The house was quiet. This wasn't unusual given the early hour. No one had even dared to greet the new day yet, not even Luella Davis, as infamous as she was for her early rising. The historical manor, boasting a grand total of six bedrooms and four bathrooms, ample shared living space for the family, and a backyard that - despite the fact that it had been eaten away by the city of London throughout the centuries - was lush with greenery and even a rough cut wood clubhouse for Toby, had yet to so much as feel the first rays of the morning sun.

And yet, Toby's eyes opened in the darkness of night. He lay in his luxuriously comfortable bed and stared up at the antique ceiling fan spinning away while his fingers clutched the navy sheets for dear life and his chest heaved with panicked breaths. He didn't know what he was scared of, only that he had woken from a dead sleep with such a powerful fear coursing through his little body that he had been frozen to the spot.

He didn't understand. There was no one around him. He was alone within his dimly lit room, the nightlight working wonderfully, as it always did, and yet he had never felt less safe. What he was concluding was that these emotions were not the result of someone within his vicinity as was custom, but rather, they came from within. Evaluating this did little to aid his horror-filled confusion because, as far as he knew, he had been dreaming about the zoo. It had been a pleasant dream even, nothing that would make him feel so horrible. Ever since he had received his gifts from Mai he had been able to do so many things with his family that his life had been a veritable vacation for the last week. Every day was filled with a new adventure. It could get a little overwhelming at times but it was nothing compared to what he had been forced to suffer through before.

His room was still his safe haven. His little spot of comfort away from the rest of the world that he could retreat to when he needed a break. His daddy had made sure he had everything he needed and wanted in there for that very reason. In the soft light of his glowing mushroom nightlights, it looked like a fantastical world of make-believe. Enough blankets and pillows were spread out across the bed for him to make any sort of fort he could imagine, even despite the reading nook castle built into the corner of his room. Antique puzzle boxes and toys had been gifted to him by his grandfather and served as excellent ways to calm and distract his mind when he was in a state sat atop several shelves in the library he had been building even though he couldn't read all that well yet.

So the fact that he felt such fear was perplexing.

His eyes drifted from the ceiling fan in halting increments until they settled on the bracelet around his wrist.

It was Mai.

Mai was scared.

The sudden bone-deep understanding of where such powerful emotions came from was more steadying than any hug or word of comfort could ever be. Toby found himself sitting up in bed and pushing the blankets back so that he could crawl to the edge and drop down. He had reclaimed his dinosaur onesie once more and for that he was thankful. It was reassuring to pull the hood up and pretend he was a mean beasty while he reached for his doorknob and stepped out into the early dark of the large house. No one would try and mess with a velociraptor, especially not one on a mission, not matter how worried it was.

Toby traced his way through the familiar halls until he found the door he was looking for. With some hesitancy, he formed his hand into a fist and knocked. The small sound echoed down the hall and through the manor with alarming efficiency.

Oliver had made her a second cup of tea. Somehow, it was that one, put together while the rest of the team was filtering past the meeting room with its multiple round tables spaced sporadically, that felt more special. Monk had helped her hobble over into the room before everyone else just to spare her some embarrassment and sat her down at the table closest to the kitchenette. It was like the ones used in schools, sitting on adjustable metal legs and covered in a fake wood vinyl that was durable enough to survive almost any beating. The chairs looked as if they had been scooped up from an office sale, the upholstery was a rough dark blue, while the frame was wood. They didn't really match the tables but Mai supposed it didn't matter all the much considering no one likely used this room. There was a fine layer of dust over everything and there weren't any windows in sight.

She had pulled on a large and heavy cardigan before leaving the room for an extra bit of comfort after the early morning fiasco. Her limbs still trembled and ached but the pain had lessened significantly since she had first woken and she could at least converse normally. So while Monk sat her down in the old cushioned chair and fluttered about awkwardly before deciding to make himself useful and find her some breakfast, Oliver had glided into the room ahead of everyone else and set the kettle to boil.

Mai had turned back to watch with surprise before she laced her fingers together atop the table and sighed. It was one thing to feel the strain after a hard day's work, or actually exercising, but to wake up and feel the extreme crippling weakness that she had was maddening. The fact that her hands still trembled hours later was driving her insane. She was so anxious regarding the case now that she had managed to connect with Lydia that she felt the need to pace the rooms and get her thoughts in order. Instead, she was relegated to the chair with the help of Monk and left to her own devices.

In the midst of her brooding, Oliver had set the cup down in front of her while his cool fingers just brushed across the back of her neck as he set his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened in surprise for just a moment before her shoulders slumped and she reached to cup her hands around the tea with a sigh.

