Carreract: Hello anyone reading this. It's Carrera, the mind behind "Train to Freedom". I hope you are enjoying this series that MadnessJones and I are making. A very special thanks to her for working with me to get this story written down into a promising series.

MadnessJones: Thank you too Carreract for working with me. Hopefully together we can make this Toontown story a special one for our readers. Also to anyone reading this fic, thank you for tuning in! I hope you'll keep reading and maybe even review if you feel like it :)

Chapter 3

Terms and Services

As Kevin looked down at the toon, his instincts were slow to kick in. Seeing her cradling into a ball not even aware of him would give him the easiest victory for the Lawbots in a long while, and with it a handy cogbuck bonus. Finally after a long silence, besides the little mouse's stressed sobs, he pulled out his pet mechanical birds to peck at her head, but something about this situation told him it was wrong. He was unsure for a moment, his birds eager to be sent her way, but he remembered why all at once. She had not initiated the fight between them. He would be the aggressor, and that was no good for someone of his spotless record. After a moment of internal debate, he decided he would rather be destroyed than to be sued for attacking first.

So he put his birds back in his pocket, much to their disappointment, and tapped the little mouse on the shoulder. With as much of a perfect robotic tone as he could get out of his voice box he said firmly to her, "I'm bringing down the law on you!"

Wendy nearly jumped out of her fur upon hearing his voice and whipped around to see the vastly taller Legal Eagle peering down at her.

Oh no! This was it, she was doomed. He could easily depress her in a single hit considering his size, she reasoned. In her panic she fell on her back and pushed backwards to scoot away from him as fast as she could until she bumped her head against the wall; now completely trapped by the gargantuan Cog.

Tears fell from her eyes like a faucet after being confronted with her own demise, and she squeezed them shut; praying that being erased wouldn't be painful to go through.

Kevin stared down at the tiny mouse in bewilderment. He had never seen a Toon react this way. He was only one Cog. He no longer had the element of surprise. She could easily handle him now that his advantage was gone. Only high ranking Toons ever came here, so surely she had gone through many Cog battles before this one, right?

However, with no change in the situation at all between the two of them Kevin chirped in frustration; a bit perplexed on what in the name of the Chairman was he supposed to do about this. She wasn't fighting him at all, not even threatening or being a nuisance to him.

"What kind of gag is this, Toon? Surely this has to be some kind of distraction, right?" Kevin carefully scanned his room to see if any other Toons were about to spring some kind of trap.

Finding nothing, he looked over at the door to see that it was still closed. No Toon could go through solid objects, right? That meant there were likely no Toons ready to ambush him from there.

Realizing that throughout his scan that the mouse had not even so much as moved from her last position, he tried again.

"Toon, why are you acting so...depressed? I have not even attacked yet."

The frightened Toon slowly lifted her head towards him, confused as to why he was still just standing there instead of depressing her on the spot. Almost breathlessly she squeaked out, her voice barely audible to the massive Cog, "Wh-what are you waiting for?"

Had Kevin not been a robot eagle, he probably would not be capable of making out what she had just said, but he was programmed with a much greater hearing sensitivity with receiver volume adjuster so he could still travel to loud places without it being unbearable. One of Kevin's metallic eyebrows quirked up higher than the other, as if he was caught off guard.

Indeed he was, almost stunned that a Toon had practically just asked when he was gonna attack them first. This wouldn't do at all. Toons always struck first, that was the rules after all. With a bit of grumbling he asks her another question.

"What kind of question is that, Toon? Toons always strike first. You must strike me to begin our little fight."

Hearing this declaration startled little Wendy, and she pressed harder against the wall.

"I don't want to fight!" Wendy shouted desperately, "Don't depress me! Please, I'm begging you, just let me go! I can't go sad! I don't want to be erased!"

"Erased? That is ridiculous. Do you really think I would want to be scrapped?" The metallic eagle harrumphed as he crossed his arms; clearly offended by the accusation.

"You...D-don't want to erase me?" Wendy asked as tears streamed down her face, "But.. I thought that's what you Cogs did..."

Right as Kevin was about to answer, it finally hit him.

"Just how old are you, Toon?"

"I'm 12..." She barely squeaked out, tears still falling down.

This flat-out shocked the Legal Eagle. This Toon was just a kid! Almost flabbergasted as he shook his head and walked to the side slowly, he wasn't quite sure what to do with this new information.

"Good Chairman...what in Cogtown are these Toons telling their offspring?" He muttered before turning toward her again, "What are you even doing here? This is a place for adults."

