy. She was in her only good clothes that she had on her, dark blue jeans and a green shirt. She was still wearing her military boots, and she wore her hat, just to keep her burned off hair covered.

She opened the door, to find a slim, cigarette smoking man sitting at a desk, looking over some reports. Two men were sitting in front of him.

"She quit? Just when we're going to go and do a special live report from Colombia...SHE QUITS!" He banged his fist mightly on the table, staring at the two men, who were nearly shaking in fear.

"YOU!" He pointed his finger at Skeeter, about to yell something else at her. He froze in place, then he smiled. "I...I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else...you're here for the new job? Am I right?"

Skeeter had gotten worried for a moment, then she smiled. "Yes, I'm here for the new job. They said they needed a new Sports reporter, right?"

"Ah, yes. But...have you any field experience?"

"Field experience? Like...track and field?"

Takashi laughed softly, he walked over to Skeeter and handed her a slim stack of papers. "How would you like to replace our second top reporter, Ms...?"

"I'm Skeeter, Skeeter Grosse." Skeeter nodded, that sounded like a wonderful position she thought. She was eager for something that would pay some money.

Eli's face lit up when he heard her name. He smiled even more broadly, and handed her a pen. "Well, Ms. Grosse. We are going to do a live broadcast from Colombia, South America in a couple of weeks. A constant update type of thing. The reporter who was supposed to go there, she left us unfortuantely. How would you like to fill in her place?"

Skeeter thought about it for a moment, then she frowned. "South America? Why would you be doing something that dangerous?"

"Oh it's not dangerous! We're filming their presidents election services! These two men are the audio and visual specialists, they would be accompanying you, as well as about 5 other reporters, and field operatives. All you have to do, is look pretty for the camera, and tell the world all about the elections."

She thought he sounded somewhat fake, and she read over the contract carefully. Then, when she saw nothing wrong, or false, she signed it.

Two weeks later, she was in Colombia, reporting on the news about the President's elections.

Three weeks later, she reported the president had been assainated in the riots erupting throughout South America.

Four weeks later...she was never heard from again.

Chapter Thirty Nine

Skeeter woke up, feeling quite dazed, and exhausted. She looked around, expecting to see the jungles of the amazon around her once more. But instead, she saw her Mother, standing over her. She turned her head, and saw her brother, who was awake. He was watching her, sitting up on the table beside her. He looked worried.

"I thought you'd never wake up Skeeter." He said, rubbing his eyes a little bit. He looked just as tired as she felt. He gently stepped down onto the stage, and helped her sit up. "What happened? Did he try to get you again?"

She nodded, as she stepped off from her little table as well. She looked around the theatre, it seemed to be quite empty now. Until she heard the racuous snoring. Looking over the orchestra pit, she noticed everyone, snoozing in the seats.

"What time is it, Scooter?" She asked him, curious as to how long she'd been out.

"It's nearly 2 am in the morning. We didnt' want to move you anymore, so we just kept you up here on the stage, waiting for you to wake up. Mom hasn't left your side the entire time either."

She nodded, and the three of them, they walked around waking everyone up, so they could get back to the boarding house, and sleep in their own beds for once.

-----------

Nancy was sitting outside, underneath the pale moonlight, as Jessica finished up telling her what had happened to Skeeter. She was shocked...antonished...for a moment she realized if she had a beating heart it would have stopped for what she had heard.

"All of that...happened to her? And...she didnt' turn out any worse then she is?" She barely whispered to Jessica, who nodded gravely.

"She's purged herself of Steve's teachings for the most part it's seemed. But when she got lost in those jungles, it seems that it's what saved her from dying out there."

"Well...how did she get back here? To Hensonville and all?"

"Her death was publicised and everything, as one of those mass-reporter deaths, no one really noticed at all. But Eli, he really took great pleasure in it..."

Nancy cut her off, grabbing her hand. "Eli? That wouldn't happen to be Eli Tatakshi, would it?"

"Why yes. Eli Takashi...he...he helped with most of the children, I mean, getting them for our militia."

Nancy wished her brother was alive. So she could kill him, for the atrocites that he had done. It all made sense now! It all connected in her mind, finally. Why didnt' she see this before? Eli helped her find children to watch over and take care of, while he tried to get his pick of the strongest ones. That's why he was delighted to find children...that had no parents.