"Thank you," she mumbled a slight dusting of pink across her cheeks.

The first cup of tea had been an obligation. Oliver's one comfort that he usually allowed himself was a cup of tea so it was often times the one thing he could think to offer in the face of other people's distress. She had no doubt he had made several cups for Toby too, maybe with added milk and honey, knowing him. But the second cup now resting between her hands had been a kind gesture of continued care that warmed her belly just as much as the first sip of tea did. Not to mention, the honey he added helped to soothe her throat.

She bit her lip, confliction warring within her when Lin leaned in through the doorway wearing a look of extreme dissatisfaction that immediately sent alarm bells ringing in her mind. Oliver lifted his gaze from her to the man with a single brow arched in question.

"Madoka's here," he muttered grimly.

Oliver straightened and moved to step out into the hallway just as a small blur brushed past Lin's legs and darted into the room.

Mai felt her heart constrict in panic and she tossed up a hand with a hurried "Wait!" that did little to alter the situation. Luckily, Oliver had bent down and scooped Toby up into his arms before he could make it any further into the room and despite the way he kicked his feet the boy could only turn to look back at Mai anxiously.

"I wish someone would have informed me beforehand," Oliver stated dispassionately while Toby patted his chest in an effort to get his attention.

"I needed to see Mai," Toby informed him with brows furrowed and a frown pulling at his face. It was the first time Mai had seen him show even a hint of anger since she had met him and that was surprising considering his age. She had honestly expected some sort of tantrum from him sooner but she supposed he would always be a special case. "She was scared," he added petulantly.

No doubt he must have felt something through the bracelet, she realized guiltily. She hadn't even considered how it would affect him if she were to take on a case. She could only hope that he hadn't experienced anything close to what she had otherwise she would never be able to live with herself. Her own emotions were still a mess even then and she didn't want Toby to throw himself at her when she was still struggling to piece herself back together. Who knew what he would pick up on?

"I'm sorry," Madoka's voice filtered in from outside the hall. "He apparently woke your parents up this morning demanding to be brought to the museum," she explained with a sigh.

Oliver released the breath he had drawn in to argue and instead turned his eyes to the boy in his arms. Toby's eyes locked with his and the two shared a moment before Oliver turned towards Mai and pulled out the chair next to her. With care, he set Toby down in the chair and settled a hand on his shoulder to keep him in place.

"Good morning, Toby," Mai greeted with a warm smile despite the previous stress. She itched to run her hand through his messy curls, still looking sleep mussed, but she refrained by wrapping them back around her cup instead. He had gotten to wear a deep blue sweater and black pants that day, his loafers traded for a small pair of light-up sneakers that blinked in the dim light of the meeting room.

"Morning," he replied quietly, eyes already watering.

"How are you feeling?" she asked gently, her insides squirming at the sight of his brimming tears.

"Sad," he answered simply and reached up to wipe at his eyes with both hands.

"Why are you feeling sad, little man?" she crooned and turned in her seat to face him fully. She had never expected to see him while they worked the case but, even though he was distressed by the situation, she found herself taking comfort in his presence. She used the bit of warmth to pat some of her emotions back down into place and smooth out the ruffles of her soul.

"Because you were really scared and I wasn't here and now you don't want me around," he admitted through tears that continued to fall.

"That's not true at all!" she rushed to assure him while Oliver crouched at his side and ran a hand through his hair where Mai could not. It was an extreme jump in logic but Mai had heard wilder ideas from children before. Yasuhara's little sisters had claimed plenty of crazy things over the years when she watched them or went along on outings with them. Considering she had been the only one Toby could touch without fear of an emotional overload for a time, the first person he could touch, it made sense that her wanting to keep her distance was upsetting to him. Even if nothing could be further from the truth, he still saw it was her wanting to keep away from him at a time when he felt she needed him the most.

"Toby," Oliver murmured quietly, the smallest of wrinkles between his brows denoting his own distress. "Mai would never feel that way," he informed him in heartbreakingly gentle tones, "She's still putting up with me, after all."

Madoka shuffled into the doorway with her hands locked together over her heart. She looked utterly distraught by the scene but Lin had snorted at Oliver's statement. It might have earned him a gentle smack in the stomach but no one within eyesight had truly been paying attention, their focus on the small boy crying in the chair.

But Toby would not be comforted so easily. He was an empath after all, and despite the fact that his assumptions were incorrect, he could still sense his father's mounting distress hidden behind a facade of calm and Mai's own regret for causing it all. As intelligent and knowing as he could be at times, he was still only five, and the tears turned to hiccuping sobs in a matter of seconds. His face crumpled and he reached for Mai.

