A/N: no long authors note today, keyboard is too scuffed.

Thank you once again to Kitkatkatester for the review last chapter :)

Enjoy!

"Where'd he even go? Can't find him anywhere 'round this stupid house!" Scott complained as he flopped onto one of the couches in the living room. "Who does he think he is, ditching us like that?"

Vito had found a seat in a chair, more worried as to where exactly Mike had gone. They'd looked in every viable spot they had access to. "Can't blame 'im for runnin'," he said quietly, "readin' that."

"Tch, it's not like it wasn't bound to happen eventually...you heard what Dad's planning," Scott pointed out in a lower voice. "Besides, we never even met the guy so why should I feel bad that he's dead?"

'Cause he ain't really dead, Vito replied in his head.

"Seriously, Vito, you shouldn't feel so much for someone like that. Multiple Mike will be out of our lives real soon and things can go back to normal!"

"And what was normal, yo?" Vito asked suddenly. "Since when we ever been normal?"

Scott sighed dramatically. "Have you been thinking again? I told you that's bad for your health," he chided.

"Would you feel that way if it was me?" Vito had to ask.

"Of course not!" Scott replied instantly. "I wouldn't be happy about that! You're my brother, my best friend. I'd be devastated if you weren't around." Did he mean this? It was so hard to tell if he did, he had a way of speaking that made him sound slippery.

"Hm...well there ya go," Vito said, standing up. "That's prolly how 'e felt readin' that sign and livin' for whatever years it's been without his bro." It's how he'd felt when his mother died, and he still felt that way, but he'd been forced to shove that aside for so long he could barely muster the emotions back right now.

"Where are you going?" Scott asked, confused.

"Gonna go lie down for a bit, yo," Vito replied, starting to walk towards the stairs.

Scott frowned. "Well if you somehow see Mike tell him he's got a beat down coming his way," he requested.

"...sure, bro," Vito said half heartedly as he ascended the stairs.

He could've sworn he heard shaky breathing coming from the forbidden room next to their bedroom.

Duncan's focus for work hadn't been amazing the past week, and having a royal messenger pass his saddle off to him and B before running off on his horse bareback really didn't help matters. The whole Mike-Mal-whatever situation was starting to take over his brain when he should've been thinking about other things, but he couldn't help it.

He was in the final stages of helping B tidy up the last few straps of the broken saddle when Manitoba burst in through the door. "You alright there, dude?" he asked, pulling away his hammer from the side of the seat. B just kept working.

"He saw the sign," was all that Mani said.

"Oh...oh no, that's not good at all," Duncan replied, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "I thought we'd get to him before that happened-"

"Well we didn't and he's run off somewhere and who even knows when he'll come 'round again," Mani said with a heavy sigh. "I couldn't even catch 'im."

"What if we just...went to his house and told him?" Duncan proposed.

Mani gave him a look. "That ain't a good idea, mate...but I donno what else we could do. You gettin' off soon?" he asked, glancing at B who just responded with a short wave.

"Yeah, just need to finish fixing this saddle…this royal messenger guy dropped it off," Duncan explained.

"Huh, 'similar guy dropped 'is horse at the stables," Mani replied.

"Wonder who he was delivering to."

"I'm sure it's not somethin' we gotta worry 'bout."

Noah had remained in his office and when he did emerge found Scott sulking on the couch and no Mike or Vito to be seen. "I take it that things didn't go very well in town," he guessed.

Scott huffed, crossing his arms. "Stupid servant bailed on us," he mumbled in frustration. "Can't even find him in the house. So what if his brother died, my plan was more important than that."

Noah stopped, having hoped to break that news himself. "How...unfortunate," he said disingenuously. "I suppose I ought to have the talk with him a bit sooner than I thought. When he decides to show himself, of course."

There was a different knock on the door than the one from earlier that day. "This place is quite the destination today, apparently…" Noah remarked with sarcasm as he checked the window to see who it was; immediately he frowned and took a step back.

"Who is it?" Scott asked, not being able to see and noticing his dad's reaction.

"Nobody, Scott, they're probably just here to sell something… they'll go away if we ignore them," Noah lied, walking away from the door.

The knocking persisted.

Noah growled under his breath and finally opened the door. "Whatever you're here for you're not going to find it," he said out the gate. He wrinkled his nose, smelling a horsey scent he did not like. Clearly he wasn't in the best of moods already.

Duncan and Manitoba both frowned at him from the other side of the threshold. "That just makes you sound more suspicious, dingo," Manitoba pointed out, his hand on his hip.

"I couldn't care less about your opinion," Noah retorted. "Not after you nearly broke down my door."

"I'd apologize but I wouldn't mean it," Mani admitted.

"Alright, alright," Duncan interrupted, the temptation to punch Noah in the face-or maybe let Mani at him-very prevalent, "Look, we just wanted to visit our friend to see how he's doing. Is Mike here?" he asked, trying very hard not to glare at Noah since that would make him less likely to turn them away.

"No, actually, he's nowhere to be found, and I wouldn't tell you even if I knew," Noah replied with brutal honesty. "So kindly get off my property before things need to get unfortunate."

"Hey Dad, it cool if I teach the servant a lesson when he shows his stupid face again?" Scott could be heard asking.

Noah's hand on the doorknob tightened.

Both Manitoba and Duncan's facial expressions shifted.

"If you'll excuse me I need to have a little chat with my son…" Noah broke the silence before quickly shutting the door in their faces.

The two looked at each other. They could hear a muffled "yes" inside. "That went as good as I reckoned it would. Ya think we oughta get the ladder again?" Mani asked Duncan.

"No, we need a heavy hitter…we might have to bring him here ourselves," Duncan replied with a sigh. "Not today, though."

"You think he'd agree to that?"

"We might not have a choice anymore…he's been a secret far too long already."

Y'all know the drill.

See ya next time :)