"…She was just acting so… weird." Mac explained concernedly to his pigtailed companion as they strode down the school hallway. "I mean, something's really bothering her-"

"Duh!" Goo immediately trilled, as if the answer couldn't possibly be any more obvious. "Dontcha remember? Jess, her friend from college? Frankie's still probably really super upset and stuff, so-"

"But it's not like she's just moping around the house or anything like that, she's…I mean, I've never seen her so focused before on her chores, and all she's doing is stressing herself out. Seriously, it's getting real bad; when I saw her this morning, it looked like she hadn't slept at all last night-"

"Maybe she's just really, really, really, really working ultra hard to try and to take her mind off it!" his friend swiftly suggested as she bounced along by his side. "Maybe she's making herself so extra busy so she won't have to think about how really, really, really, really sad she really is about her friend, like when my aunt told me how when she gets really stressed out, she always goes for walks in the parks and looks at the birds and flowers and stuff so she can try and forget about what's making her so unhappy and frazzled and grumpy in the very first place, and-"

As perfectly feasible as the little girl's theory was, Mac still appeared to be far from persuaded as they exited out the main entrance and turned in the direction of home.

"I…I guess that could be it." He begrudgingly granted with a frown. "Still…I dunno..."

"Well, what do we know about her dead friend?" Goo asked. "Where they like, very, very, very, very, very, very, very close, or just very, very, very close or had they been in a fight or anything before Jess died and now Frankie's wracked with lots and lots of guilt 'cuz she never said she's sorry, like in a movie I saw on TV last week where this guy-"

"Honesty, I really have no idea." Mac admitted ruefully. "Frankie's never mentioned her before at all until now, and-"

"So then ask her about it, silly!" Goo said impatiently with a roll of her eyes. "C'mon, how else are you gonna know-"

"But I don't want her to have to deal with it anymore than she has to." The little boy protested reluctantly. "If it's really bothering her that much, then I'm not sure how much good we'll do trying to get her to talk about something she doesn't even want to think about."

For a moment it looked like Goo was going to fire right back with another suggestion when she paused, mulled about his objection for a few moments, then almost instantly went quite crestfallen as she realized he had quite a point.

"…So… how do we find out what's wrong?" she whined. Mac scratched his head as he took a few moments to ponder over their dilemma. However, it took no longer than a few seconds before the sharp-minded child lit up with a grin as he snapped his fingers and blurted out excitedly,

"Kathy!"

"Kathy?" Goo repeated curiously and gawked at him wordlessly for a few moments before she quickly caught on. "Oh! Ohhhhhhhhhh! Yeah, Frankie's friend, I've met her a few times before! Ohhhh, yeah! Yeah! We can go ask her! We can ask her because Frankie said they went to the same college and stuff, and they've known each other for like, ever and ever and ever and ever! Yeah, yeah! So do we give her a phone call, or something?"

"Well…Frankie told me that during the week she can work pretty late." The boy explained. "With the way Frankie's been acting though, I don't want to wait until the next time she visits, because we don't know when that's going to-"

"Oooooh! Ooooooh! Wait, wait, how about this? How about we just go and get it over with right now?" Goo suddenly squealed enthusiastically as they finally made it to the sidewalk. "Hmmm? She only works downtown, doesn't she? Yeah, yeah she does! Yeah, we can just walk down there and go to her office at…um…social…social ser….uh…"

Almost immediately she remembered the frightful experience her friend had with that particular governmental agency, and after a great burst of effort, managed to put a lid on herself as she flashed an apologetic grimace and whimpered guiltily. Mac sighed heavily as he replied,

"I know, I know…she's a social worker. Don't worry, because if we can help out Frankie…look, it'll be worth it, I know-."

With only this teensy bit of encouragement, instantly Goo burst out beaming and did a little leap of excitement. "Yeah! Yeah, let's go and…and…wait, wait, wait, hold on, hold on! Do you know where the heck it is?"

"I…I dunno, I've never been there before." Mac murmured, but this slight flaw in their plan hardly proved to be an obstacle before yet another burst of inspiration struck. "But Bloo might! During the day sometimes he goes downtown to the comic book store, and-"

That was all Goo needed to hear. Before he could utter so much as one more sound, the effervescent little one nabbed him tightly by the arm and took off down the sidewalk at a brisk jog, trilling excitedly,

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

"…Thanks again, Bloo." Mac expressed his appreciation for what probably had to be the fifth time as the odd little pack trooped down the sidewalk. "I'm sorry that-"

"No apologies necessary; I'm up for anything if it'll stop the Queen of Crabbiness and her reign of terror." The azure figment replied darkly as he led the way.