And suddenly, several things happened all at once.

It started with Toby crying out for Mai but what came out of his mouth wasn't her name. Instead, the word that tumbled from his lips was "Mommy," while his hands reached out for her with a desperation that was far too close to what she had witnessed in Lydia. Panic flooded her system and she smacked a hand of her mouth with eyes wide and dilated. In the same moment, Oliver had frozen where he couched, his own eyes wide but vacant, utterly dumbstruck by Toby's choice of words. The conflicting writhing emotions that roiled in his own stomach sent his heart pounding. While there may have been a kernel of warmth in the depths of his mind it was overshadowed by the inability to comfort his son, embarrassment for what he had implied, yearning for the same thing, failure to have brought about such a future, and anger towards the case for causing it all by tormenting Mai with horrendous visions. A mere fraction of a second later and Lin was stepping into the room with a far more serious expression on his face.

"Noll," he called out warningly.

Mai jumped back to the present with a trilling panic swamping her mind before she shook it away, patted it back in place with a mighty effort, and breathed out a steadying breath.

"It's okay," Mai said soothingly, reaching to rest a hand on Oliver's shoulder with a pop of static shock. "Everyone is okay," she added, carefully shuffling herself out of the chair to crouch before Toby and take his hand with her other. It was small and warm, as to be expected, but he gripped her hand in return. Toby's sobs quieted to sniffles and the occasional hiccup. He rubbed at his eye with his free hand before climbing out of the chair to wrap his arm around Mai, curling up under her arm. Tears still trailed down his cheeks but he had managed to calm down enough to recognize the fact that Mai didn't hate him. She was willing to share whatever residual emotions might be lingering from the dream if it meant his tears would stop and he knew he was cared for.

The tension in the room dropped by a few notches and Mai gave Toby an appreciative squeeze, the smile returned to her face. She was glad he was the understanding type. Her heart still fluttered in her chest from his chosen title but she was certain it had been due to the heat of the moment and his own mix of feelings. It was natural for a child to cry out for someone to hold them and care for them when they were overwhelmed and just because Toby's mother wasn't around didn't mean he had no understanding of the concept of one. Somehow, in the time he had known Mai, he had stuffed her in that role. Honestly, the more logically she thought about it the more it made sense. No one had been able to comfort him his entire life until she came along. Still, her cheeks were pink as she turned to Oliver. The man had retreated within himself but she wasn't going to have that.

"I can't stand, Oliver, will you help me up?" she asked.

Toby shuffled aside as his father came back to life, if only a little, to push himself to his feet and pull Mai up along with him. There was a moment of strain in which Mai's legs felt like warmed metal as if they could bend no further, but she pushed on and managed to straighten. She swayed but his grip on her forearms was solid and their eyes met for a drawn-out moment regardless of the onlookers. He studied her as one would a particularly interesting puzzle, intrigued, and maybe even a little intimidated by the complexity. Then he was moving forward, shepherding her backward, and settling her into the chair where her cup of tea sat waiting for her, still warm.

"Toby, will you stay with Mai for a moment," Oliver asked, turning back to look at the boy who stood watching with a worried expression. Much like Mai in her moments of weakness, he was wringing his hands anxiously.

"Did I hurt you?" Toby asked with eyes that looked ready to refracture at a moment's notice. His soul may as well have been a stained glass window with the number of times it had been broken and put back together. His little fingers were laced together, straining, as if he wanted to reach out to verify his father's emotional state himself but he was frightened to do so.

"No, Toby," Oliver assured him gently. "Come here," he murmured a moment later and opened his arms to the boy. Toby didn't waste a second before he was tossing himself at his father and wrapping his arms around his neck. Oliver stood with him in his arms and buried his face in the crook of his neck, eyes closed while he reveled in the embrace.

"Oh," Toby voiced in soft surprise, and that was that.

Oliver turned to settle Toby in Mai's arms before turning away and disappearing out the door with Lin hot on his heels. Madoka stepped back out into the hall to watch them disappear beyond the base and then shuffled back in to take a seat at the table with Mai wearing a perplexed expression that softened as Toby turned to look at her. She was dressed in denim capris and a black t-shirt that day, clearly aiming for casual comfort given the circumstances, but her sunglasses were still tucked up in her hair.

"What a way to start the morning," Madoka said gustily and braced an elbow on the table, resting her chin on her palm.

Mai snorted, "You don't know the half of it." Her heart was still pounding and she felt a little wrung dry. Her head felt like it was filled with static thanks to the lack of sleep and her trembling limbs only served to further frustrate her but with Toby now sitting happily in her arms she couldn't really complain.

