Thanks for getting me over one hundred reviews MikariStar, Cheetos, ScipioPB, Guest, teamBLAZE, imagine believe, XxBlue and CrimsonxX, Lady, Guest, and CAPJHMPAgirl! Wow, ten reviews for just one chapter. Totally blown away over here! Though for some reason hitting ninety reviews was more exciting; I have no idea why. I guess it was nearing one hundred, and that had me all freaked out. But now that we're here past one hundred reviews I'm just kind of shell shocked.

Also, damn everything, I'll never have a set schedule for updates. I'm sorry it's sporadic, but that's just who I am. The only thing I can tell you is my goal is to finish this story by Christmas.

P.S. Warning! This chapter got out of hand HUGE. Well, huge for the usual. Kind of dizzying.

Thanks so much for reading!

One Night…

"Happy Ground Hog Day, everybody! Temperatures are low, low, low on this Tuesday morning! Winds are bitter cold, and snow's expected to come roaring in before the lunch hour. Accumulation up to sixteen inches! Highs at fourteen. Nami, how's our traffic report this morning?"

"Will you shut that off?" Allen glared over at Rod, smartly tapping a stack of papers on his desk. "It's so distracting."

Rod held up his finger to shush his friend as he leaned in close to make sure he heard the last of the weather report. He turned the volume knob on his old antennae radio with a worried sigh. "It sounds like we're getting a blizzard!"

"Wow, just look out the window…" Tina whispered, a hand over her mouth as she stared out the gleaming white world behind Gill's desk.

More co-workers moved to linger beside her and gape at the whirling snow beating down, wet and heavy atop their cars. Already, the parking lot was free of any tire tracks, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to see through the thick, slanting sheets pouring down.

"Hey, do you wanna build a snowman?" Luke exclaimed, all but running for his coat.

"But it's so cold – our fingers would fall off!" Tina whined.

"We can just throw our stuff in the microwave later – it'll defrost," Luke said, tugging on his gloves. Tina grabbed him by the collar, shaking her head, and dragged him back into their office.

"Think his brain needs to defrost…" Vaughn muttered from his seat, scribbling out old contacts he didn't need anymore. He had his headset on, deleting messages as he listened to them and deeming them boring or unimportant.

"Will you quit breathing on me?!" Gill grouched, sick of the people crowding around his desk. He accidentally upset his pencil holder, scattering yellow Ticonderoga's everywhere. "Get back to work!"

"Oh, shove off, we've only got a half hour left…" Molly mumbled, sloppily tossing her days files into one of the neat cabinets all lined up in a row between her and Gill. He sent her a wicked glare, but she rolled her eyes and plopped back into her seat.

"We're all just irritable and cold," Basil tried to reason from within his cardboard box. He shivered. "Or, at least, I'm cold. Like, balls to the walls cold."

"Why don't you put on a sweater then?" Alice wrinkled her nose, bending to see through his door. Most everyone else was leaning to see her looking down.

"You mean that's not against dress code? But Rod said—!" Basil gasped. Rod whistled merrily to himself, stapling packets together. Basil snarled, promising his revenge and pointing menacingly.

"Hey, Dan?" Louis attempted to politely get the mass of black hair's attention, and he finally decided to poke him in the head with the end of his pencil. "Dan?"

"Five more minutes…" Dan mumbled into his pillow, shielding his head with his arms.

"B-but I just needed your paper work confirming that supplies order you made late last week…?" Louis realized he was talking to no one as a loud snore escaped from Dan. When he was prodded again, Dan hissed like a feral animal and ducked underneath his desk. Louis dejectedly went to ask Alice, knowing he should have bothered her first.

Vaughn couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was normal for him to feel grumpy; he was always grumpy. But everyone else? There was no mistaking that his fellow employees were all on edge. It was probably the long winter and the cold, but it was still dreary as hell. He looked to the clock over Molly's head, finding there were only a few minutes of the day left. Vaughn quickly and unceremoniously shoved all of his materials into his desk drawers and shut off his monitor.

Like a chain reaction, everyone began to bustle as the day came to an end. Relieved sighs mingled with the stomping as coats were grabbed and the elevator's down arrow button was incessantly tapped.

Vaughn shuffled towards the stairwell, but he hesitated as Molly shook her hair out from around her coat collar and slowly buttoned herself. She had been meticulously avoiding Vaughn, and he began returning the favor. It was already feeling like habit as he spun on his heel to wait for the elevator.

"Will you quit that?" Allen nudged his colleague's shoulder.

Rod was fiddling with the tuning knob of his radio, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated and tried to listen to the static as he juggled holding both his and Allen's briefcases. "I think they're talking about the storm…"

"Attention everyone! Attention!" Hamilton poked his head out of his office door and waved to his employees. He cleared his throat, already dressed in his hat and coat to leave. "Due to the weather, they're having the building detained so the plows can come through."