"Lay off her!" Goo reprimanded sharply. "It's not her fault, she's just really, really, really, really upset about her friend, and-"

"Well, does that really give her any right to try and almost bite my head off?" Bloo muttered sourly with a bitter scowl. "I mean, jeez Louise-"

"Don't worry!" Goo continued to brush his protests aside as she skipped along. "Once we find out more about why her friend's death is bugging her, we can help out, and she won't be all stressed and grumpy anymore and…hold on, hold on, you do know where you're going, right?"

The little blob scoffed at her doubt. "Do I know where I'm going? Oh, please. Of course I do, it's right across the street from the drug store, right around….here!"

The trio turned the corner, and as Bloo immediately whirled around and waited expectantly to be showered with praise for his spectacular navigating skills, both the child were quickly beset with bewilderment and wordlessly gazed blankly before them before Mac murmured confusedly,

"'...Purrrr-fect Pet Salon'?"

"...And where's the drug store?" Goo whined bewilderedly as she glanced about.

"Huh?" their guide grunted. "What, did you two take your stupid pills this morning? It's obviously-augh!"

As soon as he saw that they were indeed standing outside a pet-care boutique, the deeply humiliated little creature almost went as crimson as a strawberry as he hastily darted down the sidewalk, gesturing fervently as he sputtered,

"Ack, no, no! I mean...I mean, it's right across from the drug store, right around…right around…uh…hold on…almost there, just...um...hold on!"

The children had no choice but to follow along at a steady jog if they wished to keep up. After traveling another block, taking a left, a right, and another left, the trio turned yet another corner, and there it was; a massive, three-story brownstone building, bearing a large sign upon the front entrance reading in plain white lettering "County Department of Social Services."

As they all stood at the front steps leading to the door, catching their breaths, Bloo began to whine softly as almost immediately a few bad memories were stirred up in his mind.

"…Wait, so you're sure you want to do this?" the imaginary friend asked as he rapidly became unusually anxious. Although he was indeed a bit nervous too, to say the least, Mac nonetheless put on a weak but sincere reassuring grin and gave his creation a quick pat on the arm.

"It's okay. What can they possibly do now that Frankie officially looks after me? Take me away again?" he joked.

The three had certainly been determined in their quest; so much in fact, that once they laid eyes upon their destination, they completely failed to notice anything else; not even the extremely familiar little bus decked in a dazzling array of colors sitting in the tiny drug store parking lot across the street.

"…Would you like anything else, ma'am?" the cashier asked politely as she handed back the bottle of aspirin to her lanky redheaded customer. Frankie rubbed her droopy eyelids, then managed to plaster on an excuse of a smile as she stowed her purchase into her jacket pocket.

"No…no I think that's all. Thank you." She answered politely.

"Okay. Have a good day!" the cashier bade cheerily.

"You too." The twenty-three-year-old only murmured half-heartedly before exiting outside.

As she entered the parking lot, Frankie stopped for a few moments to try and massage her throbbing temples. If there was anything worse than the excruciating stress headache she had developed earlier that day, she didn't want to hear it, she mused miserably as she unsuccessfully stifled a gaping yawn. It was already bad enough that anxiety had gotten her so wound up that had barely gotten so much as a wink of sleep in the past few days, as shown by the fact that she both looked and felt like death warmed up. The last thing she needed was a sensation akin to someone pounding her skull with a ball-peen hammer.

Needless to say, the irony of her current location wasn't lost upon her; unfortunately, she had little choice, as this was the closest store to home where she could purchase relief for her aches. Groaning in severe discomfort, she lifted her head to glower angrily at the cause of her agony, sitting of all places right there across the street.

Right where a brown-hared boy, a little girl decked in rainbow shirt and cowboy boots, and a gumdrop-shaped imaginary friend all stood together.

As the badly surprise redhead's jaw nearly hit the asphalt, to her indescribable dismay the trio did the unthinkable, and made a beeline right for the front door.

"Guys?" she yelped hoarsely as they disappeared inside. "W-what are you doing? Guys, wait! WAIT!"

The interior of the local branch of social services was a chaotic maze of halls upon halls of identical cramped offices, towering overstuffed filing cabinets, and employees scrambling about in such haste no one seemed to notice the tiny group navigating their way through, searching about furiously for one particular woman.

"Do we even know if she works on this floor?" Bloo asked as he glanced around. Mac shrugged as the headed down another narrow hallway.

"Your guess is as good as mine. But if we don't find her here, then we just head right up to the second fl-"

"Oh goodness! Mac?" someone suddenly cried in shock. Instantaneously the child stopped dead in his tracks, as did his creation while their flummoxed pigtailed friend walked right into them.

