The first performance was coming to a close, and Roxanne had no desire to waste time. Her first instinct? To protect her pup. She leaped off the platform as soon as they internally received the okay to free roam, the little stunt receiving no small number of cheers from the crowd. Naturally, she basked in the attention.

"Thank you, thank you! I always love to put on a good show for my biggest fans!"

She loses herself for a time, signing autographs, taking pictures, and generally being a good entertainer. However, it is once she momentarily receives a break in the action that she snaps herself out of it.

'What am I doing?! Focus! Every second counts!'

Being forced to merely inch her way to the daycare was unbearable, each step she managed to take made it more difficult to keep her paranoia in check. Evidently, it became clear to some of the kids that something was off with their favorite band member.

"Roxy? Is something wrong?" She heard one of them ask her. The wolf didn't know what to tell them. The fear of saying the wrong thing is overpowering, but she knew she couldn't just be silent.

"I'm alright. I'm just a little jumpy right now." Another kid butted in.

"Are you sure? You don't seem okay."

'Heh, bunch of little eavesdroppers here.' "I mean, things haven't been going right for me lately, that much is true…but those problems are for me to figure out." A third child shoved his way forward to her.

"Nobody can help you? Not even the rest of the band?"

"Oh no, they certainly can, but that isn't exactly in the cards for them at the moment, what with the reservations and their respective sections. I have all the time in the world since my track is still getting fixed."

"It won't last forever…right?" Roxy tilts her head.

"Where on Earth would you have gotten that idea? Of course it won't last forever! However, that doesn't mean it won't take a while. There was quiiiite…a bit of damage." 'A massive hole in the wall…yeah it's a lot more than a bit.'

"You have to confront Monty about it! You can't just let him get away with it! We'll back you up!" A bunch of kids shout in agreement.

'Were it any other time…'

"Ooooh boy, there is no need for that. I already have a plan for him, but that is after closing time. Sorry, kids."

Some voiced their disappointment at the loss of an opportunity to witness a showdown between the two rivals. Others simply thought, 'next time, for sure'.

Either way, they seemed to have accepted Roxanne's reasoning, which gave her much needed relief.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Vanny quietly observes the room, particularly her target audience, not that they were all too concerned with her, to them she was just a random adult. But the attendant? It was certainly not willing to give her an opening for a more detailed search.

It never left her unchecked for more than a few seconds at a time, it was frustratingly good at snapping back and forth in whatever situation it happens to be in.

Even if the group ends up moving behind an obstruction, it always manages to quickly relocate the brats back to where it wants them.

She took great care to make sure she didn't watch it with the same intensity.

'At least it doesn't seem to suspect me of anything outside of being a normal guard.'

Her eyes flickered around the massive room, looking in every which direction for anything that could tip the scales. It didn't take long for her to realize that there were only a few security cameras within the room. What was the bane of her existence may prove to be just the thing that could give her the victory she so desperately desired.

Vanny calmly and quietly searches the desk, looking for any kind of company device that could connect her to the system. She finally gets a lucky break when she comes across a tablet that was buried beneath a stack of papers and manilla files within one of the drawers.

'I'm so close…'

Her heart rate starts to increase as the tablet is booting up, intense paranoia grips every fiber of her being. It felt like all eyes were on her, despite that clearly not being the case at all. Her eyes snapped towards the only open exit; nobody had any interest in her. Just a bunch of parents and their kids.

Sweat beads down her head as she swallows the lump in her throat.

'Keep it together Vanny. You're too close to screw it up now.'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Once Roxanne had managed to squeeze her way out of the crowd, the path forward became noticeably clearer, even with her fans still swarming around her. Still though, she paid careful attention to every adult she passed by, no matter how unlikely she was to find who fit the description.

Thankfully the younger children didn't follow her too far from the atrium, much preferring to stay within sight of their parents, which left only the adolescents. Soon, even their ranks would begin to thin out once the conversation shifted to where she was going, which made it all the easier to navigate the building.

The area outside the daycare itself was actually rather calm. Most of the toddlers either stared or shied away, leaving very few who had the courage to approach the robot wolf, with a little encouragement from their parents of course. Despite the urgency she felt, she still made sure that those few didn't feel rejected.

She looked around to see if any other children wanted to approach, but sadly none did. It hurt a little, but she and Monty have long grown used to such feelings.

Once able, she moved forward approaching the open door to Sun and Moon's domain. It was business as usual, at least until she realized that someone was sitting at the security desk scrolling through a company tablet.

'Hmm? Vanessa?' The wolf entered the daycare itself, intending to see if it was who she thought it was.

"Hello."

