It began to rain as he stepped out from the house. He looked up at the sky, blinking against the raindrops as they trickled down his face. Winter was coming closer but its transition seemed milder than most years. Spending most of his younger life in England he'd seen his fair share of rainy days and harsh winters. The rain didn't bother him as he strolled through the town. His men seemed less comfortable with it as they tried to shield themselves from the growing raindrops that broke into smaller sprays when they made impact with anything in their path.

As the rain grew heavier still he pulled his collar up so it hugged his neck. With dark clouds stealing away the daylight people were beginning to turn their house lights on, before they closed their curtains he could see them looking through the windows at him and his men. He waved at them and they waved back. As he passed by Trixie's house he heard her front door open. Looking round he saw her standing just inside the doorway, keeping out of the rain and looking at him quizzically.

"Mad dogs and Englishmen." Langford quoted smiling at Trixie.

Trixie understood the nature of the phrase and crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall, "Well we all know you're an Englishman but are your men all mad dogs?"

"For staying out in this I suppose they are. They're only following orders."

"Maybe you could change their orders before Doctor Malone has to come here and treat sixteen cases of pneumonia?"

Langford raised his eyes to the sky again before looking about him at his men doggedly carrying out their patrols in the driving rain. What should have been a simple decision had him in two minds. Taking his men off of their patrols and into the warm and dry was the right decision when it came to their welfare but he couldn't guarantee that Lily wasn't nearby and wouldn't take advantage of the poor weather and no visible security around the town.

A strong gust of wind made up his mind and he put in a radio call to all of his men, they all heard it and those within sight looked to him for confirmation before they headed back to their reconstructed base. He nodded to confirm his order and smiled at Trixie before he walked away whistling.

Trixie shook her head and closed her front door. She walked into the lounge and smiled at her friends who had listened in to the exchange. Stingy and Ziggy shuddered at the state of the weather outside before Trixie shut it out by closing the blind and then the curtains. It was cocoa weather and she smiled as she sniffed the air and was grateful that Ziggy had helped himself into her kitchen and made them all a fresh batch. Seating herself down she took a sip of cocoa from the mug set down in front of her, it was a little too chocolaty for her taste but out of manners she drank it anyway.

Still somewhat alien to basic manners, Stingy took a sip of his cocoa before grimacing and setting it back down on the table. Pulling a face at Ziggy's slightly hurt expression he looked back at Trixie who was evidently annoyed at him. He shrugged at her before moving things along.

"So what are we going to do? How can we get Robyn back?" He asked.

Ziggy looked down glumly, "What if she doesn't want to come back? A lot of bad stuff has happened to her here, she could have a new life out there."

"We can't think like that!" Trixie protested, "Robyn is one of our oldest friends. We grew up with her and she belongs here. Besides, she'd never leave Kit."

"Unless Kit goes there with her," Ziggy whined in the same fashion he had done when he was six.

Stingy slapped his forehead with distraction, "Kit wouldn't leave Robbie and I agree with Trixie, Robyn would never leave Kit. I can't vouch for whether she'd leave Sportacus or not after all the mess that's gone on but they seem to have gotten better."

"True. Though I didn't think we'd ever see that happening. We're still in the dark about what those results said but they seem to have gotten over it nonetheless. I just hope Robyn and Bessie can clear things up especially as Christmas isn't far away." Trixie replied.

"If Robyn can get over what's happened with Sportacus she can forgive Bessie. I'm sure we can all get past what's happened this year and move forward. Hopefully Nine will see sense and let Robyn come back. Robyn will be happy again and there won't be any fighting anymore. We'll all go on like nothing bad has ever happened and we'll be stronger than ever because we'll all stick together. Lily or no Lily." Ziggy declared hopefully as he snapped out of his sad mood.

Trixie and Stingy nodded their agreement but they weren't sure if Ziggy's ideal world outcome would be the one that greeted them in the coming new year.