Neither Randall nor Tani were familiar with the part of Monstropolis surrounding Fear Co. Not a born resident, Tani's memories of the city were largely focused on the areas surrounding MU. Meanwhile, Randall could only recall ever visiting the company in his grade-school days, on one of the many scream energy field trips young monsters attended. As such, the pair had a slow start to their long trip.

By the time they arrived at a more suburban piece of neighborhood—one not quite on the outskirts of the city and still relatively close to Monsters Inc.—the sun had already long set. They reached a street lined with apartment buildings. Although they varied in size and dimension to suit a wider variety of monsters, they mostly stood at around three stories each. It was a quiet, quaint location fit with bike lanes and a pond fountain that shot up sludge, perfect for small families.

Randall led the way down a short sidewalk to one of the first-level apartments. It had been over a year since he'd last paid the home a visit. Even then, they were always very short visits, where he'd typically barely stick one foot in the door.

"Randy, who lives here?" Tani asked. Both cautious and curious, she looked in all directions in a way that reminded him of a pigeon's flighty behavior.

He took a second to compose himself before knocking on the front door, "My brother."

Even though he knew that this was the best choice they had for now, Randall did admittedly feel nervous about making it. Although it had practically been the reverse in their childhoods, Roger Boggs was more strait-laced than his elder brother. He also had a lot more to lose, married with a small toddler. He didn't expect Roger to turn him in, but there was still a chance that they'd be turned away.

The door opened and the stark light of a TV filtered around a figure similar to shape to Randall. There was no denying that they were related, the pair having the same body type, the same way of carrying themselves, and almost the same height. What differences they did have were minor. Roger's scales were swathes of a rich blue and the added set of arms that Randall had was traded for double the eyes. He didn't seem to have vision problems either, giving him a softer, friendlier quality more like Randall himself had when he was younger.

Granted, he didn't look too friendly at the moment. Roger blinked at him, stunned, before subtly closing himself in the door to keep his family from seeing the older Boggs. His eyes narrowed and he kept his voice low, "Randall, where have you been...?" His fronds trembled in anger. "More importantly, what do you think you're doing here? Half the city could be hunting you down right now!"

Randall found that his words caught in his throat. After years of either taking care of himself or barking orders at his assistant, the concept of asking another person for help was lost to him. That included members of his own family. Like Randall, Roger also worked at Monsters Inc., but in Accounting. His nephew, Rex, stayed at the company daycare. Despite this daily, close proximity, Randall never saw much of them. He didn't see the need to and his work was more important.

Maybe maintaining that bond they had as kids though would've made this a lot easier. Rather than cut to the chase, he found himself saying, "So, I take it the news has already spread around."

"Oh, the whole company knows. It's all anyone can talk about," he fumed, growing more heated by the second, "Especially since we've all been furloughed until further notice. Waternoose is in jail! They've shut down all of Monsters Inc.! Randall, what were you thinking?!"

His eyes widened a bit. After he was thrown into the human world, he half-expected everything to start unravelling. Waternoose had supplied the general idea, resources, and hush-power to build the Scream Extractor, but Randall was not ashamed to call himself the true brains behind the machine. His employer was too gutless to act on his own and too invested in keeping his name clean to make the soundest of decisions. Still, he had either expected Waternoose to cover up the whole operation or endure some bad publicity at worst. Technically, what they'd done was illegal, but once the truth came out that human children weren't toxic, it would be seen as the most logical course of action. It was no different that rounding up a hive of wild bees for their honey. Randall knew from the start that he risked jail time, but Waternoose? He was one of the scream energy industry's leaders.

And what did Roger mean that the company had shut down? What was the Board of Directors doing during all of this? Randall had never met any of its members outside of the occasional chat in the hall or at a press conference, but he always felt that some of them had to secretly be onboard with the plan. In any case, why wasn't there anyone trying to steer the ship?

"The CDA's already been here twice. Jen's had to pick up more hours at her job while I'm stuck here watching Rex. We can't even risk taking him outside because we're too scared of what he's going to end up hearing about you!"

"None of this was supposed to happen. It'll clear up in no time," he said, his steady voice hiding the fact that his mind was scrambling. Ok, so Waternoose was in jail now, but surely there was only so long that they'd keep him locked up. If not because of the degree of the crime itself, or because of his status, then because he was needed to help deal with the energy crisis. What was the alternative? Fear Co. or Scream Industries? Everyone was suffering from the scream shortage and Monsters Inc. was the top in the business: Those two alone wouldn't be able to meet demand.