Neither one of them mentioned Toby calling her Mommy.

"You're going to go to the hotel tonight, right?" Madoka questioned with pinched brows. "I know the suites there have jacuzzi tubs, you should use one."

Mai felt her limbs turn to butter at just the mention of it. She hummed and reached down to run a hand through Toby's hair. He had rested his head on her shoulder while he stared out at the room absently, emotionally drained and probably ready for a nap despite the early hour. Their meeting was going to start soon and Monk would be on his way back from grabbing Mai breakfast from the restaurant at the front of the museum by now.

"I will," she assured her, " I just want to get through this meeting first."

The breakfast that found its way to her was a collection of fruits, yogurt, and oats all mixed together in a bowl that was almost the size of her head. But it was delicious. The natural sugars in the fruit did wonders to give her a boost of energy and the yogurt and oats filled the cavernous insides of her stomach nicely. Had Monk brought her meat or eggs she might have refused to eat altogether just because she knew it would have settled horribly in her stomach. There had been one too many mornings after a night of dreaming that had ended in horrible episodes of nausea, it was the reason she hadn't eaten much the night before.

"Where'd you come from?" Monk questioned Madoka and Toby teasingly as he watched Mai eat.

"Toby knew Mai was scared," Madoka offered in explanation with a tired shrug.

"Jeez," Monk exclaimed quietly with a tired sigh. There was just no winning for that kid. He had an excellent breakthrough with the bracelet Mai made for him but, in return, he was exposed to the horrors that she was.

A moment of silence fell between their small group before Mai settle her spoon on the rim of the bowl and shot Monk a scrutinizing look, eyes narrowed. "What exactly did you speak with Oliver about last night?" she asked with suspicion.

Monk reached up to scratch at his cheek while fighting back a grin, "It wasn't a shovel talk if that's what you're worried about."

Mai's brows furrowed in true confusion, wondering what else the man would have felt the need to pull Oliver away for. Perhaps he had wanted to apologize for his previous behavior. Patch things up before it became a problem for the case. But Madoka was giving the Monk a conniving grin before she hid her mouth behind her hand with a snort.

"Sometimes, a man just needs a one-on-one with another man, Mai. It's not your place to snoop," Monk exclaimed factually and shifted where he stood, crossing his arms.

Mai scoffed.

While Monk dropped down at the table with the ladies and Toby, the rest of the team finally began to stumble into the meeting room like a group of zombies. Half of them were exhausted from the short night of sleep they managed to catch while the others were focused on their tasks and had just resurfaced to move to the other room. Nora looked like a raccoon with the heavy shadows that hung from her eyes, she and Tristan made quite the pair as they settled at another table together and slumped over its surface.

"What did we miss?" Ayako drawled as she entered the room and paused. She had pulled on a dark green sweater that hung from one shoulder with a pair of tight black pants and a pair of heeled boots. At her side was Masako looking much better in a deep plum kimono and copper-colored obi that gleamed like silk in the low light.

Monk snorted, "What do you think?"

Ayako turned a scrutinizing look on Mai with a raised brow. Her eyes were drawn to the cup of tea on the table before they settled on Toby. It would take a fool not to notice the connection that had formed between the two and Ayako knew it had to do with the bracelet on his wrist from what John had told her. Now he was practically asleep in her arms, eyes at half-mast and head drooping.

"Any injuries or sickness?" she asked dryly.

Mai shook her head with a tired smile. The exhaustion that had befallen her body didn't fall under those categories though it had felt like it did. Her hips still throbbed every time she moved but she knew it would pass after a few more hours.

"Good morning, everyone," John greeted as he entered the room. He looked a little dazed but otherwise well-rested, tucked away in a white hoodie and jeans.

The chorus of good mornings was just dying off when the remaining members of the group finally returned. Oliver and Yasuhara were in the middle of a conversation when they sauntered in but Mai's practiced eye couldn't find anything off about the man who had fled the room earlier, but Lin striding in after him with an exhausted expression on his face said more. He didn't even bother greeting anyone before he came and joined Madoka at the table with a sigh.

Oliver came to stand next to Mai with arms crossed, leaning back against the counter of the kitchenette while Yasu trailed off and found a table to sit at and booted up his laptop. A general hush fell over the group with his presence in the room, even those from SPR were waiting to hear what he had to say.

But he didn't say anything. He just stood there with those eyes of false innocence pinned to her face and she was very much reminded of a seventeen-year-old Naru waiting for her to make a bigger idiot of herself in front of a client.