She stopped cold, and looked back towards her house for a moment. She was a part...of this...She shook her head, she didnt' want to think of it anymore. It was too disheartening to even think of.

Jessica understood, and she turned away from Nancy, floating away. Nancy flew in front of her. "Where are you going, Jessica?"

"I must leave. I am a free-roaming spirit, and I cannot stay in one place for more then 24 hours at a time. Please, I must be leaving."

With that, Jessica left in a small puff of whispy smoke. Nancy then floated back to her house, and she sat in the new nursery. She smiled when she saw all the new renovated stuff inside.

"It's good he has the house now. He'll put this house to great use for once."

Chapter Forty

Skeeter sat in the windowseat, reading a book. She had an old backpack beside her, it full of books. The house was somewhat quiet, but...not without it's problems. Fozzie was trying out jokes to the Electric Mayhem, who were all but pelting him with tomatoes.

Gonzo and Scooter were working on his cannon outside, while Beau was cleaning up in the kitchen, as well as helping Sadie and Chef with lunch. It was peaceful, she thought. Not quiet, by any stretch, but very peaceful.

"Hey, Gonzo. How did it go out there?" She asked, as she saw her brother blackened from his head to the middle of his chest. Scooter coughed softly, and a puff of soot escaped from his mouth.

"It was a bang, Skeet. Simply a blasting good time..." He said, smiling a little bit, as he grabbed a towel and wiped the soot off of him.

"That cannon had too much powder in it. Maybe we should try another ratio then, huh, Scooter?"

"Yeah...that sounds great Gonzo. Another test.."

Skeeter laughed, and then as her brother left the room, she tapped Gonzo on the shoulder. "Hey, what did you do with Nanny's house? It was all fixed up...and you didn't want it?"

Gonzo smiled a little bit, laughing. He simply handed Skeeter a folded up piece of paper, and a set of keys. Then he walked away up the stairs, still smiling.

-----------

Nancy sat in the nursery, and she frowned; looking down towards the floor.

"I do not want to leave this plane. Please, let me stay." She shook her head, disbelief entering into her thoughts. A strong pair of hands rested on her shoulders, his pale blue eyes piercing her strong green ones.

"You must let them be. You have done all that you can do. Your work is finished, sister. Follow me, we'll go this together."

Nancy pulled away from her brother, she wanted with all her heart to stay in this place. "Let me stay in the theatre, I'll haunt this house if need be!"

"You did not die in this house."

"What about the hosptial?" She pleaded.

"That hospital will do you no good if you wished to stay with the children. They only truely are around that theatre, and the boarding house. They do not stay around the hospital too often."

She looked down towards the floor, tears streaming down her face. She had done her duty to her charges, and she knew it was her time to finally leave this plane of existance. She started for the door, to go and see them one last time. The man looked into Nancy's eyes, and he softly smirked; standing in front of her only way out of the house.

"It is your time. Do not cause them anymore grief then has already passed. Let them not know you have watched them, and cared for them. They should never know, Nancy."

"But...Gonzo. Eli, he..." She stammered, looking longingly out of the window.

Eli shook his head, and grasped her hand. "As you led me, sister. I will lead you. Say your goodbyes now."

"They won't hear me. They won't know anything is happening!"

"They will. Say your goodbyes, they shall know it in their hearts. You have a strong connection to them, you should know that already."

Nancy walked over, and sat down on the new couch, in the nursery, and she held a small pillow, already starting to weep softly; as she told the children, that she imagined were in front of her goodbye.

--------------

The beautiful blue wedding dress hung on a dress dummy in Piggy's room. She glared at it. Shaking her head, she walked over and ripped the sleeves out of the dress angrily. Then she smiled at her handiwork. She stopped cold in her room, and she smiled. She suddenly felt just so happy right then, and she slipped on her powder blue gloves; starting to get ready for that night.

Kermit was pacing the room, with Fozzie, Gonzo, and Scooter sitting on his bed. The other three were already dressed in black tuxedoes, full spats and everything. Kermit only had his waistcoat and pants on so far. He was furious, he never actually wanted to have this wedding. It was only to calm Piggy down and to make her happy. When he said it, he thought he must've been out of his mind.

"Well, Boss. Just tell her you don't want to get mar---" Scooter's sentence was suddenly cut short by Fozzie's paw.