"I got lost..." Wendy muttered out; embarrassed.

The Legal Eagle stared down at her. "Well...in simple terms, it's time for you to get lost again: back home. You are legally too small and too young for me to fight."

Wendy looked back up at him; shocked by his decision. Weren't Cogs meant to be merciless depressing machines? Why did he want her to just go home? On the other hand, she really wanted to escape whatever place this was. What if a different cog found her? Then again she did have another problem, which she eventually worked up the courage to tell him.

"I...can't...I don't know how to get home," Wendy confessed, "I got lost, don't you remember? I don't know what path I took...I was just trying to escape this wicked looking Cog chasing after me."

"Well now, that's hardly my problem. Good day now, safe travels," Kevin practically ushered her away.

With this, Kevin marched back to his desk and sat down, sighing as he bent his knees. However, Wendy did not move within the 10 seconds he expected, which began to annoy him. He had a case to deal with and Chairman knows how impatient Micromanagers can be!

"What are you waiting for? Get out of my office, if you please," Kevin ordered as he placed his arms on his desk and intwined his fingers to give a very businesslike stance.

The little mouse slowly got to her feet, but instead of leaving she walked over to his desk and hopped onto the chair facing him that was meant for his clients when they were discussing court dates or fines and their terms. Now this blasted Toon was getting in it with no permission whatsoever!

"That chair is for clients only. Get off of it. You're pushing my patience," Kevin ground out, raising his voice ever so slightly to encourage the notion that he was giving her legal notice that he would have to retaliate without outright saying it.

However, Wendy had suddenly set her mind to staying longer. Curiosity now outweighed her fear. This sudden shift clicked in her since the Legal Eagle had not simply removed her from existence, but rather wanted nothing more than for her to walk out the door. She just had to know why...not to mention she still needed a way to get home.

"Well...maybe I am your client now then...since I am stuck here with no safe way to get home," Wendy suggested, "It's very cold out there, Mr. Eagle. What if I freeze? Surely...that would be your fault, right?"

Kevin raised one of his eyebrows again and leaned over his desk closer to her to appear more intimidating.

"Preposterous! I have no responsibility for keeping tabs on a trespasser. You got yourself into this, and you can get yourself out," Kevin replied haughtily.

"You do too!" Wendy protested defiantly, "It was one of your kind that chased me into this building. If you are all the same group or something, then you share the fact that someone like you pushed me into this situation, and now you're just trying to push me out onto the street again."

Kevin had to admit, this Toon child was rather impressive in her defense case. Better than any adult Toon he had tried against so many times. Especially that bear who was always getting sued, and naturally the Toons' only way to save him was to cause crate loads of Contempt of Courts and to cause a total mistrial by stunning legitimate lawyers; overthrowing an unbiased jury and ignoring all forms of court etiquette. At least this little Toon was trying to argue instead of mess everything up.

After thinking over his options for at least a minute, he decided to heed her argument.

"Fine, you may stay, but you must stay right there, exactly in that chair, and not move an inch. I cannot allow you to mess anything up. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Wendy whispered, but inside she was relieved she would be led home soon enough. Being yelled at by her mother was no fun at all, but it certainly beat freezing into a block of ice like Frank...

Oh, Frank! How she hoped he was okay. No doubt he was probably panicking over her. Surely it had been at least an hour now since they were separated.

At first she did obey the Cog's orders, but alas, she still was a Toon and much like any other Toon, she was getting very bored of just sitting there doing nothing. After a mere 5 minutes there was still nothing of interest besides the Legal Eagle's hand guiding his pen across the papers on his desk making various words in a pretty cursive writing. She always wanted to learn to write in cursive, but there wasn't anyone who could teach her or if they could, they wouldn't. In her mind, this was her chance to learn, or at the very least do something.

With as much courage as she could muster, she slowly leaned forward. The Cog did not give any reaction to the movement, so she tried to lean closer to the papers. They were almost hypnotizing, how perfectly written they were. If only she could just get closer...

"I said no moving from that chair," Said the Legal Eagle with a bit of an edge in his voice.

Wendy nearly jumped out of that very chair at the sound of his voice, but after a minute she regained some of her composer and squeaked out a question.

"What are you writing, sir?"

His hand stopped for a moment; just long enough to respond.

"Nothing Toon-related, so sit there and be quiet. This is important work. Especially when it's just one Cog doing it..." he muttered the last part; clearly not interested in talking to her.