Immediate moans and groans of disapproval followed. Hamilton called their attention once again. "Won't be a long delay! Should just be a few minutes. Anyone want to play a game to pass the time? Say… Duck, Duck, Goose?"

"More like Truth, Truth, Cheater," Allen smirked. Alice and Tina laughed as Luke imitated a chicken.

"It was unfair, and you know it!" Hamilton puffed out his cheeks indignantly.

"You can't even see out anymore…" Molly mumbled, having gone to the window to have a looksee. Everyone quieted as a chill, not of cold but of horror, swept up their spines.

"Not to worry," Gill waved off the concern, fluffing the scarf around his neck. "Mr. Hamilton already explained we're awaiting the snow plows. I'm sure we'll all drive safely home and be back for work on time tomorrow."

"That's the part that makes me feel sick," Basil stuck out his tongue, looking pale.

"What's that sound?" Alice asked, scrunching her brow.

"Maybe Basil's gonna hurl," Rod suggested, eyes alight with mockery.

"Basil's just a little car sick, aren't ya, buddy?" Allen gave the poor ginger a fierce noogie. "Get it? Because you miss your car? And you wanna go home? Car sick?"

"Allen, you're hilarious!" Rod laughed too loud.

Alice swatted at them to shut up. "Will you shut it a second…?"

"Maybe it's a ghost!" Luke suggested excitedly.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Gill scolded.

"Gill's right, there's no ghost on the third floor," Allen stuck his nose in the air, crossing his arms. He gave Vaughn a sideways glance. "Never said anything about the basement, though, eh, Vaughn?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Vaughn lied, stoically watching the elevator doors for movement. For some reason, it hadn't arrived yet. Was it having a bad day, too, now?

Tina was next. "Wait… I hear it, too…"

Everyone hushed. True enough, there was a soft rumbling below their feet. It sounded like…

"Screaming…?" Molly's eyes widened.

Instantly, there was mass panic. Molly was practically ran over as everyone in the Persuasive Papers office made a desperate, clawing rush to the stairwell. Gill attempted order, but Hamilton wasn't there to back to him up. Rather, the Regional Manager was at the head of the line, pushing down the door.

"Single file! You'll break your necks, you dolts! Don't think you'll get workers' compensation if you do!" Gill shouted above the pushing and shoving.

Before a single person could worm their way through the door, it came bursting back at them. Multiple bodies hit the floor with an 'oof,' and none other than Terry the janitor stood with a wild look about him in the stairwell.

"Terry?" Vaughn looked up, having been one of the people who had fallen. He wasn't ashamed to say he had been part of the mass hysteria to get out of the office.

"Trapped… trapped…" the old man shook. His eyes were paralyzed in fear, staring off into oblivion.

"What?!" Allen shoved Luke's head into the carpet in order to push himself up.

"Did you say trapped?!" Tina asked, lying on her back on top of the pile and staring at him upside down.

Terry let out another shrill scream, revealing him to be what the girls had heard earlier. He clawed at his face. "The doors! The doors! The snow's piled them up! Froze 'em shut! We're stuck here! We're all gonna die!"

By this point, most of them had managed to get to their feet. They pushed past Terry and went to see for themselves if anything could be done. And Vaughn was ahead of the pack, taking the steps four at a time and practically sliding down the handrails.

When they reached the lobby, Vaughn realized how dark it was. Normally, most of the light came from the windows along the entire wall that held the front door. Instead of sunlight or even streetlight, there were dark mounds of snow piled impossibly high. Only a sliver of space at the top revealed the sky.

"Holy shit…" Allen muttered.

Vaughn threw himself screaming against the door, trying in vain to push it open. "I can't stay here! I'm not staying here! It has to move! IT HAS TO."

It didn't take much convincing for Luke, Tina, Allen, Rod, and Basil to pitch in and start hurling themselves against the glass to help. It didn't matter. No matter how they pushed or pounded or yelled, the weight of the snow was too much for them.

"It's no use!" Alice called, stomping her foot. "We have to find another way out!"

Having removed his coat and pushed up his sleeves for the endeavor, Vaughn looked around the dark lobby room for another solution. Alice was right. There had to be another door.

"Have you checked the emergency exits?" Molly wrung her hands beside Alice.

Louis came from the left hall, and Dan came back from down the right. Both were bearers of bad news.

"Both exits are shut tight," Dan jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.

"Same over my way…" Louis panted with hands on his knees.

Heartbeats were thundering in their ears. What could they do?

"The plows!" Tina said.

"Yeah! They're probably here by now!" Luke chorused.

