A/N: Guess who's coming back! NABOO! I'm as excited as Vince, believe me. I did this instead of my Chemistry homework, so if I get detention, at least it'll be worth it. And it was remarkably easy to write- compared to how some chapters have been, anyway. I hope you like it :D

Disclaimer: The Boosh is not mine and (probably) never will be.

Howard's POV

We were a little tense for a while, thanks mainly to our anticipation of Naboo's return. That's not to say we would have been entirely comfortable without that. Vince was still scared, I could tell. But he did look a little happier. He'd always been pretty close to Naboo, and Bollo doted on him, like a parent, in a way. I always got the feeling there was something I didn't know about their relationship, but I never pried. Partly because I knew how much our magical friends disliked me. At least they tolerated me. Alena was sitting on one of the chairs in the corner, her head hanging over the low back.

"Are you okay?" I asked, breaking the silence. She looked up at me, shrugged, and leant back again.

"I'm alright." She replied.

"Sure?"

"I'm just adjusting. It's been a long time since I've felt upholstery."

"Good point."

"Don't bother about me, anyway. It's Vince you want to worry about." I looked over at him sitting on the window seat, staring out onto the street below. That childlike image still hung around him, same as it always did; he was like a child waiting for Father Christmas. Or waiting for someone to come home. My stomach twisted in sympathy for him. His innocence was gone now. They said some things you couldn't take away, but the drugs had done a fairly thorough job of taking away the Vince I knew. If he stopped smiling, I would know I'd lost him. But for now he was clinging on to his life. And hopefully his grip wouldn't loosen anytime soon. Naboo would make it alright anyway. He would probably tie him to life if that would keep him with us. If anyone could help, it was Naboo.

We sat there for a while. There was a clock on the wall, silver and square and shiny. TICK. TOCK. TICK. TOCK. The sound of the seconds crawling by was driving me insane.

"I'm going to go and start unpacking." I said, standing up. Vince turned around to look at me. "You don't mind, do you?" I asked him.

"No. I'm staying here, though."

"Okay. Tell me when they get here."

"I will." He turned back to the window, and I went into our bedroom. I looked over to see what Alena was up to, but she had fallen asleep in the chair, now curled up with her head on the cushion. I left her to it and went to find my suitcase. I unzipped it quickly, and everything fell out. Not that it mattered; it was mostly clothes. And most of them wanted washing. I decided I might as well find Vince's washing as well and put it all on together. So I undid his suitcase as well and took out all the clothes that weren't folded. I noticed blood on one or two t-shirts, and tried to ignore it as I left the room to put the clothes into the washing machine. I decided not to turn it on yet, since I didn't know how loud it was. I didn't want to disturb the other two. As I looked at them from across the room, I felt like they were my responsibility. Yes, Naboo would help them, but he would just heal them physically. I decided it was up to me to heal them inside. To fix their hearts. And I wasn't going to let them down.

I was just putting my suitcase under the bed when Vince ran in.

"They're here, Howard! They're here!" He shouted. I dropped what I was doing and stood up.

"It was definitely them?"

"Yeah, they're on the flying carpet!"

"Okay, come on then." We went back into the living room, where Vince's excited shout had woken Alena.

"Are they here?" she asked, stifling a yawn. I nodded, and we waited. Two pairs of footsteps became audible; one light and deliberate, one muffled but heavy. There was a knock at the door, and Vince flung it open immediately. Naboo and Bollo stood there with suitcases.

"Vince!" Bollo dropped his case and rushed forward to give Vince a gorilla hug. I saw Vince bury his face in the hair, heard him sniff, and realised he was crying again. Naboo hugged him too, then said:

"It's good to have you back, Vince."

"You too, Naboolio." Vince smiled through his tears. Naboo turned to me next.

"Thanks for looking after him, Howard. You've been better to 'im than I expected." I was shocked. Coming from Naboo, that was like a medal of honour.

"I... You're welcome." I stuttered. Not everything changed, though, as Bollo didn't acknowledge me at all. I didn't mind. I noticed Alena, still sitting in the chair, looking one part confused to two parts scared. I beckoned her over, and she came and stood beside me.