"What do you mean? It's a two Cog project?" Wendy asked timidly.

Kevin sighed frustratedly. Clearly this Toon was not going to obey his orders exactly. He had no intention of depressing a child Toon, but he was not going to say that part to ensure she didn't try to mess up his office, and more importantly, his desk. His desk had served him for many years and he did not need it covered in cakes and liquids and whatever else Toons liked to use to destroy his fellow Cogs. A mild debate in his mind took place to determine whether he should try to entertain her a little bit since it seemed like an innocent question or whether to keep her quiet. He decided to give it a chance and see if answering her question would shut her up.

"Yes. It is a two Cog project, but my colleague has other priorities rather than helping me with these cases," Kevin explained without any emotion or even stopping his writing.

"That doesn't sound very kind of him to do to you. Maybe you need a new partner," Wendy replied sympathetically, though it was obvious what she was hinting at.

"A new one would be very nice, yes, but I need a partner for business. Not a playmate," Kevin replied icily, knowing exactly what she meant.

Wendy, rather than becoming sad, nodded slowly and looked down at his work; curiosity and confidence growing inside of her.

"You have very nice handwriting," Wendy commented offhandedly.

"Yes. It is perfect. Exactly as it is meant to be," Kevin replied without any sort of emotion yet again.

"Do...you think you can teach me to write like that?" Wendy inquired apprehensively.

Hearing this finally caused Kevin to stop writing and then look across the desk at her. Now this was quite a surprise. Was she really asking him to learn cursive? It was not a one day learning process. This would mean she would try to come back. An absolutely terrible idea.

"Absolutely not. I want you gone as soon as possible and never coming back," Kevin answered firmly.

Now it was Wendy's turn to get a little annoyed. Just this one thing. It wasn't too much to ask. Just to let her learn cursive. It would be such a lovely talent for her to acquire as a skill. Then she noticed all the papers covering his desk. Surely some had to be done, right? She had to try.

"Are some of those papers done?" Wendy asked.

"Some," Kevin replied curtly.

"Maybe...I coul-" she starts to say before Kevin cuts in.

"No. You are not to touch these papers at all. Just sit there and be quiet," Kevin snapped at her before she could even finish her question.

"But...but...you were saying you would like a new partner. Please let me prove that I can help!" She suddenly blurted out. This came off sounding more desperate than she meant and she blushed at how bad it sounded.

The Cog slowly and deliberately placed his pen down and stared at her; mentally scanning her expression to see what kind of gag this had to be. A Toon wanting to help a Cog with work? This day just kept getting more and more unusual.

"You. A Toon. Want to help me with work?" Kevin asked for confirmation, "You understand this is not fun work, correct?"

"Yes, but I like organizing. Please, I can organize all those papers any way you ask. Let me prove it. Where would they go?" She asked as she stood up in the chair; still too short to be taller than the back of the chair itself.

Kevin took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. It would be nice to have someone else organizing his works.

"Fine, but one wrong move and I will get some of the Ambulance Chaser's red tape to strap you to the chair until I finish my work for the day."

"Deal. Where does it all go?" She asked as she hopped onto his desk.

She was too short to reach over the desk so she was standing on it with her dirty feet, which annoyed him a lot, but he decided to let it go seeing that she was not wearing shoes. At least that way there were no clumps of dirt on his pristine desk.

"It's simple. Alphabetical order on the top shelf of the fourth filing cabinet. Nothing more. Get to it," Kevin ordered, "I'm watching you, and that causes delays for me."

She nodded quickly and grabbed all the papers that were complete. She then proceeded to get them all into one stack and lifted it up; grunting at the heavy stack of papers...well, heavy to someone her size. She then jumped onto her chair, onto the ground, and then scurried over to the filing cabinet.

She then turned her gaze upward to the desired shelf. It was only chest level to some like Kevin, but it might as well have been the next floor up for Wendy. But she needed to prove she can do it; somehow, someway.

Just as she was starting to feel her Laff meter go down in despair, it suddenly clicked with her what to do. She placed the papers on the ground and went to the far left cabinet to open the bottom drawer. She then pulled the second from the ground drawer on the next filing cabinet, and repeated this process until she could reach up to the target cabinet with her makeshift staircase.

With some effort she leapt up each 'step' and placed the papers on top of the cabinet, and then pulled the top paper to reach the first letter.

Seeing a G, she licks her finger and leafs through the papers until she finds the G tab, and then sticks it in the correct order with the other G's.

