I swear I have had writers block for the longest time! Grr. Oh well, update!

Disclaimer: Still not mine. If i ever do own anything, i'll let you know :)

"M-mike! What…what're you doing here?" Julian shot Vince a look, he'd told him not to answer the door.

"Funny thing." Mike said, his voice heavy with ill-concealed anger. "I've just been speaking to Dr Harris. She says you haven't brought him to any of his psychiatry appointments, apparently you rang and said you'd had him transferred to a private specialist."

"Umm, I did."

"Right. Only, you never asked them for a referral, which he would have needed, nor did you consult with me."

"Well, I…"

"And then I come round here," Mike's voice had lowered dangerously, it was almost a hiss, "and you're calling him 'Vince'! 'Vince', Julian! We're not supposed to confuse him!"

"About that…umm…" Julian glanced at Vince, who was watching the exchange warily.

"I don't want to hear it, Julian! I don't know what's wrong with you; Dee was saying you took him out shopping! Please tell me that's not true!"

"Well…"

"That's it. You clearly can't be trusted with him; I'm having him taken into hospital away from you!"

"No!" both men looked round at Vince, who was gazing beseechingly at Julian. "Julian, you can't let them put me in a mental hospital! I won't go to a hospital, I won't!" he had gone even paler than before, if possible.

"It's ok, Vince, really. We'll get you back…" Julian had meant to say this quietly, but Mike's sharp intake of breath told him he'd been overheard.

"Why're you talking to him like that?! It's like you think he is Vince!"

Julian gulped. There was no way he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one; it was either tell Mike the truth or have Vince practically sectioned. He took a deep breath. "Mike. He is Vince."

Mike's eyes widened. "What?"

"He is Vince. I don't know how or why, but I think he and Noel sort of swapped when he fell in the river. Noel's probably in the Boosh world right now."

"I don't believe this…"

"It's true, Mike. I thought he was crazy at first too, but he's not! The Boosh is real, it's all real; Howard, Vince, Naboo. Just like we wrote!"

"No, I mean I don't believe this. I don't believe you! This is either a very sick joke, or you've lost it. Either way you need serious help. And you are not staying looking after my brother!" Mike turned and stormed out of the room.

"Shit." Muttered Julian, hurrying after him. "Mike!" he caught up with the smaller man at the front door, slamming it shut and leaning against it to prevent him from leaving. "Mike, I'm not crazy." He grabbed his arm and pulled him back into the living room, ignoring his angry cries. "Look at him, Mike!" he said, pointing at Vince. "Look at him and tell me that's you're brother."

"Of course it is!"

"Look at him! It's nothing like Noel, you know it isn't!"

"That's because he's sick! There is no such thing as magic, no such thing as body swaps, and The Mighty Boosh is a fucking story!"

"He has a life Mike! He has memories! How would he know that if it isn't really Vince?"

"I don't want to hear this, Julian!"

"He knows how to drive! He's just been saying he's in love with…" he trailed off, shooting a glance at Vince who was watching him wide eyed. "Just suspend your disbeliefs for one second, Mike. Imagine all this could be true. Are you 100 percent sure that this is your brother?"

Mike gazed at Vince; who watched him uncertainly, fiddling with the bottom of his shirt. "Of course it's him!" he spat. Julian rolled his eyes, suddenly understanding why Vince had gotten so worked up when he himself had doubted his identity.

"Vince, go upstairs please."

"But I…"

"Please?"

"Fine." Vince backed out of the room, and the two men heard him scurry up the stairs and heard a door close. Julian turned back to his friend.

"Mike. Please listen to me."

Howard gazed blankly at the wall, his mind on Vince. He wondered what he was doing right now; whether or not he was thinking about him…

What was he thinking? Of course he wouldn't be. It was Vince; he'd be out having a good time not worrying about some 'jazzy freak' like him. Naboo had gone out to see a friend of his who was supposed to be an expert on the Loerron theory. Howard sighed, thinking about whether or not it was likely Naboo would return with good news.

"Alright Howard?" asked Noel as he walked out of the bedroom. The older man was sat slumped on the sofa with the TV on, but Noel got the feeling he hadn't actually been watching it for quite some time. He seemed lost in thought. He jumped slightly, and looked around.

"Hey, Noel."

"What're you watching?"

"Oh. Umm…" Howard gazed at the TV screen, trying to work out what the program was. Noel sighed sympathetically.

"Are you ok, mate?" he asked, sitting down beside Howard, "You seem a little…I dunno…out of it."

"I'm fine."

"Vince?" Noel guessed. Howard gazed at him for a few seconds, then nodded.
"I miss him. He may be a self obsessed little tit-box who drives me mad, but I miss him." he glanced at Noel, "It's stupid, I know."

"It's not stupid! I miss Julian, and I miss Dee, and Mike…"

"But it's not the same, is it? You spend time with other people, you go out, you play the social field. Vince is all I've got."

"That's not true! What about Naboo and Bollo? What about Lester?"

Howard snorted. "Lester? Noel, the man's a borderline psychotic who thinks I'm 86. And Naboo only likes me because I work for next to nothing in his dodgy second hand shop."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." He thought for a second, "Actually, maybe it is. But at least I've got Vince." The look on his face, however, told Noel that he wasn't sure he had anyone at all.

Noel said nothing. He could feel guilt twisting up his insides at the way he and Julian had made Vince act towards Howard in series 3. Which is crazy, he reminded himself, because none of this is real. It's in my head. Howard is not real, so I have nothing to feel guilty about!