The guard nearly jumped out of her seat, the tablet that was in her hands dropping on the floor with a loud crack.

The human snapped to her furious gaze to Roxanne, initially intending to chew out whoever startled her. Only to stop mid word and freeze like a deer in headlights once she realized what it was.

"Oh…sorry, I thought you were someone else." She didn't move, or even indicate that she was listening. "You know, you look very similar to who I thought you were. Do you know someone named Vanessa?" It took a few seconds, but this time the guard slowly shook her head. "Huh, could've fooled me." Roxanne picks up the fallen tablet and hands it to the guard, who apprehensively accepts. "Sorry for scaring you."

The wolf briefly observes the wild kids, for the most part they didn't notice her presence, and the few who did pay no mind to her. As for Sun, he could only shrug.

Roxy returns her attention to the guard, who seemed to be waiting for her to leave. She looks her up and down, squinting slightly.

'Blond hair, ponytail, no kid…but a guard.'

She scans the room with her special eyes active, feeling at ease when she finds her pup fiddling with his FazWatch, well hidden from the rest of the 'Plex. The wolf lingers for a few seconds, then reluctantly leaves the daycare.

She still has a job to do, and even if she loves doing it, it can be a real inconvenience sometimes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Hidden within the mess of tubes and colorful cages, Gregory lies peacefully on his bean bag chair, lost in his own head for the sake of having time pass him by faster. He eventually dwelled on the idea of what could've happened if he succeeded in destroying Roxanne, or at the very least didn't fail as…spectacularly.

So many 'what ifs', so many ways it could have either gone horribly wrong or amazingly right, and everything in between.

One thing is for sure though, had the accident never happened, had he been able to either force the doors open or wait out the night; he never would've stayed in the PizzaPlex. Where he would've went? Nowhere. Like always. It will just be more of the same old.

Back to scavenging every day and night, back to carefully examining various structures or containers for a safe and dry spot to sleep, back to avoiding every adult who would unwittingly end up putting him back in the lion's den…back to being alone.

His self-reflection was put on hold when he realized how quiet it suddenly got. The hairs on his neck stood on end, however he forced himself to stay completely still. The lights were still on, so it couldn't be Moon that was scaring them into silence, something had to be wrong. He wanted to see what was happening…but he wasn't going to get up to do it, not even if he could.

Instead, he brought up his FazWatch, then began to skim through all the camera selections until he reached the relevant areas, and what he saw was…strange, and concerning.

'At least I know why it's silent now.'

The first thing he noticed was the guard at the desk, along with Roxanne. That alone was enough to make him anxious, and it didn't help that the woman looked eerily similar to Vanessa. However, what truly told him that it was indeed not the guard he knew, was how she reacted to Roxy, who seemed to have frightened her to some degree without even intending to.

He couldn't really tell what their interaction was about from where he was observing, but it didn't seem like anything terribly concerning. Still though, he wanted to be sure. He uses the FazWatch to type a private message to Roxanne.

'Roxy, it's Gregory. I saw you with that guard through the cameras. Is everything alright?'

…

'Everything is fine, at least for now. I can't really force a guard to move though, that falls under the head of security. Don't worry though, I'll keep very, VERY close tabs on her throughout the day.'

'And that will work…how exactly?'

'Well, don't freak out, but I can see through the walls whenever I want to.'

'I forgot that you could do that! That is so cool! How come you don't keep it on all the time?!'

'Aside from the fact that it can be sensory overload at most locations during the day, I also don't want to burn my eyes out, being blind is not fun, that much I can tell you.'

'Oh, I never thought of that.'

'Well now you know, in fact you are the only kid who knows, and I'd like to keep it that way.'

'Sure thing.'

'Good. I'll talk to you later; I need to get back to focusing on the kids swarming me. But don't be afraid to contact us if you need help.'

'Thank you.'

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Vanny stared at where the wolf disappeared, not daring to move an inch until she was sure that the meddlesome robot wasn't coming back. Once she was comfortable, she returned her attention to the kids who went back to playing like nothing even happened.

'I got lucky…really lucky.'

She apprehensively picked up the tablet then continued to look through cameras. Once she found the right area, she was met with disappointment. There are only a few cameras inside the daycare itself, granted they were all actually at very good angles, there were still quite a few spots obstructed by the massive playhouse.

'Well…on the bright side it narrows the search down considerably.'

With how well hidden her victim was, she had no choice but to wait until she had an excuse to look through the daycare.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

AN: Sorry for the wait. I also want to say thank you for reading this little story for however long it has been. If it wasn't for y'all, it probably would've stayed as a one shot.