In the same manner they descended the stairs, everyone was sprinting back up to get a look outside. When they arrived back on their floor, they heard something they weren't expecting. Gill having a meltdown.

"Nooooo! Stop! Stoooop!" Gill was beating his fists against the window that was also iced shut. All of his banging had cleared some of the snow away from the pane. Faces crowding around him to see out, they could spot a large snow plow pushing the snow out of the parking lot… and straight against the building.

"Don't they know we're in here?!" Alice gasped.

"Probably not… we're usually the last in the building," Vaughn muttered.

"Trapped… trapped…" Terry catatonically rocked back and forth on the floor, huddled up in a ball by the elevator and hugging his mop.

The reality was settling in. Wary glances were exchanged between them. They were survivors now. It was eat or be eaten.

The plow backed up with a jerk, hitting Gill's Kia and setting the panic alarm off. Gill hit his fist against the window again, watching as his car was crumpled like a soda can by the inattentive plow driver. "Oh, hell!"

"We… we need to be calm about this," Hamilton announced, holding up his hands. "If we're going to be stuck in the building all night, we should make the most of it!"

Louis, surprisingly, was the first to support him. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "Mr. Hamilton's right… It won't be so bad if we just wait it out."

"'Won't be so bad?'" Alice challenged, arms crossed and an irritated purse between her brows. "What are we going to do for food?!"

The faces looked between one another once again before there was a mass exodus back down the stairs. They bit and pinched and pushed one another aside to get to the only vending machine in the building – which happened to be back down in the lobby.

The shiny, glass case was next to the door to the stairs on the first floor. This time, Luke was first, but he didn't have his change in his pocket ready.

"Me first! I've got a dollar out!" Rod waved it above the heads, trying to push through.

"I've got dibs on the last Milky Way!" Louis slammed his hand against the glass to call it.

"No fair! I don't like Funyuns!" Tina complained.

"What's in here anyways?" Vaughn easily shoved Luke aside to take inventory.

This time Gill was with the party of ravenous workers who were about to go without dinner unless they could buy out the concessions before them. He twisted the skin on the back of Rod's neck, making the man cripple to the floor and out of his way. He graciously stepped over his body and stood next to Vaughn, a pensive hand at his chin. "What do we have?"

"Practically cleared out," Vaughn answered. He rattled off the contents. "Some Cheetos, a whole row of Funyuns, a Milky Way, four Pay Days, an old oatmeal raisin cookie, two Sun Chips, and three packs of mini powdered doughnuts."

Allen whistled low. Their stomachs rumbled ominously at the scarce menu.

"I still got dibs on that Milky Way," Louis whispered.

"Nonsense!" Gill turned to face his fellows with bravery. "We must share the provisions we have in order to survive this! Now turn out your pockets – we're taking it all."

Luke had removed his shoe, none to the digression of his peers. The awful stench was not much of a surprise though as him using it as a weapon against the machine. Taking the heel to the glass with a hard whack, it cracked in fine, spider web fractures over row C.

"What are you doing?!" Gill shrieked, unable to stop him as he hit it again.

"You said this was survival – I'm surviving!" Luke said, gritting his teeth and bringing his boot down a third time.

"Hold up, gimme that," Vaughn held his hand out for the boot. It was relinquished to him as he was closer to do the job.

"Thank you, Vaughn," Gill said, straightening his bolo. "Now if we can get some civilized order, we can pay for—"

"Hit it by the handle!" Allen cheered as Vaughn brought the boot's heel hard against the glass.

"Savages…" Gill grumbled, unable to stop the riot.

After the fifth strike, the glass tumbled down in tiny shards. Everyone jumped back and some squealed, but it wasn't long before hands were greedily reaching in and grabbing the loot. Vaughn wound his arm in over the broken glass and unlocked the door from the inside, pulling the front open so it was easier to get to. Arms were quickly loaded up with the junk food, and they made their way back to their camp upstairs.

The food was piled in the middle of the floor, and before anyone could say dibs, Hamilton was on it faster than free guacamole.

"Mine!" He shrilled, digging into the plastic wrapper around a trio of doughnuts.

"Off! Back! Back!" Gill swatted at his boss. Hamilton rolled off the pile protecting his face from the coat Gill was using as a weapon.

"How do we split it up?"

"First come, first serve?"

"My boot did the work – I deserve the Milky Way!"

"But I called dibs…!"

"Should we draw straws?"

"Yahoo!"

Everyone stopped and turned at the last exclamation. Dan's eyes were bright and attentive, and he had a roughish grin. He was juggling a pair of dice in his hand. "I say we play poker. Winner takes pot. Divvy's it up as he likes. Savvy?"

"What the hell, Dan?" Vaughn asked, looking just as startled as everyone else at his change in behavior.