"Naboo, Bollo, this is Alena. She helped us out while we were in the squat." Naboo nodded to her.

"Vince told me about you. You've been on drugs as well?"

"Yeah." She whispered.

"Naboo's got somethin' to help us, Alena." Vince told her.

"With the drugs?"

"Yeah." Naboo opened one of his cases, revealing four large bottles of what looked slug slime. "This'll make sure you can go without drugs. You take it daily for two months and then you should be fine. There's enough for you both. And I left some for the shamans. You know what they're like."

"Mm." Vince picked up one of the bottles and held it to the light. The liquid shimmered slightly, like it had glitter stirred into it. Still, knowing Naboo, that might just have been to make it look nicer.

"And this isn't going to affect them in any other way?" I asked, just making sure.

"It might make 'em a bit drowsy. Take it before bed." he advised them.

"I tried some." Bollo put in. "Tastes like bananas."

"Urgh, not like kids' banana medicine?" Alena said, pulling a face.

"A bit."

"Fantastic. Still, I'd rather that than withdrawal symptoms."

"Yeah." Vince nodded. "Thanks for this, Naboo. I knew you could help."

"Yeah. Now, what did they give you?"

"They?"

"The hospital."

"Anti-depressants and painkillers. Why?"

"You can keep the painkillers, but the anti-depressants will react badly with that stuff." he pointed at the potion. "It'll work in pretty much the same way, too, so you won't need them."

"Right." Vince nodded and picked up the other bottle. He disappeared into our room and came back a moment later empty-handed. Our shaman and his familiar sat down on the sofa. Vince sat next to them, and Alena and I took the chairs in the corner.

"Right." Naboo said. "I want the whole story. Everything that's happened since you left the flat. Even if it seems unimportant. Vince?" Vince nodded and took a deep breath, before beginning to tell the story he'd dreaded voicing to the shaman.

It took a long time to explain everything in the amount of detail Naboo wanted. Eventually, Naboo nodded and said:

"I saw pieces of what happened in visions. I saw Finley."

"What are you gonna do about him?" I asked.

"It's been sorted. We went to the squat earlier. Let's say Finley won't be gettin' up for a while."

"I smashed him." Bollo said proudly.

"What about the rest of them?" Vince asked. "Did you go to the police?"

"No need. They've scarpered."

"What, all of 'em?"

"The ones that were left. They weren't gonna hang about wi' Bollo around. Anyway, what 'appened to the others?"

"We told everyone who hadn't caused us any trouble what was going to happen." Alena explained. "Most of them went just after we did."

"Okay then." Naboo nodded, before standing up. "Where's our room then?"

"This way." I got up and he came with me to the door, followed by Bollo. "There was a bit of an issue with the bed."

"What issue?" He opened the door. "Oh. There's only one. Fine, I'll sort it. You can go, Howard." I ignored the matter-of-fact dismissal and went back to sit with Vince on the sofa. He leant on my shoulder again and closed his eyes. I heard Naboo slam the bedroom door and say:

"Bollo, get out the way." There were incomprehensible mutterings for a few seconds, then a muffled 'whump' noise, like someone punching a large pillow. Bollo's voice piped up.

"You're meant to turn it into two beds, not dog bed!"

"Shut up, you hairy ballbag."

"Told you to just saw it in half."

"You're sleepin' in that bed tonight."

"Don't see why I should, you did it-" I looked down at Vince, who had opened his eyes and was smiling at the racket.

"Back to normal, eh?" I said. Vince's smile got wider. He started to giggle. I started too, and before long we were in fits of laughter. Even Alena joined in, having heard it all herself. Maybe we weren't quite back to normal. But he laughed. He laughed, and that made me hopeful. It made me feel like maybe this would actually work. Yes, we had work to do, and it wouldn't be easy. But I was going to heal them. I was confident in the fact that we would get there in the end.

That last exchange was a good giggle to write :) Reviews would be totally lovely, and I love all my readers loads ^_^

Much love x