Well damn... It was NOT my intention to blow off the whole summer like this, but I also hadn't planned on being so busy... Anyway, I'm sorry for the long wait, but I'm back now so I hope you enjoy this chapter :)


Harold rubbed his eyes as he ran over the file, squinting in thought. He'd spent half the night searching out any strange financial activity involving the TC group, and was currently operating on three hours of sleep and two strong coffees. He wanted to go to the Warner kids with more detailed information this time; the looks on their faces last time still stuck with him. A slight rush of anger made him clench his teeth.

What kind of heartless bastard would do this to a family for money?

He sighed and leaned back in his chair as he took another sip of coffee. The warm liquid sliding down his throat was a pleasant sensation. He then looked down at his watch.

Ugh, 4:00 A.M.

With a groan, he pulled himself out of his chair and locked up his office for the night. He knew that not sleeping wasn't going to help with anything.


The eldest Warner jolted awake, barely stopping himself from yelling his brother's name out loud. Taking deep, shaking breaths to try and calm down, he glanced over at the other beds. Dot was still asleep, though how well he couldn't say. Sleep wasn't their friend these days. Knowing he wasn't likely to doze off again anytime soon, Yakko slid out of bed and trudged out into the hall.

He glanced over at a clock that was mounted on the wall just outside their bedroom. He sighed when he saw it was currently 5:30. He was glad to know that he managed to at least sleep through most of the night.

His relief was replaced with fear as he heard a quiet and distant clicking sound. He held his breath, trying to discover the location of the robotic sound.

Yakko slowly and quietly tip-toed into the kitchen, keeping his ears up high in an attempt to pin-point the exact location of the sound. A faint whirring sound seemed to follow his movements, so he listened carefully, noting when it seemed to grow fainter and when it got stronger. Finally, he found himself by the fridge. When he waved a hand, the whirring came again and his eyes moved upward, following the sound. Grabbing a chair, he pulled it over to the fridge and climbed up on it so he could see the top.

He ruffled through some miscellaneous junk, his groggy eyes trying to focus on where the sound came from. He continued to search through the junk, finding nothing of any particular interest.

"AHHHH!" Yakko screamed as something grabbed his foot. He lost his balance and toppled the chair over, landing directly on his back.

"Yakko?! Are you okay?!" Dot asked, looking down at him with wide eyes.

Yakko sighed. "Thank God it's you..." He pulled her into a tight hug. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

Dot returned the hug. "Sorry, but you were making a lot of noise out here."

Yakko decided that it would be best to not tell her about the noise, he didn't want to scare her more than she already was.

"Come on, let's get you back to bed. After all, what would you do without your cutie sleep?" Yakko asked playfully.

Dot smiled. "You're right, what would I do? I'd be miserable!"

Yakko smiled and walked her back into her room. He tucked her in and gave her a loving kiss on her forehead.

"Love ya, Dot." Yakko cooed as he quietly closed the door. She did not respond.

Yakko sighed and walked back to the fridge. He stood on his toes with intense concentration, try to hear the sound again.

Nothing.

Yakko frowned and made his way to the couch. Letting out a heavy sigh, he sank down onto it and rubbed his eyes. He was sure now that he wasn't imagining that weird sound, but what was it? And why had he only noticed it in the past few days?

Probably 'cause it's so quiet around here now.

That sobering thought made his shoulders slump. He and his siblings had never been apart this long, and certainly not without knowing where each other was. The eldest Warner felt his eyes sting as he closed them tightly.

Wakko... Where are you?


The past night had brought more nightmares, even worse than the ones the night before. Most of the time Wakko was afraid to even close his eyes, knowing that sleep would only bring more terror, and exhaustion was already wearing him down. Letting out a weary sigh, he rested his head on the table. If things went on like this, he wasn't sure how long he could stand it. Even more important, how could he find a way out of here when he could barely think?

"Don't let 'em think you're falling asleep." Alex sounded as tired as Wakko felt. "You'll get in trouble."

The middle Warner sighed and lifted his head, rubbing his heavy eyes and glancing at Jarod to make sure he wasn't nodding off.

"What will they do if they catch us sleeping?" Wakko tiredly asked.

