A/N: This story's been on my brain the past week so here's an extra long chapter.

Special thanks to Kitkatkatester and the two guests for the reviews of the last chapter :)

Enjoy!

Zoey's new quest for answers was put to an abrupt and brief pause when Mike wasn't in school the next several days. Since she didn't exactly know where his new house was and had yet to exchange phone numbers with him she was forced to wait until an opportunity presented itself in the meantime.

That opportunity appeared during lunch in the form of a small, shrimpy, spectacled student that Zoey had never spoken to before. He was perusing the same section she was in the library(she'd figured it was a good place to start after her phone died and the computer lab was closed for maintenance; she'd very quickly consumed her lunch), though he was hardly capable of lifting any of the massive texts he wished to check out. "Um, need some help?" she asked politely after seeing him struggle.

The student was startled by the voice and ended up falling over, tipping one book off the shelf; Zoey was able to just catch it before it could land on his apparently fragile body. "Y-yeah, thanks…you're strong!" he said nervously, adjusting his glasses and picking himself up.

"Not really, I don't work out all that much…other than maybe sewing and the occasional jog," Zoey insisted with a small laugh as she held up the book. "You still want this thing?" She checked the cover: Psych for Advanced Minds Vol. 2: Extended Edition. There was a brain with tons of colors on the cover.

"Yes! I've been trying to track it down ever since I was placed into Honors Psychology," the student explained. "Oh wait, where are my manners-" he held out his disproportionately sized hand. "I'm Cameron."

Zoey tucked the book under her arm and shook Cameron's hand, almost causing him to wince. "Zoey," she introduced herself.

"So, Zoey, what brings you to…this side of the library?" Cameron asked, curious. "You're not in any psych courses, we probably would've met already if that were the case."

"You're right about that!" Zoey was suddenly the nervous one. "I'm doing some…personal research, on a certain…pattern of behavior….?" She wasn't sure how to word it without it sounding weird or intrusive, because Mike didn't know she was doing this and that felt… wrong? Like she was going behind his back when she could probably just ask him. Although…maybe he didn't want anyone to know. Anyways, they weren't really friends, not yet at least.

"You've come to the right subject of study then!" Cameron replied with an enthusiastic smile. "I happen to have completed two years of extracurricular psychology courses before this school year. I could maybe point you in the right direction, if…that's okay with you?" his timidity suddenly returned.

Zoey smiled again. "That'd be so kind of you! I'm really clueless on this sort of stuff…I could use some guidance," she admitted.

"Then I shall provide it!" Cameron said with a grin. "Let's start right away."

The two of them spent the rest of lunch sitting at one of the library's large tables, multiple pysch textbooks spread out between them as Cameron gave a crash course to Zoey before she got the chance to describe exactly what she was hoping to classify.

"Hm…I can only think of a few things that could be, but I'd need to see for myself…not that I'm a doctor or anything, I can't diagnose your friend with something," Cameron decided.

"Oh, well…he hasn't exactly been to class recently, that might have to wait until he's back…" Zoey said with a small sigh. "I don't have his address or anything."

"Science waits for no man! Except when it does…" Cameron contradicted himself before suggesting they exchange numbers so they could meet when their patient-*ahem*-target-*ahem*-Mike showed his face again at school.

It took less time than anticipated after Zoey was approached by her history teacher the next day. "His mom wanted him to get the work to bring home but she can't come get it herself and, well, neither can he. Apparently they mentioned your name so I'm leaving it to you to bring it to 'em," the teacher explained before offering a small stack of papers encased in a folder. "You know the address?"

Surprised, Zoey shook her head.

"Well you do now," her teacher declared, writing it down on another slip of paper. "Tell 'im it's due when he can make it in."

"Okay…I'll be sure it gets to him," Zoey agreed before leaving and not soon after texting Cameron.

The two met up after school to drive the twenty minutes to Mike's house. The neighborhood was on the less squeaky clean part of town, leading Cameron to cling closer to Zoey as she shot a glare at anyone who looked at them funny when they had to resort to walking after she couldn't find a parking spot close by that was in one piece.

They finally made it to the address, noticing the lack of car in the driveway and the two lights on inside. The shutters were drawn over the windows that still had them.

"Why don't you knock?" Cameron insisted, nervously standing behind her still.

Zoey took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

No response.

She tried again.

An unmistakeably masculine and accented voice could be heard from inside. "Ey yo, who's knockin' ovah 'ere, I'm in my zone!" It sounded nothing like Mike.

"Is that him?" Cameron asked.

"No…?" Zoey replied, trying to remember the name belonging to that voice.

