Charlie stepped into the practice room, looking around for a moment. She could have sworn she heard something.

"Hello?" she called, wandering around the room. The lights were turned off, her reflection staring at her from the mirrors. She looked around for a bit, then shrugged to herself. She was probably just imagining things.

She turned around to leave, but she was stopped by the sound of a soft sniffle. It was faint, hard to hear, but it made her stop. She strained her ears, listening for another sniffle.

There it was. She followed the sound, eventually coming across a loose mirror. She pulled it carefully to the side and gasped.

Whoever was behind the mirror pressed themself against the wall, covering their face. Charlie stared for a moment.

I know you… she thought. Where have I-?

Her eyes widened in shock, a small rush of excitement flowing through her.

"Elizabeth?" she asked. The girl behind the mirror sniffled again and looked up, wiping her eyes.

"Ch-Charlie?" she asked. Charlie beamed at her, shooting forward and wrapping her in a hug.

"Oh my gosh, Liz!" she laughed. "It really IS you!"

Elizabeth froze in shock for a moment before wrapping her arms around Charlie, too. She breathed out a small laugh.

"I can't believe it," she whispered. "Evan, Michael… and now you!"

Charlie pulled back, still grinning widely at her.

"You've run into Ev and Mike?" she asked. Elizabeth nodded, but her features quickly fell. Charlie felt herself frown. "Liz? Is everything alright?"

Elizabeth shook her head, and Charlie moved so she was sitting beside her old friend. She carefully wrapped an arm around her shoulders, briefly noting how much smaller Elizabeth seemed compared to the last time she'd seen her.

"It's alright," she said softly. "You can tell me."

Elizabeth sniffled again.

"I… I did something… horrible…" she muttered. Charlie pulled her in closer.


Michael and Evan continued their search in silence. Evan noticed his brother casting an occasional glance his way, but he ignored them.

He didn't know how to feel right now… he'd figured that what Elizabeth had done to Michael was horrible, but… deliberately leading their brother to his death? That… that was worse than Michael had done!

"...Ev?"

Evan stopped walking, turning around to look at his brother. Michael had a resigned look on his face, as if he'd already worked out how this conversation was going to go.

"I… I just wanted to clarify…" he said. He took a deep breath and slowly released it. "I don't blame Elizabeth for my death."

"I figured you wouldn't," Evan said. "I mean, this is YOU we're talking about."

Michael had a ghost of a smile on his lips.

"No, but… what I mean is… Elizabeth is a complicated case," he said. "You know how she was always so obsessed with being perfect for William?"

Evan rolled his eyes. Duh, of course he remembered. He was a crybaby back then, but he was also able to feel annoyed at Elizabeth for always trying to charm their father.

"Yeah, I know," he said. Michael nodded.

"Well, when she was… you know," Michael said. Evan nodded. "Her desire to please him mixed with Circus Baby's programming and kind of pushed our sister to the side…"

Evan frowned slightly. Michael started playing with his fingers.

"She was trapped underground for years, Ev," he continued. "And Baby's programming and her own desires… they changed her. She lost herself… but now, she's just Elizabeth again, and I can't blame my sister for something that she wasn't responsible for."

Evan just stared at him. Michael took a deep breath.

"Look, I know I'm- "

"I understand," Evan interrupted him. Michael frowned in confusion.

"...you actually did?" he asked. "It sounded like nonsense to me…"

Evan smiled softly at that.

"Well, no," he said. "I didn't understand what you were trying to say. But… I understand that you aren't upset with Elizabeth. That's good enough for me."

Michael smiled at him. Evan gestured for them to keep searching and Michael nodded, trailing behind him. They wandered for a bit, eventually stopping when Michael received a message on his tablet. He pulled it out and took a look at it, grinning at Evan.

"I think Charlie found her," he said. Evan nodded, and they raced back to Michael's observation room.


Elizabeth and Charlie looked up in shock when the door to the room was suddenly thrown open. Michael's eyes scanned the room, eventually resting on Elizabeth, who looked away in shame. Charlie reached down and took her hand, squeezing it gently.

Michael rushed over and took Elizabeth's shoulders, making the girl look into his eyes. He smiled warmly at her, wrapping his arms around her. Charlie stood up and moved to stand beside Evan. Both of them were grinning at Michael and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth looked shocked for a moment, then tears entered her eyes and she hugged him back, her arms tight and her body shaking.

"I'm… I'm so s-sorry…"

He squeezed her tighter.

"It's alright," he said softly. "It's alright..."


Michael and Elizabeth were walking around the Hellspace, trying to spend some time together. Honestly, after everything that had happened, it felt weird. Michael kept wringing his hands together, messing with his fingers, and looking around at where they were walking. After a while, he heard Elizabeth sigh and turned to her in curiosity.

"I understand if you don't want to spend time with me," she said morosely. Michael could hear her trying to keep her voice even, but he could tell that she didn't want to be saying what she was saying. He thought about how he had been avoiding Evan when they first got there.

"You've made it clear that you don't wanna spend any time with me."

Those words… the way Evan had said it, the look on his face when he said it… it still bothered him. He studied his sister.

Avoiding Evan had been a bad move, whether he meant to hurt his brother or not. Admittedly, he didn't want to be so close to Elizabeth… something about her still frightened him, if only a little bit. Deep down, he knew that his sister hadn't been completely… Elizabeth… when he was led to the scooper.

He bit his lip. No, he wanted to be with her again… he really did. He thought about how he assumed Evan didn't want to spend time with him. He thought about how Evan must have felt, wanting to be with him but not being able to because Michael was a coward and couldn't bring himself to face his brother…

You weren't expecting Ev to forgive you, but he did.

You told him that you aren't upset with Elizabeth and that you don't blame her.

If Evan can forgive you, then you can forgive her.

He stopped walking, turning to face Elizabeth completely. Elizabeth stopped, too, giving him a slightly worried look. He knelt down in front of her, taking a deep breath.

"...Liz?" he started. He saw her swallow, saw the worry in her eyes. He could practically hear her thinking this is it. This is where he says he hates me.

He slowly released his breath.

"I'll tell you the truth," he said carefully. "I'm still a little… concerned about Circus Baby… but I really do want to be with you again. I really want to try this."

She bit her lip and nodded, as if saying something might make him change his mind. Michael stood back up and they continued walking. It wasn't much, but… well, at least it was something.