"Do you wake up at night or something?" Alice wrinkled her nose in annoyance.

He winked at her. "I would for you, sugar tits."

"Do you know how much work I do during the day?! While you sleep?!" Alice screeched.

"Don't be such a buzz kill, darlin,'" Dan said.

She folded her arms across her chest and turned her nose up at him. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I liked you better when you were asleep."

"No one's gambling for the food, and we're not pulling straws!" Gill intervened, now that the threat of Hamilton was abated. He tossed his coat aside and rolled up his sleeves. His peers waited in earnest as he cleared his throat. "It's obvious how this should be distributed. Those with the most important standings in the office shall go first—"

"Oh, bullshit!" Molly stomped her feet, hands clenched at her sides. "I'm not getting stuck with the Funyuns just because I've got to take phone calls for a living."

"New plan," Vaughn said. "Whoever inflicts the most pain on Gill gets the Milky Way."

"Everybody stop!"

Every shocked face in the room was staring straight at a very stressed out, panting Louis with his arms spread out between Vaughn and Gill. The young man adjusted his askew glasses and took a deep breath, glad for the silence. "We need to be methodical about this… and above all, fair. And since I called dibs on the Milky Way…"

"Free for all!" Hamilton screamed at the top of his lungs.

Dan whooped in excitement and lunged for the pile. Half a dozen of his coworkers instantly followed suit, biting and tearing for the candy bar somewhere amidst the chaos. When Vaughn managed to get a bag of Cheetos, he wasn't about to complain and got out of there fast and, shockingly, alive. He saw Rod and Basil taking the opportunity to try and kill each other, and Louis had Gill in a headlock over a Pay Day.

"Let go, you stubborn, old man!" Allen demanded, pulling at Terry's fingers. "Your death is inevitable! You have to let the young survive!"

"Never!" Terry went rolling to try and keep the cheddar cheese Sun Chips. The crisps inside cracked and crunched from the tussle.

Vaughn found that his desk was too out in the open near all of the scrapping, so he went to the next best spot he could think of. He opened the door to the conference room and shut it behind him. He ducked down below the windows and made his way on his hands and knees for the nearest corner.

"Spot's taken!" Molly hissed, already huddled in his choice safe zone.

"Scoot over!" Vaughn said, pushing her shoulder.

Molly moodily scrunched her knees tighter to her person and allowed Vaughn some space. She eyed the bag clenched in his fist. "What'd you manage to get?"

With the muffled sounds of war behind the wall, Vaughn opened up the bag of Cheetos, taking out one that was still intact and munching on it. He eyed Molly's bag of mini powdered doughnuts in slight surprise.

"I'll give you half a squished doughnut for three Cheetos," Molly bargained.

Vaughn shrugged and held out his chip bag to her. Eyes glowing with feline pleasure, Molly picked out her snack and passed half a squashed doughnut his way.

"Thanks," he said.

"You guys?! Always taking the best spots…" Allen grumbled, closing the door and hiding behind it. He slid to the floor, determined to keep the door shut.

"You get anything?" Vaughn asked between chewing.

"Old man stole my Sun Chips…" he crossed his arms.

Vaughn rolled his eyes. Molly smirked, and Vaughn tossed his open bag of Cheetos at Allen. "You can have 'em. I'm not hungry anyways."

"You're a life saver!" Allen praised, catching the bag and shoveling the junk food into his face to appease his grumbling stomach. "In exchange for your act of kindness, I'm willing to teach you how to dress properly. Tip one: start with wearing a different color – black shirt with black pants is so last funeral."

"You're pushing it," Vaughn growled.

There was a loud thump on the door followed by a muffled 'ow!' Then the door was violently pounded, causing Allen to topple forward and scoot away to safety.

"What the hell?!" Alice held her nose, pain blossoming from where she collided with the door. She looked around at the people already hiding in the conference room and snorted. "I should've figured…"

"Is it safe in here…?" Tina poked her head from behind Alice as she entered the room and found a seat.

"Sweet! Move over, Tina, and pass me the Funyuns," Luke noisily made his way in behind them.

"Butt out, Basil!" Rod barked, rudely shouldering the intern.

"I was here first, goggle head!" Basil said, shoving him back as the pair squeezed in the door shoulder to shoulder.

"Plant sucker!"

"Neil wannabe!"

"Who?!"

"Why are we all in the conference room?" Louis brought up the rear. He ran straight into Rod and Basil, who didn't notice him at all, but the collision caused Louis' oatmeal raisin cookie to get crumbled. "Aw, man…"

"Yahoo!" Dan hollered, racing into the room on an energy buzz. He had two Pay Days, and one was sticking out from between his smiling teeth.

Noticing Molly's irritated scowl at all of the company, Vaughn nudged her shoulder. "Guess we're trend setters."