The Legal Eagle watched her like a hawk the entire time to make sure she wasn't trying anything Toony. Wendy was almost done with her task before Kevin felt comfortable returning to his own work. She could tell he was very aware of her motion, but she knew she just needed to finish the task and then she could see if she could talk to him more.

Finally she was finished with the organizing. She was actually exhausted from all the scanning and bending and moving of files, but she still looked over to him; eagerly awaiting his response to her completion of her task.

"I must say, I am impressed. I have never seen a Toon try to be organized," Kevin admitted once he went through the cabinet to ensure everything was done correctly, "So, what makes you want this job, anyways?"

The little mouse blushed a bit at his reaction and shyly replied, "Well...I've always loved to be organized. I would love to help with other things that you need done. May I have that chance?"

He pondered this request carefully. He really could use the help, but a Toon working for him probably wasn't the most legal thing he could allow. Then again, there wasn't a law actually forbidding it; more of a social law than anything. He would have to test this to see if it was worth the risk.

"I will run a trial for you. Come back here tomorrow at 11:00 AM sharp and I will give you some new tasks to do. Do not be late."

Wendy nearly shierked in delight but she held her tongue. However, her excitement faded quickly when she remembered where she had to go. Home. She was so going to be grounded and forbidden to leave. This was bad news. How could she get back if she couldn't leave?

"I would love to...I uh...really would, just...I don't know if my home will let me leave tomorrow," Wendy admitted.

"It must be tomorrow. You have to prove your reliability. This is a job, not a game," Kevin huffed without empathy.

"Please! I need this. I will do everything I can to return. Please don't forget me if I cannot come tomorrow!" Wendy cried out as tears filled her eyes. She was so close to her undiscovered dream. She wanted to stay here longer.

Kevin looked down at the little Toon. Never before had he seen a Toon so young trying to work for the Cogs. Toons working for Cogs was nothing new, but one as young as this mouse throwing herself at him trying to work for him? Him, a Lawbot? Most Toons went for the sellbots after all. Well how else was he supposed to react? He wasn't a dream crusher after all.

"Oh, fine," Kevin relented, "However it is tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Nothing more, got it?"

"YES! I won't let you down, I promise!" Wendy exclaimed with joy.

"Settle down. Anyways, that's all for today. Go home now. There is nothing more for either of us," Kevin said as he got up and stuck a few papers in his briefcase. He then opened the door and held it open for her, "Come on, just walk beside me. I have not forgotten my end of the deal so I will get you as close to the playground as I can safely."

Excited to work with him, and to also escape this place for the day, Wendy scurried through the door and followed Kevin through all of the winding hallways to the elevator. Once there he pushed the down arrow, and after a short while the doors opened to an unoccupied elevator shaft that they both got in.

A short trip later they arrived in the DA Lobby and walked towards the doors into the Courtyard, which took no time at all, and passed through the tunnel back into The Brrrgh.

The pair walked languidly down the street, completely void of Toons. Every now and then they would pass a Cog, which didn't scare Wendy quite as badly as before since she was with Kevin. Part of her still expected one of them to attack her, but most were content to glance and walk away.

"Why aren't they reacting to me like that one Cog did?" Wendy pondered aloud.

"They see you walking with me. They know I am escorting you back already since we are both still walking and not staring off at each other waiting for the battle to begin," Kevin explained.

Although Kevin hated playgrounds and being near them, he liked the coldness of The Brrrgh. As long as he didn't need to go through the tunnel into the playground itself, he assumed he would be fine considering how empty this district had been reported to be lately.

Eventually they arrived at the last tunnel dividing the streets and the playground without incident. It was too cold for Wendy to try to strike up anymore of a conversation during their walking considering the sun had fallen away which was only making it colder. Kevin handed Wendy a map for her to get back to the HQ with less trouble and a very limited access keycard to get past initial security.

"By the way, Toon. Do you have a formal name you go by?" Kevin finally got around to asking.

"Oh, it is Wendy Jinxsprinkles. What about you?"

"Wendy. Understand you can learn my name on a later date. The less you know, the better," Kevin replied cryptically. "Now get going, get some rest, and return to my office tomorrow or the next day at 11:00 AM sharp. Got it?"

She nodded vigorously. "Got it! Thanks, uh, sir."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye!"

The Eagle turned smartly around and walked back down the street. Wendy waited for him to disappear from view before turning and running into the tunnel. Now that she was alone the thoughts of Frank and home came into her mind. She hoped they wouldn't be too mad or Frank wouldn't be too worried.