The little boy whimpered as his blood ran ice cold. As much as he didn't want to admit it with every ounce of his soul, he'd recognize that unmistakable voice, which unfortunately did not belong to Frankie's best friend, absolutely anywhere.

After a considerable amount of effort, the petrified child craned his neck around and immediately confirmed his worst fears. There she stood, garbed in the same jacket and skirt combination in that same shade of blue, with that pitch-black hair done up in an almost impossibly perfect bun, and those spectacles sitting perched upon her face through which she stared straight at him with those frosty blue eyes. The boy reflexively froze with fright, as his mind became an anarchic whirl of bad memories of being violently grabbed and forcibly taken to some unknown destination with his adoptive big sister and imaginary friend screaming in protest in the background.

Goo just blinked confusedly at the unfamiliar woman, as she struggled to figure out what was going on. Bloo however wasted not a single instant, and as soon as he got over his shock, he immediately darted protectively in front of is best friend and bared his teeth in a fierce snarl.

Despite the obviously cold reception she was receiving, one would've thought Miss Corningston had just won the lottery as she immediately burst out smiling in relief.

"Mac!" she gasped as she stowed her armload of case files aside. "Oh my, I-"

As soon as she took on step forward, the others instinctively took three steps back. Although Goo had yet to comprehend whom this woman was, she took her cue from her friends and decided the time for alarm was now. However, the social worker was quite far from dissuaded, and simply planted on a disarming smile as she squatted down to their height.

"No, it's okay, no need to be scared! You're all very, very brave to come here to me on your own-"

"Brave?" Mac repeated bewilderedly, as the woman chuckled warmly and nodded.

"Yes, so very brave." She continued, speaking as gently as she could. "It's okay, you made it. No need to be scared, she can't get you here. Just settle down, take a deep breath, and when you're ready, you can tell me what's been going on at home. Okay? Mac, do you think you can do that?"

"…Huh?" the child croaked, as he failed completely to understand what was going on. "What's…what's been going on at home? Wait, what're you-"

Before the unpleasant encounter could continue any further, a tremendous clamor nearly startled them all clear out of their wits.

"Mac? Mac? Pal, are you in here? Bloo? Goo? Guys, where are you?" Frankie called as she suddenly sprinted in, searching about frantically. "Guys, what -oh, no!"

The color drained from her face the instant she spotted her spectacled foe, and immediately the pnaicked young woman skidded to a clumsy halt.

"Not one step closer, Miss Foster!" Miss Corningston quickly recovered from her surprise and ordered flatly. "You can't control them in here!"

"What?" Frankie cried. "Wait, no, they're not-"

"Mac, come here, quick!" the child welfare worker demanded. "It's all right, I promise! Just get-"

Much to her utter astonishment, before she could say another word, all three little ones took one look at the redheaded caretaker and immediately took cover behind her.

"Pal, what on earth are you doing here?" the twenty-three-year-old gasped as she bent over and started to stroke Mac's head. The nine-year-old looked just as painfully perplexed as he yelped,

"What's she talking about? Frankie, what's-"

"Now look at what you've done!" Miss Coringston accused angrily as her eyes blazed with conviction. "The child's too terrified to tell me a single thing! Now he's being forced to play the fool just so you won't-"

Frankie hissed as she quickly realized where this was going, immediately hurling her into a ferocious fury. Not in any mood to be ruthlessly denounced yet again, she curled her lips into a snarl, stomped her foot and exploded defiantly.

"I told you already earlier this week...and not once, but a dozen times," she hissed before clenching her fists and involuntarily shrieking, "FOR THE LAST TIME, I DON'T ABUSE MAC!"

For the next couple moments, with the exception of Frankie's ragged breaths, not a single sound could be heard until the silence was finally shattered by a thunderstruck little boy's hoarse whimper.

"….What?"

Once she realized that the truth was finally out in the open, Frankie's anger swiftly subsided as she was temporarily overwhelmed by a surge of unfathomable horror. As her heart skipped a beat, she turned to the stunned child and tried to sputter weakly,

"Pal, I…I-I …"

Unfortunately, the horrorstruck girl was unable to get much further, as the unspeakable shock written all over the little ones' faces told her that her attempts to explain herself were absolutely futile as they wordlessly stared back at her in utter disbelief. Miss Corningston, meanwhile, having detected the sincere sense of bewilderment in Mac's voice, ceased her accusing, but kept her eyes narrowed in a suspicious glare.

"I have no idea what this is all about." She acknowledged reluctantly, shaking her head. "But whatever it is, this does not bode well for you at all, Miss Foster. All of you show up here without so much as a clue what's going on? Let me tell you this; no guardian should let their confused charge wander aimlessly on their own downtown-"

Before Frankie knew it, her horror and guilt were completely crushed under a fresh wave of rage as her blood started boiling in her veins. Burning with fury so bitter she could barely breathe, she glared daggers as she instinctively went on the defensive.