But that didn't stop the feeling that he had in some way ruined someone else's life. "Erm…I might just nip out for a bit."

Howard looked at him, surprised and confused. "Why?"

"Just…feel like some air."

"Oh. Ok." Howard let out a small sigh as he heard Noel leave the flat. All alone. Again…

"Howard!" Naboo suddenly came racing up the stairs, closely followed by Bollo. "Howard, where are you?"

"I'm right here, you berk. What is it?"

"I think I've found something! I think I can open a temporary link to the other world!"

"Vince can come back?"

"Well, no." Naboo conceded, "But we can talk to him!"

Howard stood up, excitement coursing through him. "Brilliant! Let's do it!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took about half an hour, but eventually Naboo was ready to begin. He picked up an old book and began to read. The lights in the flat began to flicker eerily. Howard glanced nervously at the shaman; thinking about spells of Naboo's which had gone wrong. Suddenly, the TV sparked into life once more, and the lights returned to normal.

"That's it?" Howard asked, looking around. "You turned on the television? Not exactly what we were aiming for, Naboo."

"The link's in the TV, you idiot!"

"Oh." Howard gazed at the screen. "Neither of those people are Vince though, are they?"

"Well then, I don't know what's happened!"

Howard studied the screen. "Hold on, though, that guy does look familiar…" he frowned. There were two men on the screen; one of them had his back to them so Howard couldn't see his face. But the other one…if he had slightly longer hair, maybe…Howard jerked his head to stare at Naboo, then back at the screen. Then he looked at Naboo again.

"What?" asked the shaman, annoyed.

"That…he looks like you! Naboo, that must be Mike!"

"Mike?"

"Noel's brother. You did it, Naboolio!" he knocked on the screen, "Mike!" on getting no response, he turned to Naboo. "They can't hear us. I thought they would be able to hear us?"

"Something must have gone a bit wrong. Wait here; I think I've got some books in my room that could help us." He hurried off; leaving Howard sat beside the screen, watching the two men arguing.

"…Julian I'm worried about you. Seriously, think about what you're saying!"

"You think I wasn't shocked by this?! Everything I've ever taken for granted about the world has just been blown out of the water!"

"No it hasn't!"

"He remembers his mother committing suicide, Mike! He keeps talking about events which certainly weren't in any of the scripts we wrote."

"Because he's ill! His brain's just…I dunno…trying to make sense of it by making up memories." He glanced over Julian's shoulder and his brow creased in annoyance. "Will you turn that bloody thing off?"

Julian looked round to see the TV on, showing Howard in the Boosh flat.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Oh my God!" Howard muttered, staring at the man. It was a very odd sensation; like meeting yourself in the street. This, he realised, must be Julian.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Sorry, didn't realise it was on." Julian reached for the remote, and frowned. It wasn't on. So how…? He suddenly realised what he must be looking at. "Howard?"

"What?" Mike asked, but Julian wasn't listening. He sank to his knees in front of the screen.

"Howard? Is that you?"

The figure on the screen nodded, and his mouth moved as if saying something.

"I can't hear you." Julian said, gesturing to try and emphasise the point. Howard blinked and looked around frowning, before getting up and disappearing from view. He reappeared a few seconds later, holding a pen and paper. He scribbled a message and held it up.

Is Vince with you?

Julian read it, and then nodded. Howard's face immediately brightened, and he wrote something else.

Can I see him?

Julian nodded again, and then hesitated. "Is Noel there? Is he ok?" he asked, emphasising the words so his lips would be easier to read. Howard grinned and held up the paper again.

Yes. He's fine. He's just gone out, though. Vince?

"Oh. Right." Julian got to his feet, and went to the door. "Vince!"

"Look, Julian, I don't know what the hell this is but it has got to stop!"

He looked at Mike in surprise. "Mike, how can you still not believe it? Howard's right there!"

"Yes; on a TV screen! I don't know when you…" he broke off.

Naboo had just appeared on screen, peering out at them. He waved at Julian and Mike, grinning.

"…and that's me." Mike said, weakly. "What?"

"That's not you; that's Naboo. Vince! Come quickly, Howard and Naboo have contacted us!"

There was a sudden scramble as Vince raced down the stairs, heart pounding. He skidded into the room and stared at the TV. His eyes locked with those of his best friend for half a second; and then the screen went blank. "Howard!"

Vince raced forwards and turned it on, flicking through the channels; but the image did not come back. "No!" he turned to Julian, eyes watering. "Did he say anything? Is he ok?"

"He seems fine, Vince."

"I wanted…I wanted to see him." he said in a small voice, tears rolling down his face.

"Hey!" Julian stepped forwards and laid a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "They did it once, they can do it again!"

"What," Mike said, making the two of them turn. The smaller man looked pale and slightly ill, "the hell is going on?!"

"No!" Howard bashed the side of the TV desperately. For one second; one beautiful second; he'd seen Vince. His Vince. Then it had gone black, wrenching him away again. He looked at Naboo. "What the hell happened? Where's it gone?"

"I don't know! It was using up a lot of power; I guess it just…ran out." He shrugged apologetically.

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Howard said moodily. If anything; he felt even worse than before. To have been given a glimpse of his friend without being able to talk to him…he would almost have rather not seen him at all.

Almost.

He and Naboo both jumped as the front door slammed and Noel came up the stairs. "Hey, guys." He frowned slightly at the guilty looks on their faces, "What's up?"

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