Mike was riding down the elevator towards his workstation in Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental, feeling a lot more anxious than he had his first night. He could tell those robots were a lot more dangerous than they should be and that if he was smart he would quit immediately. But the message from his father said that his sister was here and if there was even the tiniest grain of truth to that… Mike had to do all he could to help her…

Suddenly an ominous creak made Mike look around nervously, his fear rising as the elevator jolted. Something Mike couldn't see snapped and the next thing he knew the elevator was plunging down in a terrible free fall. He didn't even have time to scream before the elevator crashed and he knew nothing but blackness.

Mike woke up on the couch in his room, feeling like he had really fallen through the air back onto the cushions. With a groan, Mike sat up. While the nightmare was actually pretty mild compared to what normally tormented him, he still wasn't exactly eager to fall back asleep. Resigning himself to an early morning, Mike pulled out his laptop and began his daily routine of checking for any mysterious deaths or rumors that could point to where one of the evil animatronics was currently lurking.

Mike had just come across something that seemed it might be what he was looking for when he heard someone going around opening and closing random doors. From the footstep pattern, Mike's guessed it was Mabel and he was surprised she was up this early, especially with how late she and Dipper had been at the Northwest's party. (Pacifica had taken one look at Mike and refused to let him even think about coming near the party even if he was just going to help Dipper. Mike wasn't offended and he and Dipper had decided that it was probably best not to bring a ghost-possessed corpse to a ghost hunt. And when Mike heard about everything afterward, he was pretty sure he'd have just gotten turned to wood like everyone else.)

Turning his attention back to his computer, Mike studied the article that had caught his eye. His suspicions seemed to be right as the dead body that had been recovered showed all the signs of having been killed by an animatronic (not that those writing the article realized that fact), but the body had already been dead for over two weeks before it had been discovered and Mike was torn on what to do. On one hand, this was a clue to where an animatronic had been recently and he should go investigate it. On the other hand, Mike knew from experience that between the time that had already passed and the time it would take to get there would mean that the chances of him actually finding any useful clues were practically zero and he would just waste time looking for animatronic that had long since moved on to its next hunting ground. It was his mission to stop the animatronics, but he didn't want to leave his new fa-.

Mike slammed his laptop closed as he forcibly stopped that last thought from forming. Thoughts like that were dangerous, especially since he had a mission he should be focusing on. Feeling antsy, Mike threw on his jacket and hat intending to go for a walk to help sort out his frazzled thoughts. As soon as he opened his door though, he found Mabel beaming up at him.

"I was just about to knock, but you have perfect timing," Mabel said, looking up at Mike. "I found a bunch of fireworks and we're planning to have a rooftop fireworks party! You've got to join us!"

"Maybe later," Mike tried to smile, though it was defiantly more of a grimace. "I just need to clear my head with a quick walk. I'll join you guys after that alright."

Mabel studied Mike with a slight frown of concern, but she reluctantly nodded. "Okay… I'll let the others know… we can at least save you a few sparklers if you aren't back in time to enjoy the rest of the fireworks."

"Thanks, I appreciate that," Mike said, ruffling Mabel's hair and getting the smile to return to the girl's face. With that taken care of, Mike left the Mystery Shack and headed into the trees. He went far enough that the firework noises were barely noticeable in the background and then he sunk down against the nearest tree until he was sitting on the forest floor.

"What am I doing…" Mike murmured, leaning his head back against the trunk of the tree.

Mike knew that his arrangement with the Pines was only a temporary thing. He had a mission that he needed to return to and they had their own lives that had existed before he met them and would continue once he was out of the picture. He just hadn't expected to become as attached to them as he had. Dipper was so curious and smart and so much braver than he even seemed to realize while Mabel was so full of energy and happiness, managing to brighten everyone's lives just by being herself. They didn't replace the holes in Mike's heart that were there for his siblings, but they had managed to make their own places in there anyway.

There was Stan an older and steadier presence that understood Mike on a level that the twins simply couldn't, knowing when Mike need a joke to distract him from his dark thoughts or be a quiet pillar to help keep him grounded. They both had things they didn't talk about, but that led to a bond that didn't need words to know was there. And Soos, the lovable man child who somehow kept his wonder in the world despite the hardships he had gone through and was so much wiser than most people gave him credit for. Soos who had already declared that Mike was part of the family. Even Wendy, though they didn't interact as much as the others had accepted Mike's presence and had even opened up enough to him to vent about how frustrating her family was but she still loved them anyway.

This group of strange but wonderful people had for some reason that Mike couldn't understand, taken a look at him and decided to bring him into their fold. But Mike knew it couldn't last, taking off his gloves to look at his purplish decaying hands. Looking at his hands, missing so much flesh with only a few wires around the bones that they shouldn't be able to hold together let alone function, Mike was reminded of just how inhuman he truly was.

"Who do you think you're fooling…" Mike scolded, hiding his hands back in his gloves. No matter how much he hated it, there was simply no denying that Mike was a monster and monsters didn't belong in a family (he didn't deserve one). No matter how much Mike loved it here and how welcoming the Pines were, the fact of the matter was that Mike didn't have a place among them and it was time he accepted that.

Mike would head back to the Mystery Shack, spend one last wonderous afternoon with the people who somehow managed to care for him, and then he'd slip away in the middle of the night to continue his hunt. The Pines family would probably be upset to find him gone without a goodbye, but Mike didn't think he could bring himself to leave if he attempted to tell them in person. He'd miss them, but this was just the way it had to be.

Mind made up, Mike got to his feet and headed back to the Mystery Shack. As he was walking, Mike was surprised to hear what sounded like a helicopter, multiple ones in fact. He looked up and spotted the helicopters through the tree branches flying rapidly overheard. Mike felt fear flood his being as he realized they were all heading towards the Mystery Shack and that was enough to send him running.

All thoughts about leaving fled from his mind as concern for his new family became his sole focus.