"I am not negligent!" she snarled, again clenching her fists so tightly her nails almost pierced her skin. "I am not unfit, I'm not a vicious maniac, and for the last time, I am not a child abuser! I'm Mac's big sister, and I take good care of him-"

"Is that so?" came the unconvinced reply as the woman stared directly into the infernos blazing in the girl's emerald eyes. "Then why is it that you seem to be in conniptions every single time we cross paths?"

"Maybe it has something to do with the fact that every time we've met, you've either taken away Mac, or threatened to do it?" the twenty-three-year-old hissed, as the little ones huddled mutely behind her. "This is my family we're talking about! If you're so bent on doing what's for the best for Mac, has it crossed your mind once that I'm what's best for him, whether you like it or not, you-"

"You're what's best for Mac?" Mrs. Corningston replied so skeptically and so coldly, Frankie could feel the blood freeze in her veins.

"I-"

"Miss Foster, have you ever realized that I have yet to see you as so much as even a slightly fit guardian in any way, shape or form? Do you think your file or your police report gives me any reason whatsoever to believe otherwise? How can I possibly believe living with you is what's best for Mac when I see nearly nothing to back you up?"

"Because-" Frankie attempted to defend herself before she was cut off.

"Do you want to know what I really see whenever I look at you, Miss Foster, no matter how much I try? Not a young woman, but a girl. A single girl with the maturity of a three year-old, throwing tantrums and going into absolute hysterics whenever it doesn't seem like she's going to get her way. For God's sake, how long ago did you graduate from college? Two, maybe three years ago? You're still basically a child yourself! A child who can barely look after herself raising a child entirely on her own! Does that sound even remotely acceptable to you?"

"I-" Frankie sputtered, profoundly taken aback by the ferocity in the zealous woman's tone as she was scolded like a naughty toddler.

"Miss Foster, just look at yourself!" Miss Corningston exclaimed in appall, referring to the haggard redhead's pitiful appearance. "My word, what on earth have you been up to for the past few days? Have you gotten any sleep whatsoever? Have you forgotten that you have a small boy to look after?"

"Wait, please!" Frankie tried to protest as she starting rubbing her face, as if she could wipe away the heavy bags under her eyes. "You don't understand-"

"I think I do; you can barely take care of yourself, much less a little boy! Then again, should I even be surprised? I don't think you've had any experience with real parenting at all! I've checked into your background, Miss Foster, I'm more than familiar with your story. Your own mother and father perished when you weren't much more than a baby, leaving you where?"

"I…I…" Frankie, not expecting such an attack, could only stammer stupidly. "I-"

"That's right, at your grandmother's, where you were practically raised by imaginary friends, of all creatures, little more than the foolish creations of other children! How can you be so convinced that you're doing such a good job of parenting when you probably don't have a single idea about what it really is?"

The silence that followed was deafening. Frankie just stared mutely at her opponent, too stunned beyond belief for a reply as she was snapped out of her fury. As she slowly regained control of herself, it quickly became excruciatingly obvious to her that she had accomplished nothing other than to make herself appear to be little more than a total lunatic. Once again, she had unwittingly just performed the unthinkable, and had practically dug her own grave a few feet deeper, only fueling the zealous woman's convictions.

Once she began try to comprehend the nightmarishly horrific damage she had caused to her case, the roaring fire in her eyes were quickly doused by the hot tears that had started to well up. Miss Corningston just stared back, unmoved.

"Crying will get you nowhere." She warned flatly. "I've dealt with more than enough people pulling that trick to try and gain some pity, and believe me, it never works. The investigation into your case will go on as planned."

"B-but…but you don't understand…" the young woman stammered hoarsely. "I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean to…if you'll just let me explain-"

"Please, Miss Foster, just take Mac back home." Came the exasperated demand. "I've had enough for today."

Beaten and broken-spirited, Frankie did as told, as she concluded there was little good she could do for herself here. Wordlessly she herded out the little ones, who were too stunned to do little else then dumbly follow along like sheep.

After the pitiful little pack quietly exited, just a moment later though, another young woman wordlessly appeared upon the scene. Looking quite stunned, she warily poked her head out into the hall, peered about silently for a few moments, then finally emerged from the copy room where she had involuntarily heard every single word of the epic argument.

With soft brown eyes nearly bulging clean from her skull, the staggered employee gazed dumbly to her ruffled superior, who barked irritably,

"Well?"

Kathy took one look into the icy stare, instinctively cowered a little, and after her mind raced furiously for a few moments, she finally blurted out,

"Ma'am, w-who in the world was that?"