It's been a while since I finished a chapter for Red Scarf, hasn't it? Glad to finally see this story moving again.

214-4 and 101-5 and 8 and Sketch McDraw are both mine

James Mayhew belongs to Power Optix

Cogs and Toontown © Disney

Chapter 4

Just for the Night

A screeching wail filled the silent night air as Four shut the door to the warehouse. He'd hidden the Toon as best he could underneath some old drop cloths that had been lying about amongst the debris. Breathing hard, he ran his fingers through his hair as he rested his back against the door. That was one thing taken care of, but now he had a bigger problem to worry about: explaining to his brothers why his suit was covered in dust.

And blood…

"By the Master's…" he groaned, "I can't go home like this. But if I don't, I'll run out of power..."

The Bloodsucker paced about, wracking his brain for ideas. He stopped and bit his lip, thinking of Five.

"He's all alone. No brothers to ask questions and he already saw what I've done."

Be careful yourself!

"Not that he'll take me in after that. I wouldn't blame him."

Four glanced down at the red scarf around his neck and gently unwound it. He ran his fingers over the fine knit, taking some solace in the fibers that rolled across his skin. Sighing, he wound the ends around his hands and pulled it close to his chest; slowly sinking down to the ground.

"If only you were here, Two. Then maybe I…" he paused, a small sob wracking his body, "Ugh, what am I going to do?"

You need to relax. Take some deep breaths. Go find another Toon. Draw them in close and sink your teeth-

Four stood up, his breath hitching in his throat.

"What am I thinking? I can't go after another Toon! I already have blood on my hands…"

What's one more going to hurt? There are so many Toons in this world. Will they really be missed if you were to kill them?

"Of course they will! They have family and friends!"

Just like you do, right? Oh wait…sorry. You don't have friends anymore.

Four growled, grabbing at his ears, "Shut up! I-I do have friends! I have my brothers!"

Do you really think that Three and your other siblings care for you still? Especially after they found out what a freak you are? Sure, they may say they do, but you've seen the way they look at you. Even Three didn't want to hear about your latest break down about your precious Telemarketer-

"Stop it!" Four screeched, "Shut up! Just shut the hell up!"

"Hey! Who's over there?"

The Bloodsucker felt himself freeze as a blind panic washed over him. It was the Night Patrol. He had to get out of here before they spotted him.

"Maybe if I hurry, I can still get to Five…" He muttered to himself.

Even if the Flunky turned him away, he had no other options. It was that or death. And he wasn't too keen on the second option. Quickly engaging his flight propellers, he took off into the night sky just at the Toons rounded the corner. They hadn't seen him. Good. Without another thought he sped off towards Bossbot Head Quarters.

Five sighed as he walked through the quiet grounds heading towards the main building. Most sane Bossbots had already gone to bed by the time he had returned, so there was no one milling about outside. He'd opted to walk as opposed to fly home to give himself some time to sort through everything that had happened. He'd heard about the horrible things Bloodsuckers had done in the past, but to actually see it was another matter entirely; one that seemed to have seared itself onto his retinas that replayed itself like a tape every time he closed his eyelids.

The Flunky stopped mid stride to rub his eyes under his glasses, trying to focus on sleep before he got to his room. But the harder he tried, the more the memory kept surfacing. Sighing he glanced up at the night sky, slightly hazed over with clouds. He briefly wondered if it was going to rain that night. As he continued to walk towards the Head Quarters, he could see the first drops beginning to pelt his glasses and he frowned. He quickened his pace and had almost reached the door when he heard the sound of a flight propeller descending behind him.

"Five, wait!"

He knew that voice. The Flunky turned to look and saw 214-4 standing there. To say he looked disheveled seemed accurate. More so then he had been earlier. The Bloodsucker took a hesitant step towards him, and Five felt himself back up.

"What are you doing here?"

"I can't…" he began, voice shaking, "I can't go home."

"What do you mean 'you can't go home'?"

"I can't. Not like this. I need somewhere to stay, please! It will only be for a night or two until I figure out what to do," Four pleaded.

"S-stay? Four, you killed a Toon! You said it yourself how horrible a crime that is. If I were to let you stay, I'd -"

"You'll be in trouble too, I know. Look, Five, I know we've only know each other two days, and I know I acted cruelly earlier, and I'm sorry," he paused, holding back a sob, "But you have to help me please. I don't want to die."

The faces of his brother and that Toon flashed before his eyes, and Five flinched, taking another step back from the Bloodsucker. Four was glancing down at him hopefully, waiting for his reply. His circuits felt fried with everything that had gone wrong that night. He imagined that Four's were more so, given how rattled he seemed to be over the whole thing. The Lawbot seemed genuinely remorseful, but despite that it still didn't excuse what he did.

