A/N: *Chris McLean voice* Last time on His Imaginary Friends: Zoey leaves Mike for dead in a city he barely knows. Cold hearted! Will he return home in one piece? Is Mike really Mike, or is he Svetlana? Will Zoey find him before her crippling guilt overwhelms her? Will I ever give Mike dialogue for more than two minutes? Find out right now on Total, Drama-

*cut!*

There's a wee bit of blood and suggestion of injury in this chapter but nothing too crazy.

Enjoy!

"Hey, Zoey!" Cameron waved to her in the hallway the next day.

Zoey silently and curtly waved back before looking back into her locker to get the rest of her things. She had brought the forgotten book bag with her and had hoped to give it to its owner when he showed up.

He hadn't shown up to school that day, however.

"Woah, do you have a project due or something? Not everyday someone brings two backpacks to school-" Cameron wondered innocently.

"No, I need to return this. It's Mike's, he…left it." She wasn't going to say that it was because he left it in her car and never came back for it. Cameron really didn't need to know that bit of information.

"Huh, okay! Nice of you to get it for him. I haven't seen him around today at all, and he's pretty hard to miss," Cameron noted. "Being as tall as he is."

"…me neither." That feeling was back. "I'm going to go see if he's doing okay after school. He's probably just sick, or something. Right?" The day wasn't even half over.

"That is usually why people don't come to school. Other things can happen, of course. Emergencies, mental health breaks, stuff like that. Anything's possible," Cameron elaborated lightly.

Zoey inhaled and exhaled that information, shutting her locker. "I-I think I'm gonna go right now, actually…yeah, right now!" She started running towards the exit.

Caught off guard, Cameron watched her go. "F-feel better, Zoey!" he called out as she vanished from the hall.

She parked right by the house this time. There was a beaten looking blue car in the spot directly in front but for once there was space nearby. Despite the cold air she was sweating bullets as she approached the house, backpack in hand. The lights were on inside; someone was home.

After knocking several times the door opened. "Hello…? Can I-I help you?" a shaky, middle aged woman answered the door. She appeared to have been crying. Was still crying, in fact. She had a phone with a cracked screen in one hand. Her black hair was back in a messy bun that had slowly unraveled with stress.

"Um…is…is Mike home?" Zoey asked quietly. "I go to school with him…he left his bag-"

At hearing the name the woman covered her eyes and shook, letting out a distressed sound. "D-did you see them? Wh-where are they?" she asked, her voice desperate. "H-he said he was getting home safely, b-but it's been a whole day and h-he hasn't picked up the phone!"

He? They?!

"I-I don't know, I…haven't seen him today. I was worried when he wasn't in school," Zoey said, her voice also shaky.

"Where is he? Where is my son?" The woman broke down crying, leaning against the wall by the door.

Zoey's breath quickened, but she took one deep breath in. "I'll find him. Them. Whatever. You stay here, I-I'll go find him-" She dropped the backpack on the floor and ran back to her car.

This is my fault why did I let them go like that I'm terrible I'm a terrible friend he's never going to want to be near me again- her mind raced as she got the engine going and drove in the direction she'd heard the footsteps go in, taking it slow and looking down every alley and crack she passed by. Random people walking on the street gave her dirty looks for staring at them. At least one yelled something she chose to ignore.

Eventually the road was torn up so badly she had to park and continue on foot so she didn't damage her tires. She bundled up in her coat and continued looking.

She heard the sounds of some sort of altercation in the near distance, but didn't recognize any of the voices at first, nor witness it happen. It was difficult to make out exactly where it was coming from.

Until she heard a crack! followed by a manly scream.

A great chill shot down her spine, and she almost felt pain in her own ankle.

The sound of a body slumping onto the concrete, and the sound of one scampering away doggedly. "Go on…crawl back to the sewers…you rat."

Zoey ran.

She ran towards the sharp sound.

"Mike!" she called out as she peered down the crooked side street that the noise had come from. "I-I'm sorry about yesterday, I shouldn't've let you leave the car-"

A cough. "…you've got a lot of nerve trying… to apologize, you ignorant…naive…. little girl," a familiar, unhappy and exhausted voice responded. It sounded close to Mike's but not quite his. He was breathing quickly and quietly, sat up against the wall of the building looming above him.

Zoey gasped in surprise that she'd actually found him. She sped over and got a better look and- oh no… "L-let me help you up…my car is a f-few blocks away…" she offered a shaking hand to him.

'Mike' scoffed, standing himself up with some difficulty. His knuckles and right nostril were still clotting with blood and there was a bruise on his left arm, but beyond that he looked physically fine, confirming that he, or at least whoever had been present within the past twenty four hours, had gotten into at least one fight. His hair was spiked up but uncomfortably so. His posture was slumped more than it had been, and he swayed when standing still, shivering from the chilly air. His jacket was missing. "Another…night spent outside, in the cold," he muttered spitefully as he started walking, misplacing his feet every so often.

Zoey wasn't going to pry into that comment. Not now.

Mike was safe. A bit battered, maybe sleep deprived, but he was okay. That's all that mattered.

Neither of them said a word when they were back in her car driving to the house. He had closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, shutting out the spinning world and showcasing the dark circles that had come from not sleeping the night before, or maybe those were always there. The drive wasn't long, and she tapped his shoulder to wake him.

"This didn't happen, got that?" the sleep deprived 'Mike' pointed at her intensely. "You don't say anything. And stay away from me; you've done nothing but make things more difficult."

Zoey frowned. "I didn't make you leave the car to wander off to the middle of who-even knows where. Your house was a block away-" She was definitely at fault in this situation but her emotions were getting the better of her.

"How could I have known that? I've never left that house and walked in the area before. You really don't know a thing about me." He opened the car door. "My phone died and it was a pain walking around in the dark somewhere I've never been."

"…Mike, you don't sound quite like you." Maybe it had been her worries replacing rational thinking but she hadn't picked up on the fact that this might not be him. His voice wasn't a mixture of two like it had been yesterday. It really did sound like him, almost.

He laughed unsettlingly at that before coughing once again. "You don't know my voice, Red. You haven't earned it." Mal left the car, leaning against it heavily as he peered in from the open space the door left. "You don't know Mike's either, and if you keep pulling stunts like this, you never will." He turned away from her, brushing his hair down over his eye as it had been when he'd been present at the house. His voice drastically lowered as he said, "Keep your distance if you want to try again." He shut the car door behind him.

Zoey stared aghast as he went into the house, watching through the open door to see the woman, still in the front room, hug her child's body, even though her child was not currently present. Mal internally recoiled at the touch but didn't say a word about it.

She didn't hear Mike's mother ask, "did that friend of yours help you get home?" in her shaky voice, apparently not noticing a physical difference in her son.

"I got us home safe," was Mal's reply, emotionless towards the woman.

Mike's mother nodded. "Good."

I didn't feel like wasting my time or y'all's by making it a long winded search for no good reason so I kept it easy. The search itself wasn't the point.

Yes, Mal pulls a 'what he did for most of All Stars' on Zoey, he is able to imitate Mike's voice in the same way. And yes, he fought completely in self defense. I might elaborate exactly what happened that night/day at some point if it ever becomes relevant to the story(it probably will tbh)

Reviews are always appreciated :)

Laters *ender pearls away*