And then Mai caught sight of Monk smirking behind a hand and realized Oliver was waiting for her to start the meeting. Her face fell flat of any expression and she heaved a sigh before she bit the bullet and shakily pushed herself to her feet with Toby in her arms. He seemed to come back to life for a moment at the movement before she turned and settled him back in the chair by himself. If the shift in Oliver's stance was an indication of his guilt for somehow indirectly making her stand then she only enjoyed it for a moment before she shifted away to face the room with a sigh.

"Good morning everyone," she began with a chuckle, "I'd like us to go over everything we have learned since our arrival."

The meeting lasted for an hour and the majority of it was no more than conjecture with the few pieces of information confirmed through Mai, Masako, and Yasuhara.

"I've never felt such fear before," Masako admitted from behind a kimono sleeve. Her face grew pale at the mere memory. "It overwhelmed all of my senses. I'm afraid I am unable to confirm anything other than the fact that something very horrible happened here."

"That's alright, Masako, you're word brings value to my suspicions," Mai assured her while flipping through the pages of her notebook. She notated Masako's statement down before sticking the end of the pen between her lips thoughtfully. "Andrew, I could actually use your help. I really want a full layout of the museum. Would you be able to locate floor plans?"

"I'll speak with the curator today and see what I can find," Andrew assured her.

"I did manage to find some information on the other missing person cases," Yasuhara voiced from his seat with a hand raised to garner her attention. "There haven't been any additional cases since Lydia's disappearance but before her, there were four others," he informed the room with a grimmer tone.

Mai jotted that down while Oliver lifted a hand to his chin in thought. The rest of the room grew rather focused on the younger man but, given the darker nature of his report, he chose not to revel in the attention as he normally would.

"Since the museum's creation, it seems a person has gone missing every thirty years," Yasu continued after adjusting his glasses, "Back in the sixties it was Cheryl Stroff, and before that, it was Donald Maverick in the thirties. The first to go missing was a young boy by the name of Sebastian Elonzo. No matter how much I research, however, none of them have anything in common."

"Could you send me that list, Yasuhara," Tristan asked from the other side of the room.

"It sounds like some sort of ritual," Monk mused from his seat, a hand lifted to his chin in thought.

Like it's feeding, Mai thought to herself. The suddenness of the idea urged her to write it down, suspecting it would be of value to the case overall. If Monk was correct in his thinking then it could be some sort of feeding ritual. Perhaps…she turned her attention to Tristan and asked: "Tristan, do you know of any creatures or spirits that feed on fear?"

Tristan ran a hand through his hair with a gusty sigh. "Honestly, there are too many to count. The question is whether they actually exist or not. With the criteria, I can certainly narrow it down though. I'll have a list sent out tonight with possible candidates," he said.

"Excellent," she murmured in response, already adding that to her growing list of meeting notes.

"I recommend no one leaves base without a partner from here on out," Oliver finally spoke up after nearly forty minutes of conversation. "If what Yasuhara says is true, then we are coming upon the deadline, Lydia went missing nearly thirty years ago. The increase in activity might pertain to this."

An anxious silence took over the room at that and Mai sent the sleepy Toby a worried look. She didn't want him anywhere near the museum with that in mind. With his wide range of emotional capabilities, and if their building theory was correct, then he was like an entire buffet for whatever the thing was. She closed her notebook and tapped it against a palm in stressful thought. She sent Oliver a look over her shoulder and it seemed his thoughts mirrored her own because he settled a pointed look on Madoka.

"At lunchtime, we'll rotate groups at the restaurant. Madoka, you'll bring Toby and once you're finished Lin will escort you off the property," Oliver instructed in a tone that brooked no argument.

"Got it," she assured him with a curt nod.

"Lastly," Mai cut in once the instructions had settled in, "Who would like to stay at the hotel tonight?"

The meeting concluded a few minutes later. Mai was surprised to find that the majority of their group wanted to stay at the museum in order to keep working but she had managed to convince Nora, Andrew, Tristan, and Masako to stay at the hotel that night with her. Monk wanted to stay another night and Ayako agreed to remain at his side. Lin outright refused to set foot in the hotel, not capable of leaving the monitoring to just anyone regardless of experience. Oliver did not give her an answer when she asked which she suspected meant he wanted to remain at his post and thought she was being rather dumb. Nothing new there.

Tasks were quickly divided for the day. They had nearly thirty-seven batteries that needed to be changed, a total of ten cameras that needed relocating, and audio from eight microphones needing to be reviewed. It was the most work Mai could recall them ever needing to be done while on a case in the past but she supposed it was to be expected, the museum was the largest property they had investigated, and it was also the largest team they had worked with. Only time would tell how well they could work together.