"I…I don't know, Four."

The grief on his face intensified and Four fell to his knees. He clasped his hands together around one end of his scarf and looked on the verge of shutting down.

"Please? I'm begging you. I've already disappointed my brothers enough with my abnormalities. I can't let them know I've killed a Toon…"

"Abnormalities? Oh, you mean about that Telemarketer you mentioned before…"

Four nodded solemnly, and the Flunky sighed and looked away for a moment; his head buzzing.

"Why is it so abnormal, anyway? Don't Toons fall in love?"

The Lawbot's ears perked at the questions, "Well, yes, they do. But we're not Toons, Five," he sighed, "Though I suppose that doesn't always matter."

Curious, Five almost prompted him to continue when the building rain from before suddenly began to fall in buckets upon them. A sudden wave of sympathy hit him, realizing that Four would have to stay out in this mess if he didn't bring him inside. And so against his better judgement, he felt his resolve waver. He opened the main door to the Bossbot Club House and held it open.

"Come on, we'll both be water logged if we stay outside much longer."

"Wait, does this mean you're-"

"Yes, but for tonight only. Now hurry up before I change my mind, alright?"

The Bloodsucker looked close to tears as he quickly entered the threshold into the Head Quarters. He said nothing, but gave the Flunky a grateful nod as he was led down the hall to the 101 batch's sleeping quarters. As he walked it occurred to him that he had never really set foot in Bossbot before. It was much more ornate in some ways and less so in others compared to his home. It lacked the highly polished marble floors, having instead a rather plush carpet interspersed with lacquered wood in other halls. The tones and color schemes were varying shades of brown or black, not unlike the Bossbot's suits. He supposed it was more than could be said for Sellbot. The last time he'd been there, their architecture was beginning to rust. Not surprising, as theirs was made mostly of steel and iron…

Five's voice cutting through the silence nearly made him jump.

"Well, it's not much but we're here," he sighed as he unlocked the door.

Four glanced around the room, noting it was nearly identical to his own; rows of bunks that had been for the younger and older members of Five's family, and a single bed for where 101-1 would have slept. There was a small desk near the single window that illuminated the room, and a small wardrobe along the far wall.

"We should get you out of that suit."

Four felt his hard drive sputter as he spun to face the Flunky, "I beg your pardon?!"

Five's palm met his forehead, "How else do you expect it to dry? We both got soaked in that down pour. I think I still have some of my sibling's pajamas lying around. You can borrow them to sleep in. Hopefully your suit will be dry in the morning."

"O-oh! Right, of course…" Four sighed, mentally kicking himself for even thinking of something that debauched.

"You really are abnormal, Four," He chuckled lightly before heading towards the closet.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Four asked indignantly.

A set of clothes hit him in the face as Five flung the pajamas in his direction without a word. Sighing, 214-4 removed his dampened suit and replaced them with the slightly wrinkled, light brown pajamas. They must have belonged to another Flunky at one time, as they were quite large. He was practically swimming in them!

"Don't you have anything…smaller?" Four remarked before turning to look at the other Cog.

Five glared at him, unamused, "What do you think, Four?"

"Well I just thought that…," he stopped himself when he realized how ungrateful he sounded, "Right. These will do fine."

Nodding, Five turned and headed towards his bunk, "Choose whichever one you want. I'll see you in the morning."

"Alright," he paused as he made his way to one of the other bunks and clambered up to the top one before he looked back down at Five, "Hey, uhm…"

"What?"

"I just wanted to say that…I'm glad we're friends, Five."

The Flunky blinked, seeming bemused, "You're welcome?"

Four gave a small smile before turning around to face the wall. He gave a muffled goodnight, which the Flunky returned before the room grew silent.

The rain hit the metal roof of the old warehouse hard; plunking loudly in the still night air of the cavernous space. It would have been soothing had it not been for the grisly scene that sat before him. There were few things that made him uneasy anymore, but murders in Toontown were one of those exceptions. The dog sighed, reaching out a hand and gently closing the eyes of the now lifeless Toon. Her shticker book identified her as Lottie Bun; a promising new Resistance Fighter by the looks of her accomplishments. All of that irrelevant now, having been stolen from her just as her life had.

"We'll catch who did this to you, don't worry," He murmured.

"Detective?"

Standing, Sketch McDraw turned to face the officer who had approached him.

"What is it Mayhew? Good news, I hope."

The shorter, black feline nodded, "I've just finished speaking with the Night Patrol. They confirm the sound of a Cog ascending into the air before they arrived. They did not, however, get a glimpse of them before they took off."

"That's alright," he sighed, looking back at Lottie, "I've a pretty good idea what variant was responsible for this."

"What do you mean, Sir?"

Sketch waved his hand, gesturing the feline closer. James did as instructed and bent down to inspect the body with him.