"We? You followed me in here!" She stuck out her tongue.

Gill was soon in and fiddling with his bolo empty-handed. Alice enthusiastically patted the floor next to her, and he rolled his eyes and took the seat reluctantly. She shared her Funyuns with him. Terry stood just outside the door with his mop, crunching the Sun Chips as loudly as he could as he eyed Allen.

"Ah! So this is where the party's at," Hamilton found a jolly spot and sat cross-legged on the floor. He slowly and meticulously peeled back the wrapper of the Milky Way.

Silence. Their boss hadn't realized he had sat down in the dead center of a circle of starving predators. Dan was the first to stand on his knees, pointing at him. "He's got the Milky Way!"

"I called dibs!" Louis shouted, scandalized.

Before Hamilton could finish screaming like a sissy, his employees tackled him and powered the candy bar from his grasp. It passed hands half a dozen times, flying through the air and sliding across the carpet. Luke caught it in his teeth, but Tina pulled it out from his jaw. It was snagged from her by an awestruck Terry who was shamelessly tackled by Allen. The candy bar went sailing and landed a perfect goal down Alice's shirt. Luckily, she managed to retrieve it before anyone could senselessly grope her, but the ensuing confusion when both Rod and Basil dived and clunked heads for it sent the Milky Way right out of its wrapper.

Horrified expressions followed the chocolate as it went end over end in slow motion to the floor. It hit with an agonizing thump, and it tragically rolled and crashed into the wall. It stopped its adventure in the corner, covered in staples, dust, and spider webs.

Everyone let out a depressed sigh.

All except Luke, who was still going madly after it. In his haste, he landed on his stomach and snatched it, stuffing it into his mouth without further prompting. He turned to his silent, disgusted fellows and attempted to explain himself through the awkward, rectangular mouthful. "Five second… rule…"

Alice gagged and raced from the room. Terry dismally followed after her with his mop ready, head hung low. Louis shook his fist at the ceiling for this cruel neglect of the dibs law. Rod and Basil rubbed their heads furiously from the pain of colliding and decided they had had enough fighting for one day. In fact, everyone was quite tuckered out.

Molly swallowed the last of her doughnut. She crumpled the wrapper and tossed it at her boss's head which was conveniently close for the shot. "So what do we do about sleep arrangements?"

Hamilton didn't react to the plastic tapping his forehead and rolling off. He blinked stupidly at her for a moment before jumping to his feet (scattering a few unfortunate souls who were still dogpiled on top of him), and pointed ecstatically to all of the women. "Any and all ladies are welcome to spend the evening in my very own private office! I have an empty mini fridge, free pens, and three discs of Pilates for Hotties."

Alice could be heard having a second bout of hurling in the hallway. All eyes turned to their boss in blatant disregard of his suggestion.

"No, but seriously, where are we going to sleep?" Allen asked.

"Maybe if we clear off our desks…?" Louis wondered aloud.

"You suckers never prepare for shit like this. Luckily for me, I've got my trusty pillow," Dan bragged, and rightly so. Who else was as prepared for sleep as he was every work day?

"Oh, hey! We can always get those packing peanuts from the first floor storage!" Tina exclaimed.

Luke finally managed to swallow the last of the dirt riddled Milky Way. He roughly punched her in the shoulder. "Great idea! Let's go build a fort in our office!"

"Yay!" She cheered. They buzzed out faster than the road runner.

"I-I suppose we just have to fend for ourselves," Louis decided.

Gill pulled back his sleeve and examined his watch. "It's nearly seven. We should all be turning in."

Molly went into roaring fits of giggles, unable to articulate a joke for his statement. With a huff, Gill smoothed back his hair but for a cowlick and haughtily left the conference room.

Vaughn followed him out and found Luke and Tina fervently fighting to take Basil's box from him. The ginger was blocking them with all he could, a frantic look on his face.

"Come on, how else are we going to get all of those packing peanuts up here?" Tina placed her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Could make a decent bed for the night," Allen joined in, appraising the cardboard shelter at all angles.

"You assholes aren't going to take my box from me!" Basil declared, tears shimmering in his eyes as he spread his arms wide.

"I thought you didn't like your box!" Luke argued with a valid point for once.

Basil paled. He stroked his box lovingly like it was an old pet. "I… I've gotten attached…"

"Where are you going to sleep?" Allen followed after Vaughn with interest as the silver-haired grump went straight for his desk.

"The floor," he answered shortly. He found his coat discarded on the ground after having been used to transport the vending machine goodies. This he spread out in his cubicle and laid down on like a beached whale.

"This is going to be awful…" Molly rubbed the back of her neck, already anticipating the stiffness.

"It can't get much worse, darling," Allen slung his arm good-humoredly around her.