"They beat the shit out of you with a bat. A few kids fell asleep before you got in here, it wasn't pretty."

Wakko cringed.

"I don't get it…" he mumbled. "What're they doin' to us?"

"Hell if I know." Alex grumbled. "Probably just screwing with our minds so that we don't try to escape or some shit."

Wakko rubbed his eyes and look around. Every kid in the room was completely out of it. Dark circles and droopy eyelids made them look almost like zombies.

"This is so fucked up." Alex said angrily. "These nightmares don't even feel like normal ones. Usually, when I have a bad dream, I can get back to sleep just fine. Not this time though, these dreams are beyond realistic. It feels unnatural."

"What are you saying?" Wakko asked.

"I'm saying that they're fucking with our heads. They WANT us to be sleep deprived, only problem is I have no idea why." Alex slouched back down in his chair.

Wakko rubbed his dreary eyes. "But why would they want us to lose sleep? What would that give them?"

"I told you, I don't know." Alex laid his head on the table. "I feel so useless. I'm just sitting by and watching as everyone turns into a fucking zombie."

Wakko sighed and rubbed his eyes. He knew exactly what Alex meant; in the past few days, just thinking was becoming a struggle. He felt so helpless, so useless, and he hated it. A tug on his sleeve made him look down at Jarod, who was looking up at him with damp eyes.

"We're gonna turn to zombies?"

Wakko tried not to smirk and shook his head.

"Nah, that's just a way of saying you're really tired."

Alex smirked as he leaned in close to Wakko.

"Hey, do you think maybe there is a way we could avoid getting our injections?" Alex whispered.

Wakko's ears perked up slightly. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"Well... we could try hiding. Maybe we could lie and say we already got our injection."

"But what will they do to us if we get caught?" Wakko asked with a scared look.

"I... I don't know, but it's a chance that I'm willing to take if it means that I might get a decent nights sleep."

"But what if they kill you?! What if they do something much worse?!" Wakko asked nervously.

"Look, you don't have to join me..." Alex quietly whispered.

"I'm trying to save you from something horrible! We have no idea what these people are capable of!" Wakko's voice raised, but was soon silenced as Alex shoved his hand on Wakko's mouth.

"You need to be quiet. I already have a plan..." Alex explained.

"And that is?"

"Well... uhh... the line of kids that already got their injection is right next to the line of kids waiting for theirs. Once I get close enough, I'll just slip into the other line and get lost in the crowd. It'll be easy."

Wakko sighed. "Look, Alex, I know a few things about tricking and I don't think it'll be that easy to fool these people. But if you wanna risk trying it, I guess I can't stop you."

Alex sighed and glared at Wakko. "Fine, I will."

Wakko felt a little bad, but his mind was set. He couldn't explain why… normally he'd be perfectly willing to jump into a situation like this, but everything in his gut was telling him not to take the risk. He wanted to do something to stop Alex, but he knew the brown bunny wouldn't listen to him.

After a few minutes, the guards began rounding everyone up into line.

While everyone moved into line, Wakko forced himself not to look at Alex so it wouldn't draw attention. He hoped he was wrong, maybe there was a chance it could work. As soon as all the guards' heads were turned, Alex started to slip out into the other line.

Wakko's heart nearly stopped as Alex appeared to have made it. He shuffled himself in line with the rest of the kids, and had his head down low as to make sure not to capture anyones attention.

Wakko smiled, but that smile was soon replaced with disappointment as a guard snatched his hand and injected the same fluid as before.

Wakko sighed, maybe he would try and get out of the injection tomorrow.

Once Jarod received his injection, they moved to the other line. Wakko bit back a groan as Alex came up with a small but satisfied grin.

"Told ya," he whispered.

Wakko glared at him, but before he could reply Jaron started sniffling. Wakko sighed and gave his shoulder a gentle pat.

"So, you might get a good nights sleep, what is that gonna do?" Wakko asked.

Alex sighed. "It might not do anything, but dammit if it won't be good." Alex responded.

The kids were then quickly slip up and sent back to there rooms. Wakko sighed; taking note on the fact that everyone was sent to bed earlier than usual this time.