"You will be minced gofer if she hears that, Scooter." Fozzie looked a bit worried, as Kermit just stared at them both.

Scooter glared over at Fozzie, and pried his paw off of his mouth. "Bleh. Just tell her the truth, Chief! She won't kill you over that!"

Kermit suddenly looked three shades of a lighter green. "She'd kill me over less then that!" He gulped, looking out the window for a moment. He shook his head, and pulled his jacket on, buttoning it up.

"Just explain what's happened. You were so worked up getting worried over Scooter here, you didn't know what you were saying to her!" Gonzo replied, as to which Scooter glared at him.

"You want ME to get killed now, Gonzo?" He exclaimed, finally buttoning his jacket up once more.

Gonzo just shook his head, and he started to walk down the hall. "I'm going to go check up on the ladies, see how the're doing."

He stopped in front of Piggy's room, and saw her standing in her camisole and slip, examinging her wedding dress. Skeeter had some pins and some binding tape in her hands, fixing a small rip in Piggy's dress. Gonzo knocked on the door. Immediately Piggy got this furious look on her face, and was about to scream. Skeeter looked a little angry as well. Then Janice just shoved herself right up to the door, as she started to close it.

"Now, come on Gonzo! Like...the men arn't supposed to see the bride, till she...like goes down the aisle. So, shoo! Go away! We'll tell you menfolk when she's ready and everything."

"It's the groom that's not supposed to be able to see her. Everybody else can see her." He simply replied to her.

She frowned a bit, trying to think about that, until Piggy slammed herself beside Janice. "Weirdo! Weather or not your the groom or not, get yourself away from moi's room as she is DRESSING!"

Piggy slammed the door on his nose, actually; and he pulled it out, crooked. He laughed a bit, and walked back to Kermit's room. He was still pacing, but they were ready to try this, again. But this time, for real.

Epilogue

Piggy and Kermit pulled up to Nancy's house, the backyard was trimmed and fixed up. All of it was covered and draped in white lace and banners. Kermit looked a bit nervous, as he stepped out of the studebaker, which had "Just Married" written across the back of it. Piggy flounced out, happy as could be. She walked over and suddenly picked up Kermit in her arms.

"Ready, moi cherie?" She cooed to him, as he just gulped a little bit, smiling nervously. He looked back at his friends.

Scooter was standing beside Skeeter, smiling widely; while Fozzie was blowing his nose into a hankerchief. Gonzo was laughing happily, and Sadie was helping the Chef haul the cake out of the back seat of the Mayhem's bus.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Piggy.." He said, smiling a little bit. She laughed softly, and she carried him into the house, and she left the door open, for Sadie and Chef to bring the huge cake inside. The both of them walked to the nursery, and Piggy set him down. She looked around for a moment, and made sure no one could see or hear them.

"I am sure, Kermie." She said to him, taking off her veil, and setting it gently on the windowseat.

"No license? Just...that ceremony? It wouldn't be any different then in the movie you know." Kermit asked her, worried about why she was acting so differently now. She had been demanding a marriage license from him, after he suggested they just do it for show; but now, she was turning it completely around on him.

"Well...I know. I still love you, and I still want to be with you. But...let's just wait a little longer for that license. We'll do that when we're perfectly ready to."

"Your not the pig that I know, Miss Piggy." Kermit stated, watching her as she started to pull of her gloves, and slip the dress off, revealing a slim pants suit underneath it. She laid the dress over the couch then.

"I know, this is so unlike me isn't it?"

"Well, yes! You've been begging me to marry you! Forever! And now...now you don't want to get married? I mean...legally?"

She laughed a bit, and walked over to him, she picked him up in one hand; smiling, that devious glint in her eyes that he knew so well.

"I am married to vous, I'm just not taking your NAME yet. That's all it is. Plus, we live together anyways, what's the difference? I'm not the type of pig to be bound just yet."

Kermit laughed a bit, watching her expressions change from anger to sweetness. He always seemed to love watching her face when she got angry. "You didn't want to be hogtied, huh?" He knew he was going to get it, but he didn't really care.

Her face twisted into anger, she hated comments like that. "WHAT?" She then yelled, and karate-chopped him across the room, he landed upside down in the armchair.

Kermit sat up, and he smiled. She's just the same as she always is. Eventually, they'd go and privately get their marriage license. But for now, their friends believe that she just didnt' want to take his last name, so they left it at that. He thinks Scooter knew what they planned, but he probably wouldn't say anything. Lest he invoke the wrath of Miss Piggy.