Though his joke wasn't a challenge, the universe decided it was. The lights flickered out with a nasty pop. Seconds later, the heating duct rumbled until it was still. Rod's radio was the only electronic left working with its static finally managing to clear up enough for the reporter's chipper voice to rub in their distress.

"—it's official, folks! Phil the ground hog has not seen his shadow! That's right – it's an early spring for us this year!"

It was decided that someone needed to find the electrical switch in the basement and give power to the generators. Unless they all wanted to freeze to death, that is.

The most likely candidate, Terry, was vehemently against going alone in the dark. As Louis was the only one nerdy enough to keep a flashlight in his desk, he was nominated to accompany him. But no one was about to trust a near-sighted scaredy-cat and an old mop bucket wielder to be the trusted heroes of their fate, so the group number was added upon. Those who remained behind were persuaded to play another round of blind Duck, Duck, Goose with Hamilton as they waited for the lights and heat to come back on.

I always end up in these freak shows… Vaughn set his jaw as he followed the light of the flashlight going down the stairs. He wasn't surprised to be asked to go, but he was rather surprised who had accompanied them voluntarily.

Like Allen, who was up front holding the torch. He was whistling amiably with a skip in his step at the adventure. Gill was scolding him for rocking the light about like a loon, so Allen only swayed it around more spastically to piss him off. Terry's shoulders were set in front of him, mumbling to himself about whether or not he remembered how to navigate the fuse box. Louis was already wide-eyed and looking around at the ceilings and walls of the stairwell like he was waiting for someone to jump out and say 'boo.' Molly's heels clicked carefully behind Vaughn, bringing up the rear.

The snow piled against the windows in the musty stairwell at each floor, getting thicker and thicker as they went down to the lobby. By the time they were before the locked door to the basement on the first floor, the flashlight was a necessity. Having swiped it from Allen, Gill trained the light on the lock as Terry squinted at his ring of jingling keys.

"Seeing as we're going to the basement," Allen emphasized the word, leering at a sweating Louis. "What do you say we tell a few ghost stories?"

"That's ridiculous, not to mention immature," Gill glared. "Everyone knows there's no such things as ghosts."

"Says the guy who always dies first," Allen pounced on Louis' shoulders, making him squeak.

"Cut it out, Allen," Vaughn said under his breath.

"Oh, come now! We've got a classic waiting for us right behind this door!" Allen gestured to the grimy, steel barrier before them. "Don't you remember the Tale of the Basement Terror?"

"I remember!" Molly suddenly spoke up with a smile. "You guys used to tell that one to Candace to freak her out."

"Aha! You'd remember it, wouldn't you, Molly doll?" Allen affectionately pinched her cheek. "The spooky story of a technical assistant meeting his demise…"

"We made it up," Vaughn rolled his eyes with his hands in his pockets.

"Proving ghosts are just a fabrication to upset the weak-minded," Gill reaffirmed.

"Will ya keep the light on me, you whippersnapper?!" Terry snapped, losing his spot on his key ring and having to start all over again.

"Nevertheless, it worked on Candace," Molly sighed at the nostalgia. "She used to cross her heart every time she passed this door."

"She did?" Louis asked, already in the palm of Allen's manipulative hand.

"It's just a story, Lou," Vaughn reminded.

"It was a dark night, much like this one," Allen jumped right into it. He took Gill's wrist and aimed the flashlight underneath his chin to give him a spookier countenance.

"Aw, dammit!" Terry cursed.

Gill pulled the torch back with a scowl, but Allen went on unperturbed to his audience. "His name is unspeakable. It's said that he'll have no trouble finding you if you say it aloud. He's haunted the halls of this very office building for decades, but everyone knows that his home is in the basement where he met his tragic, unsavory end."

Molly was grinning in anticipation for the story to unfold, and Louis was practically chattering his teeth as he hugged his shoulders. Vaughn was only half-listening with a small smile, but when eyes turned to him, he quickly frowned. Allen waggled his eyebrows, giving him the floor. Vaughn blew at the hair out of his face. "It was a cold winter day when the tech support man was called to the building…"

Allen smirked in victory, and Molly clapped her hands in excitement. Louis was biting his nails.

"It was an internal error. You know, the usual. He planned on being in and out within the hour."

"But what he didn't plan on was a blizzard," Allen continued, clapping Vaughn on the shoulder.

"Wow, you guys, this sounds just like what we're going through!" Louis' voice rose in panic.

"The storm caused all sorts of electrical surges and unnatural phenomena," Vaughn continued unhindered. Terry found the right key and tested the lock, so he sped up the story somewhat. "The tech support man was alone in the building when he crept down to the basement with only his flashlight and tool box with him. He stepped down each creaking step, but he never made it to the bottom."