The door opened suddenly. "Couple losers out here disturbin' my time in the sun, huh?" Vito asked with a frown. He had one earbud in with the other dangling freely, the wire slightly frayed around the earpiece. A quick paced song in some foreign language that sounded vaguely Spanish or French or something blared from the tiny speakers. His hair was slicked back and wore no shirt, exposing a fair number of scarred areas on his face and muscled torso that didn't appear to phase him one bit and showcasing a gold shark tooth necklace. His jeans hung loosely on his waist and his sneakers appeared to be the same ones Mike had worn to school but in yellow.

"U-um, hi, is Mike home?" Zoey asked quickly since clearly he wouldn't answer to that name. "We have some work for him from school…"

Vito raised a judgmental eyebrow at her. "Not at the moment, 'e's been…out a couple days," he replied honestly. "You must be the red girl Svet's been yappin' 'bout all week."

Huh?

"Is he your brother, or cousin, or…?" Cameron asked intrusively.

Vito laughed. "Little shrimp got jokes, don't he?" he said with a smirk. "Adorable."

"You didn't answer the question-" Zoey pointed out.

"Whateva, I'll take the work for 'em," Vito stopped her in her tracks before snatching the folder easily with enough force to make her lose footing. "Gotta get back to my 'laxin' so laytahs." He started to close the door again.

"Wait, you mentioned Svetlana-?" Zoey tried to stop him from shutting it in their faces. "Does she live here too?" His name had come back to her finally.

The only response was a series of grunts and ughs preceded by a long silence. "It ain't my time yet goin' back in there!" Vito could be heard struggling to hold onto the world around him. "The Vito don't snitch!" The folder of papers had fallen out of his hand and scattered across the floor.

Zoey looked at Cameron, both of them wide eyed. Zoey turned back to the door and pushed it open slowly. "Vito?" she said his name.

The body that had definitely just been home to Vito was slumped over the edge of a small couch that sat in the middle of the living room. It began to reanimate after a few more minutes of weighted silence. "Oh no, no no no no no not again-" Mike, incredibly disoriented after looking down at himself, rushed towards the stairs and nearly ran into the wall multiple times. "Why Vito again?!"

A door slammed upstairs and Zoey was extremely worried now. She glanced down at Cameron. "We should probably go," she said. "I don't want him to think we were breaking in or something-"

"This could be our chance to ask though!" Cameron disagreed.

"If it's even him we're talking to…" Zoey said with a sigh.

They stood thinking for too many minutes before yet another starkly different voice interrupted.

"What are you doing in our house?" 'Mike' asked, standing at the top of the steps at his full height before descending to their level. His hair was more akin to how it was the other day, hanging in his face and covering the scars from before. His visible eye appeared darker and more exhausted than Vito's sharply brown irises had. He'd put a blue hoodie on over his bare chest but its bright color didn't suit its current wearer. The voice he used reminded Zoey of how Svetlana had sounded when she was threatening Scott, only she certainly wasn't present now. This was an entirely different sound: Mike's diction on a much lower octave and rougher around the edges. It sent chills down their spines. "I was enjoying a nice long snooze for once and you little criminals had to ruin it."

"N-not criminals sir! J-just dropping s-stuff off! We were a-about to leave-" Cameron answered fearfully, grabbing Zoey's hand and starting for the door. His earlier confidence was out the window. "C-c'mon Zoey, let's go-"

"I know I heard Mike just now," Zoey said, standing her ground and looking up at…whoever this was. Wow he was tall when he stood up straight, looming over the two of them. "Where is he?" At this point she was able to grasp the fact that who she was speaking to was not Mike playing a character, but still didn't understand how or why this was possible.

"He's not ready to be out and about again just yet," 'Mike' replied, calm but on edge as he stepped in front of her. In his eye it seemed that Cameron didn't exist. "Not on his own. It's been a rough move back here, let's just put it that way. But that's already too much for you to know, even if you think you'd like to know more, Red, given our….storied history."

Red.

She'd been called that before; she could almost feel the crack in her ankle, the deep dark laughter and eerie whistling, the car lights, the smell of the hospital room and the tears on her face-

Deep breath, Zoey.

"…could you at least tell him I'm willing to listen? Whenever he's ready," she requested quietly, "if he ever wants me to. I…I want to be friends again."

Mal looked down at her silently.

"Please," she added before finally accepting defeat and turning to go once again.

"Tell him yourself," Mal said with a frown as the front door closed. "It's not my job to play carrier pigeon."

Zoey's lips trembled as she looked at the ground."I want to," she said only to herself at this point. "But someone always gets in the way."

This is maybe my second or third time ever writing Cameron so I hope he's not too off.

Same deal as before, a chapter comes if and when it comes. Reviews are always appreciated if you feel like leaving them.

Gonna go draft the next chapter of MCS now byeeeeee-*blasts out of a cannon*