Sadie walked inside the nursery. "Hey, Miss Piggy! Kermit! You guys need to cut your cake, you haven't done that yet!"

"Oh...the cake, Kermit!" Piggy exclaimed, as she and her frog walked into the kitchen.

The cake was a sight of beauty. Jim had really outdone himself this time. A beautiful sugar sculpture of Miss Piggy and Kermit was sitting atop the cake, it was resplendent in white, with pink flowers, and white sugar pillars supporting the cake. The entire thing could be eaten, decorations and supports.

Chef handed Piggy and Kermit the knife, and they both held it. They looked into each others eyes, that beautiful glint came from them. They knew they weren't offically married still. But...they still loved each other, and to them, that's all that mattered.

---------------

From the hall, the two spirits watched; and they smiled, they had done right.

"You see, Nancy. They are doing fine."

"What will Gonzo do with the house, Eli? Do you have any idea? They've not said a word about it inside of these walls."

"I believe I overheard him talking of simply using this as an overflow, or for storage. Good uses, because this house really cannot be used for what he originally had thought of, an orphanage. It was too small he had found out."

Nancy nodded, and smiled as she saw Piggy and Kermit playfully putting cake in each others mouth. She almost laughed as she saw Skeeter then shoving a piece in her brother's mouth, laughing manically. Scooter had cake all over his face, it ended up in a cake fight, with a piece actually flying towards their spot.

The flying piece of cake went straight through them, and it actually hit a piece of ceramic, and it went shattering to the floor, with an almighty crash. Everyone turned to see what had broken.

-------------

"...Nanny?" Fozzie was the first to utter, as they stared at the spectral beings standing in the doorway to the small room that was opposite the kitchen.

She looked over at Eli, her expression got a little bit worried. "They can hear me?" She then turned back to her charges and their friends. "You can hear me?"

"We can hear and see you, Nancy." Sadie replied, and started handing out towels for everyone, without letting her eyes leave Nancy and Eli. "We thought you had...I guess gone to the other side?"

"I...I was about to. But I stayed to see what was happening with all of you. I was...I was worried. And I wondered what Gonzo was going to do with my house."

Gonzo looked down for a moment. "I'm sorry I'm not able to use this...for good things."

"Gonzo. If it's used at all, that's a good thing. This was an old house when I bought it. It's even older now. It's good that it's being used for something. And...Piggy, Kermit. Congratulations!"

Kermit blushed a little bit, rubbing the back of his neck. He pulled away a chunk of cake, and let it drop from his hand to the floor. "Nancy...thanks."

"I guess I must be going then. I've seen that you can truely take care of yourselves without me, and...you're doing perfectly fine."

Piggy looked a little confused. "But we did fine without you anyways."

It was Nancy's turn to look a little confused then. "Everyone always called me, for every little thing. You may not have thought of it, but you still relied quite heavily on me."

They watched as Nancy sat down on the countertop, and started speaking to all of them, in her soft tone that she always used. "Kermit seemed to call about something, nearly everyday. Fozzie was always trying jokes out on me, Gonzo would ask about how safe was this, or how safe was that. And Scooter would just need some support, as all of you did. You still relied on me, and I could not leave until I knew you were going to be alright."

Everyone nodded, they never realized it, but they did still relie on her for support. The least that anyone would call her was about once a month, the most; which was usually Kermit the day before the show, he would call nearly every hour. When she died, everyone felt an empty spot in their hearts. But they learned something. Nancy smiled, watching them.

"You learned to relie on yourselves. And your friends. And because of that, I'll be finally taking my leave of this plane, children."

"Will you be gone...forever?" Scooter asked her, he was feeling still a little guilty for what had happened before.

She floated over to Scooter, and knelt down, placing both hands on his shoulders, she gave him a kiss on the forehead. "No. I won't be gone forever, Scooter. I'll always be around to check up on you, and everyone. If you ever need me, just come here; to this house."

She stood up, and gave Piggy and Kermit a hug together. Then she walked over and gave Fozzie a hug, and Gonzo one as well. She nodded, silently, and what seemed to be permaent, she and Eli left.

All that was left was two twin whisps of smoke against the wall.
And the smell of roses and brimstone.

--THE END--