"Do you see that?" he asked.

Frowning, James squinted in the low light, "She's got blood on her jacket collar. But it doesn't seem like it would have been enough to do her in."

"Look closer."

Sketch gently lifted back part of her jacket with one gloved hand and he saw his partner become visibly distraught at the sight of the two puncture wounds on the side of her neck.

"By the Creators…"

He placed the corner of clothing back down before standing back up, James joining him a moment later.

"I thought the Chief Justice assured us this would never happen again."

"So he did," Sketch lamented, turning for the door, James scurrying along behind him, "I think it's time we have a little chat with the Lawbot Boss, don't you?"

James was about to agree, when the sound of Sketch's cell phone going off caught both of their attention. The dog quickly grabbed it and flipped it open.

"Detective Mc'Draw speaking."

"It's McVitie, we've just had a Toon come into the home office to report an attack."

"It will have to wait, Chief. James and I are headed to Lawbot H.Q. We have a few questions to ask the Chief Justice. Get one of the other boys to look into it."

"You'll want to hear this. She says her friend was attacked by a Bloodsucker. She hasn't seen her since this evening when she fled the attack scene."

Sketch frowned, feeling his heart start to beat faster, "What was her friend's name?"

"The name she gave us was Lottie. She was wearing-"

"A black hoodie with fur trim and a pair of dark blue jean shorts?"

"How did you know?"

"The body found by the Night Patrol at the warehouse."

"I see…I will let Miss Bubbles know we've found her."

Sketch nodded, "I'll report to you how our meeting with the Chief Justice goes once we're finished."

"One last thing before you do, Sketch."

"What's that, Sir?"

"The Bloodsucker was not alone. There was a Flunky who also witnessed the attack."

"Duly noted; we'll make a b-line for Bossbot H.Q. once our business is finished at Lawbot."

Sketch quickly closed the phone and turned to James, "Now then, let's get moving."

Four sighed, leaning onto the shoulder of the Telemarketer that was sat beside him on the roof ledge. Two smiled back, adjusting to allow the other Cog to snuggle closer, which the Bloodsucker did. They watched the clouds roll quietly across the night sky; blinking the stars out briefly before passing by and letting them glimmer once more. It was like their own personal light show.

Four shifted after a moment, frowning to himself. The movement drew the attention of the Sellbot to him, who noticed his slightly distressed look.

"Four, what's the matter? You seem...unhappy."

The Bloodsucker smiled sadly at him, gently cupping Two's cheek, "I love you, but…"

"But what?" he asked, his tone puzzled.

"None of this is real," he sighed, closing his eyes.

When he opened them once more, he stood alone; the space around him vast, and dark. As he had anticipated it would be. Sighing, Four began to walk forward, but stopped when something to his left caught his eye. There was someone kneeling on the ground hunched over something. He frowned, approaching the figure cautiously, unsure of whom they were. As he got closer, he could see it was another Cog.

Not just another Cog, another Bloodsucker…

They seemed to be holding someone close to their chest, their body shaking slightly.

Four reached a tentative hand out and touched their shoulder, "Hey…are you alright?"

As the other Bloodsucker turned to look at him over his shoulder, Four immediately regretted getting his attention. The other Lawbot was grinning at him with insane delight, his upper body shuddering with muted laughter. His mouth was smeared in fresh crimson, dripping down the corners of his mouth like rubies. In his arms he held a Toon.

Not just any Toon. It's her.

Four felt himself start to backpedal, only for the other Bloodsucker to latch onto his wrist and pull him back. His eyes widened with abstract horror the longer he gazed at the other Cog; at himself.

"More…" he hissed.

"W-what?"

"Bring me more…"

Four's eyes snapped open, his ears were ringing loudly. He quickly sat up and glanced around the room, forgetting where he was for a moment until he spied the lone Flunky in the adjacent bunk to him.

"Right, Bossbot H.Q," he muttered to himself, running a shaking hand through his hair.

He glanced out the window and saw that it was quite dark outside still. Four pulled out his mobile to check the time: 6:41. Sunrise would be soon, which meant his brothers would be waking in a short while.

So would the Toons…

If he left now, he could get home before they woke up and just say that he got home late.

You can grab someone to eat on the way home.

"No…what am I thinking…" He growled softly, tugging at his hair, "I just need to get home."

He'd have to leave his suit jacket here and change into a fresh one when he got home. He didn't have any other choice in the matter. The Bossbot pajamas would be easier to explain then blood stains. Quietly, he crawled down from the top bunk, folded up his suit, and tucked it into the back of one of the desk drawers.

As he made for the exit, he stole a quick glance at Five, silently thanking the Flunky for his hospitality. Four gently shut the door behind him and headed for home.