The house key weighed heavy in his hand. He still didn't feel comfortable living with the Tomagos. He really appreciated them opening their home to him but it had never felt earned. Every day he felt like a screwup who would end up on the streets as soon as everyone turned their backs on him.

When he faced the weight of the keys and headed inside he had a lot of options. There was downstairs, the basement, his first choice. There was also the gentle call of the unfinished nursery, he could pick up a paintbrush and set to work or rock in the rocking chair. Luca's room was always open, whether or not Luca was there. However, Scout landed on the couch, surveying the house from his back. It was split level, with an upstairs above the open kitchen/dining room and a dramatic lack of an upstairs if you were in the living room just a few feet away. He knew for a fact that if you climbed out a window in Luca's room you could sit on the roof and chill for a while, but there were benefits to hanging in the living room.

Though he'd been hesitant to go to Luca's audition because Khary was there, he knew at some point he had to talk to the man. It wasn't really for apologies and forgiveness, more than anything Scout wanted answers. Khary knew things about Andrew that Scout would never be privy to if he didn't buck up and face the monster. He knew that Khary wasn't a terrible person but he was still a person who had done terrible things. Scout was afraid of him, was jealous of him, was morbidly curious about him. Khary Ginger occupied too much of Scout's mind and so Scout wanted to address it once and for all and be free.

Unless it wasn't freeing, unless something terrible happened because of it. Unless he was playing with fire and about to get burned, unless, unless, unless… His brother had created a monster, and he had the genius to create more. So, if there were other monsters, then Scout had to do something about it. If there were other monsters then he would track them down and make sure that they couldn't hurt anyone else the way that Andrew and Khary had hurt them. It felt like the only way that he could pay for the sins and the scandals of his family.

It really scared him. Before Luca had moved to San Fransokyo, Scout hadn't ever admitted his fears. That didn't stop spiders from making him feel like a character in Lord of the Rings who didn't make it, but it did make him seem like the kind of guy who could face down everything. A lot of people still thought of him that way, the other people on the football team and some of Luca's lackeys. But there were people who were starting to get to know him. People who saw past his fearless seeming exterior to an insecure artist who just wanted to be a good enough person. He didn't expect all of them to get it, though he knew some of them had families as bad or worse than his. He just appreciated that some people saw him as human. Humans could be vulnerable, could be sensitive, could be afraid of spiders. Could be afraid of their brother's twisted creations.

He still couldn't stop thinking of Andrew as his brother. He couldn't stop seeing Matilda and Joseph as his parents even though they hadn't been in his life for years now. Scout simply couldn't divorce the idea of his family from the reality of his situation. It seemed they took up every corner of his mind trying to get him to comply, trying to disfigure him into the prison bird he expected himself to become. He might be treated like a Tomago, but his place was behind bars like a Burks.

He studied the ceiling and kept waiting for the walls to accuse him. His dreams at night always felt like snapshots of reality, starting in the cozy basement, ending in a cold cell. His mind was in turmoil, intrusive thoughts like spiders laying eggs in his brain. He found himself panicking, his chest tight and his breathing sporadic. This was far from his first panic attack and he sat up and rode it out, praying that Luca didn't walk in on this. There were some vulnerabilities that he did not want to share.

Fortunately, his secret was safe a little longer. By the time he heard the jingling of keys he had managed to get his bearings. He stood, chest aching, and met them at the door. Within a minute, he had Khary outside for questioning.

"Scout, I'm sorry…" Khary started.

"I know you are. And, as much as I want to hear this apology, I have something serious to ask you."

"Yeah?" Khary shifted from foot to foot.

"Did he have any more experiments?"

Khary let out a sigh, "Scout-"

"Don't try to protect me from the truth about my brother. I know he's not a good person. I need to know the full scope of what he's done."

"There were others," Khary said, looking ashamed, "but I don't know who they were or where they are now. It's over, Scout. You don't have to worry about this." Scout nodded, but that was a lie. It was his to worry about. It was his responsibility to make sure that Andrew and his monsters didn't hurt anyone else.