Hello, and welcome to the last chapter of Caterpillar. The note is at the end, and I don't think there are any warnings for this chapter, so... stay safe, please review, and enjoy the finale!

...

Logan attended family movie night for Thomas's birthday on the one condition that he didn't have to wear a onesie. He didn't understand why birthdays were such a big deal; technically, Thomas would only be one day older. However, it seemed to mean a lot to the others, Patton in particular, and he didn't have anything better to do. Trying to get out of it would've been more trouble than it was worth.

He sat on the armchair near the couch with a spiral notebook open on his lap and a pencil behind each ear; one could never be too prepared to take notes on inconsistencies or flawed "movie physics." On the couch, Virgil was pressed between the arm and Patton, who had an arm wrapped around him and Aeneas, who was fanning out four DVD cases of Disney movies for Janus to pick from. Janus ignored his offerings and snapped The Tale of Despereaux into existence instead. "Any objections?"

Aeneas looked from Janus to the movies he'd been holding. "That—but—what?"

"Wonderful, let's go." Janus ducked away from the couch to put the movie on and went back to burrow in one of the many fuzzy blankets Patton had collected for the evening. Despite his grumbling ("Is that even a Disney movie?"), Aeneas was quickly absorbed in the movie, reacting so outwardly that if Logan didn't know him, he would've thought he was faking all that emotion. Patton's and Virgil's eyes were glued to the screen as they shared a bowl of popcorn. Logan made a note in his spiral to research why Despereaux might've been born with such large ears later.

Aeneas picked the next movie (Disney, of course), but Logan found himself looking through his past notes more than watching. The model had been working perfectly, but that didn't mean it wouldn't break at any moment. He'd been checking his work for any flaw for over a week, but he couldn't stop. This was more useful, more practical than the movie, anyway.

They went on like that for hours. Patton chose his movie, then Virgil. They were all yawning by the time it was Logan's turn.

"Pick a movie, Lo," Patton said, lifting his bleary eyes towards the armchair.

Logan frowned at his watch. "It's ten thirty at night, Patton. Shouldn't we all be getting to bed?"

"But it's spring break!" Aeneas protested. "We don't need sleep!"

"Oh no you did not." Aeneas visibly shriveled, disappearing under the blanket as he twisted his head around to address the newcomer.

"Hi, Sleep."

"'Hi'? Just, 'hi'?!" Logan resisted the urge to cover his ears, knowing it would only serve to further agitate the already volatile Remy. "'Oh, yeah, Sleep, who needs Sleep? Oh, Sleep's here, better act nice!' Don't think you can fool me for a second, no ma'am."

"Look, I'm sorry, but as Creativity, you really can't expect me to—"

"No buts, babe. Either I win this one or you're on your own for the next month." He jabbed his Starbucks cup—where did he get that, anyway? and why didn't it ever seem to run out?—at Aeneas as if it made his point irrefutable.

Aeneas squinted at Remy. Logan could practically see him thinking, straining to decide quickly enough whether or not it would be worth it to lose a month's worth of sleep just to stay up all night. He made almost the exact same face while deciding if he wanted to fight the dragon witch on any given day. Eventually, he cracked a toothy smile. "One more movie?"

Remy lowered his sunglasses down to the tip of his nose and gave Aeneas a look that Logan wished he could master. It was the kind of look that deserved its own capital L and told Aeneas that he had exactly two options.

Creativity hung his head. "No more movie night," he glumly agreed.

"But what if Thomas dies in his sleep?"

Remy turned his Look on Virgil before pushing his sunglasses back up and raising an eyebrow at the whole group. "No buts. Now or never, girls. Come on, me time."

Pouting, Aeneas dragged himself off of the couch and towards his room. Janus popped out to who-knows-where, as did Virgil, although Virgil's who-knows-where was most likely on top of a cabinet in the kitchen. Remy was herding tired, sulky Creativity down the hallway, so Logan turned to Patton, who was still yawning on the couch. "Patton, you should go to bed, too."

"'M too tired to go to bed," Patton murmured, curling against the back of the couch.

So Logan snapped his spiral into his room and scooped Patton up off of the couch and took him to his room. He only had to knock on the baby blue door for it to swing open, the welcome mat cheering softly as he entered. He set Patton in bed and pulled the covers over him, taking his glasses off last and placing them on the nightstand.

"G'night, Lo," Patton yawned, reaching for the stuffed dog just a bit too far away from him, blinking rapidly to try to clear his blurry dark vision.

Logan moved the dog closer so Patton could pull it into a hug. "Goodnight, Patton."

He walked back to his room. The hallway was deserted. His footsteps felt too loud, as did the click of his door opening and closing. He slowly flicked on the light; he had to file away the spiral notebook and sharpen the pencil he'd broken during a film before going to bed himself.

Once the pencil was sharp and the notebook was tucked into a perfect slot on the bookshelf, Logan sat at the edge of his bed. Before he could lie down, he noticed something out of place on his nightstand.

It was a tiny caterpillar.

It wasn't moving.

After a moment of watching it, Logan nudged it. It tipped over and fell on its side.

So it was dead. That was that. Logan waved his hand to send it away.

Nothing happened.

Apparently, the Lockbox caterpillars couldn't be removed.

Logan picked up the little caterpillar with the tips of his two fingers, cautiously bringing it closer to examine. The secret was dead, why wouldn't it go away? What would the others think if they saw?

Logan snapped his fingers. The caterpillar stayed.

It had been a foolish attempt anyway. He knew it wouldn't work. He knew… and yet.

He set the caterpillar down in the nightstand, allowing his fists to clench for just a moment. This was ridiculous. This entire situation could've been avoided if only he'd—no. He refused to think about it.

What now?

He didn't want the others to see, but they came into his room sometimes. Asking Janus to hide it again would only create more risk; he didn't much want to talk to the other side about it anyway. He knew the look he'd get for that, the silent warning that it would do more harm than good in the end, the warning they both would ignore for the sake of their functions. It was all about his function as Logic. Logic didn't need secrets. Logic wasn't supposed to care, or get insecure or drive himself mad over something so small and insignificant.

He would have to hide it himself. See, this was what he could do. The logical next step. And the logical hiding place.

Logan summoned Pluto down from its perfect orbit, altering its form in his mind so it was two halves he could take it apart. He opened it up and set the caterpillar inside, making sure it was balanced just right before sending Pluto back up.

He'd been wrong all that time ago, when he'd sat on the bare floor in Janus's room and whispered of irrational feelings. He could do his job. He had done it. He'd been doing it, and he'd keep doing it for forever.

He'd been foolish to be afraid to start school, afraid he wouldn't be good enough. To be so afraid as to ask for help hiding it. Logic didn't need help.

The truth was, school was the only thing he was good at. He wasn't meant to need help or friends or movie night. He wasn't meant for stolen snacks and bold adventures and lava floors, and certainly not foolish fears.

He would do his job. He wouldn't complain or get distracted. He would find only what he needed, and he'd find it himself. He would be logical, only logical, and that would be enough.

No one needed to know about the caterpillar lost in orbit.

...

And that's the end! Now with 100% more Remy. I couldn't resist.

In case it wasn't clear: the caterpillar was that Logan was afraid he wouldn't be good enough to help Thomas get through school, and it died because Logan came to believe that all he was good enough for was school.

I need to finish the party fic (it's not abandoned, I'm just busy), and I have some Logince oneshots planned, but after that I might do something more with Aeneas, in case anyone is interested.

With that, my friends, have a wonderful day!