"He… what?" Louis wrinkled his nose in confusion. "What happened? Did he fall down?"

"Logically, he wouldn't even be in the building after hours…" Gill muttered, getting into the story against his will.

Vaughn shook his head. "No, he saw something at the bottom."

"Wh-what was it?" Louis stuttered, not realizing he was clinging to Molly.

"Nobody knows," Vaughn shrugged. "But it's said that it scared him so badly that he tried running back up the stairs. Only the lights went out from the storm. Or… so they say it was the storm. But it didn't matter, because just like that—"

"BAM!" Allen jabbed Louis in the side right on cue, making the glasses actually fall from Louis' face with his surprised yell and squirming. "Just like that – he was dead!"

"All they found was his flashlight at the bottom," Vaughn finished.

"It's said that he stuck around to get his revenge on the living by showing them the terrifying image he saw," Allen added with a happy twirl.

"That is the worst story I've ever heard," Gill stated with a testy frown.

"Surprised you haven't heard it before, busy body," Vaughn snidely remarked.

"I don't know, I thought it was p-pretty convincing…" Louis mumbled.

"Jeez, Louis, I never knew you were such a scaredy-cat," Molly teased the shaking guy with a giggle.

As Louis picked up his glasses and wiped them off on his shirt, Terry pushed the door open and took the flashlight from Gill. "Worthless, story-telling idiots… You coming or what?"

"Well?" Allen cryptically whispered to Louis. "You going to take the first step?"

"Oh, stop it – he's spooked enough," Molly said, following behind Terry and Gill down the promised, creaking metal stairs.

Vaughn whacked Allen in the back of the head and descended the staircase. Allen quickly skipped behind, taking the steps with a spry bounce.

"M-maybe I'll wait up at the top for you guys…" Louis said, staring in terror at every step he took down the staircase. He kept warily looking up despite trying to force his focus on his feet to avoid seeing whatever the dead tech support guy saw.

"Louis, it's a story," Vaughn repeated as the group reached the bottom step.

"Yeah, and since you made it to the ground, he can't show you what he saw now," Allen said, hopping down beside Vaughn with a hand in his pocket. He carelessly waved his hand in the air. "Then again, that just might make him angrier. Now he might rip out your intestines or something gross like that since you're in his domain."

"I wanna go home!" Louis squealed.

"Wow, it really is like a maze down here though," Molly squinted at the darkness. Gill pointed the circle of light around the room, catching numerous circuit boards and shelves of miscellaneous electronics. Old computer monitors, printers, and boxes upon boxes of wiring was piled everywhere within sight. Between the steel shelves, more rows of the same miscellany seemed to go on for miles. Though the building was getting substantially colder as time went on, the basement was still toasty from the furnace being so close.

Terry took the flashlight from Gill. "Do what you want – I'm going to the fuse box. I could use one of you wastes of space to hold the flashlight for me."

"Right away, Terry," Gill jumped into action and followed the janitor down the line.

The old man pointed the flashlight back at the others, making them squint at the bright beam in their faces. "Like ya said, it's a mess down here. I could use a couple of you to stay at the door here to help lead us back if we get lost. Don't wanna run around all night like a lab rat."

Before Louis could volunteer, Allen wrapped his arm around his shoulders and squeezed him tight, forcing him to walk forward. "What do you say, Lou, my whackadoo? Shall we explore?"

"NO!" Came the definite reply.

"Wonderful! Let's have a look around. And remember, don't say Tim's name out loud, or he'll get you. Oh! Oops~!" Allen held up a hand to his mouth like he didn't do that on purpose.

Louis was led away with his lip quivering. The trail of light slowly disappeared until Molly and Vaughn were left alone in the dark.

"Well, that wasn't a very subtle accident…" Molly huffed. Vaughn heard her shuffle and managed to sit on the last step.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Vaughn asked, not hiding his suspicious tone.

"I've been meaning to talk to you, but I just… haven't," she said with a tired sigh.

"So what? You've been scheming with Allen about me?!"

"Well?!" She blew the bangs from her eyes. Vaughn found a seat beside her, and she instinctively leaned away towards the wall, aiming her legs away from him. "I don't know, I've been weird lately."

"Yeah. Okay. Glad we agree on that," Vaughn said, joining this unexpectedly awaited conversation in a low voice so as not to go overheard.

Molly seemed to have a sense of secrecy as well, but her voice was still louder than his and more exasperated. "I'm being clingy, I know it, and it's weird. I just… thought we were friends… or something…"

Vaughn barely caught the last part. He leaned toward her to hear her better. "…What?"

"It's just one of those things that a friend might tell another friend, that's all…" she clicked her heels together and awkwardly bunched her hands in her lap. "And you don't owe me anything, so I know it's weird, but it still feels like you're keeping a secret, and I don't know why you don't want to talk to me about it… am I untrustworthy? Do you think I'd blab to everybody or judge you? It just feels like I've done something wrong even though it really isn't any of my business to begin with, and it's so frustrating!"

Vaughn's expression deadpanned. "So you saw it."

His eyes had adjusted enough to see Molly's light silhouette turn to him. "Long story short – yeah. So what the hell?!"

He chuckled at her blatancy. Molly was unnerved by the reaction, tapping him briskly on the shoulder. "Hey, don't laugh! I know I'm being lame about this, but you don't have to mock me."

"I can't believe you've been in hiding for almost a month, and it's because you were spying," saying it aloud only increased Vaughn's laughter.

Molly's face darkened as she whispered. "So? Is it a thing? You and Alice now?"

"God, no," his humor immediately dropped. He leaned his elbows on his knees and folded his hands. "There was nothing to it. Just what you saw."

"Yeah, but… I don't know what I really saw," Molly admitted, leaning her hands back onto the stair underneath her. "Looked like that rumor with her and Allen…"

"She said that was one time," Vaughn found himself saying before he thought about it. Was he defending her now? He shook his head. "It was exactly what you saw, and that was it."

"Just a kiss?" Molly actually sounded disappointed.

It made Vaughn scoff. "Yeah. And now that Alice is leaving me alone, I'd say it was a pretty good deal."

It was Molly's turn to laugh out loud. "Well, aren't you a regular Casanova?"

"Somebody call me?" Allen hollered behind the shelves.

"So glad you heard, Prince Charming!" Molly teased, shouting back to him. "Can you guys make it back okay?"

"Terry says he's tripped the fuse and there's a light switch somewhere around you two," Gill replied.

"For the love of God – turn it on!" Louis' shaking voice followed.

Vaughn and Molly stood back up and felt around the concrete walls. When Vaughn was sure it couldn't be on his side, he felt around the wall where Molly was, tracing his hand down.

"I can't find it…" Molly mumbled, reaching around. Unable to locate it on her side, she turned to see if she'd have any luck on Vaughn's side of the wall.

At that moment, Vaughn's hand found the panel and the switch soon after that. Flicking it upwards, the swinging light bulbs strategically placed above their heads illuminated the dusty room all the way to the end of the walls. There were cheers of victory from the four in the back.

Molly was wearing a perplexed expression, and it took Vaughn a good minute to figure out why. She was nearer than he thought she was and right in front of him, only a breath away. He was still leaning across her with his hand on the wall where the switch was, staring down in surprise at finding her there so close.

Her smile grew wider as she reached up and poked him in the forehead. "You okay? You look like you saw 'Tim's ghost.'"

"Er – yeah, I don't know…" Vaughn quickly stood up straight and took a conscientious step back and hit a shelf, rocking it. He turned and held it in place until he was sure it wasn't going to go toppling over. He turned back to see Molly still appraising him with her arms crossed now. "Not used to the light."

"Me neither," she answered, rubbing her eyes. She let out a yawn and caught herself. "Uh-oh, it must be past seven. Bed time."

Vaughn felt more at ease with her jab at Gill, and the two waited patiently for the others to show up. Louis was the first to reappear, and he made a mad dash for the stairs holding his heart.

"Oh, thank God! Let's get out of here!" Louis threw himself past Molly and Vaughn and quickly scaled the staircase.

"I'm disappointed," Allen commented as he approached. "I was sure you two would be mating like rabbits the second we rounded the corner."

"Mr. Allen, don't be so vulgar," Gill scolded before Vaughn or Molly could properly retort. He rolled his eyes and stopped before them. "I just want to fall asleep at my desk and forget about this whole day… Well? Are you two going to just stand there looking stupid, or are you going to get out of the way?"

"Jeez, you sure get cranky after seven," Molly puffed at her bangs and whirled around, hopping spritely up the stairs.

"Good to see my favorite pranksters communicating again," Allen slyly smiled at Vaughn, his blue eyes half-lidded with his demeanor.

Vaughn shook his head and shoved his hands in his pant pockets. "Keep it up, and we'll start filling your desk with sandwiches."

"What was that?!" Gill shrieked from above.

"I'm going straight to my soda machine…" Terry muttered, trudging up the stairs. He motioned for Allen and Vaughn to pass him, so he could get the light, and they did. The old janitor pulled the brim of his hat up out of his eyes and looked around at the quiet stacks of junk piled up over the years. He nodded to no one in particular. "Don't take it out on them, Tim; they're just having a bit of fun."

After the light was switched off and Terry had disappeared up the stairs, the door squeaked closed on its hinges. At the bottom of the staircase, a flashlight that previously had not been there flickered.