Both of the brothers were careful not to get too loud, not wanting to alert anyone else. Randall took a glance over his shoulder to see how much Tani might have overheard. She stood too far away to have picked up much other than how upset the pair were.

Noticing that his focus had drifted, Roger craned his neck to see around him, squinting in the dark, "Who is that?"

"That's Tani Hartbrooke."

For the second time that evening, a moment's silence passed at the mention of Tani's name. However, unlike with Johnny, Roger's expression was simply dumbfounded. He kept staring at her for a long while—to the point that she eventually waved at him—then scowled at his brother.

"The Hartbrooke from college?"

"Yes."

"The one who's heart you broke before she vanished off the face of the planet?"

Randall scowled right back, not dignifying that with a response. It was all the answer his sibling needed. While still angry, the younger Boggs deflated a bit.

"Dang it, Randall. The one time you manage to bring home a girl on your own and it's when you're running from the cops..." he wiped his face, mumbled into his hand, and sighed. "Come in..."

If it weren't for wanting answers, Randall doubted that they would've been let inside the apartment as soon as they were, not without a fight. Roger's wife, Jen, was less than thrilled to see him herself. With their son already in bed, she focused on helping Tani get cleaned up while the Boggs brothers talked. Most of the lights were kept off, the shades drawn down, and the TV turned up to hide their conversation.

For both of their sakes, Randall kept most of the details to himself, so his explanation of events wasn't all that long. Besides, Roger had already heard plenty enough from when the secret first got out—from Wazowski's and Sullivan's retelling of events, of course. He already knew about the Scream Extractor and that Randall had planned to use it on one of the kids he regularly scared. He knew that the other two scarers found out and did everything in their power to keep the kid out of his grasp, as well as that Randall had hunted them down for that.

It was the important, finer details he lacked, like how human children weren't actually a threat to any monster. Why that, above everything else, was still a closely-guarded secret was beyond Randall. Nevertheless, he and Tani combined were enough living evidence that his brother couldn't accuse him of endangering monsterkind.

Just one little brat and two wastes of air.

"I can take your friend's clothes to the wash tomorrow, but I'm telling you now, most of them are probably gonna come out shredded," Jen interrupted their conversation mid-way, leaving Tani behind in the bathroom. She made a point of pulling of the few shirts that Tani had brought with her out of her bag and showing off its poor state. She was a rather petite, yet fiery monster with a trio of tapering, flexible stalks that framed the top of her head like a crown. "She'd be better off finding something new to wear."

"Thanks, we'll see to that."

She shot Randall a sour look, exposing her teeth, and then went into some other part of the home. As in-laws, they hadn't been on the best of terms. They were fine with each other back when she and his brother were in high school, but they'd stopped trying to get along with one another since. Anymore, Randall didn't pay Jen much mind while she often regarded him with barely hidden disgust. Roger gave the interaction his usual, tired look before leaning against forward against the dining table where they sat.

Randall folded his arms over his chest, leaning back. He'd finished wrapping up most of what he had to talk about and was starting to get annoyed by the long delay waiting for a response, "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I don't know what to say…" Roger shook his head to himself before raising his gaze back at the former. "Cover-ups? Kidnapping? Attempted murder?" he lowered his voice even more, "I was sort of hoping you'd tell me at least part of that was wrong, not just give me excuses on why you thought it was ok."

That reaction was expected, but it did still bother him a little to hear it from his own flesh and blood. If everything had gone as intended, then the energy crisis would've been solved in no time. He and Waternoose would have made history. No, his intentions weren't entirely pure—he was sick of being overshadowed—but the end result would've been better for everyone. Why did he deserve all of the blame? "How fast do you think the first blackouts are going to hit?"

"This isn't just about the energy crisis. This is about you! I know you hate Mike and Sullivan, but I never would've imagined you'd take things this far."

Randall glared at his brother, warning him that bringing up those names was crossing into some very dangerous territory. Roger was already well-aware of the full story: The bullying, the betrayal, the cheating, the disaster that resulted in the duo getting expelled and later the accident during his and Tani's finals. He understood all of that and thus wasn't as won over by them as everyone else was at the company. Nevertheless, he didn't share Randall's ire toward them either.

Unlike most other times when this happened, Roger's own gaze was unflinching, though he did change the subject a bit. "Does… she know?" he asked, pointing in the direction of the bathroom. They could still hear the shower running.

Randall debated on how to answer that. "She's aware that something's up. I'll tell her myself later. There's enough we've both got to adjust to right now."

"Tell her soon," there was another deep sigh, "What are you two going to do?"

That, he still didn't know. Returning to their own world had been the first step, but any decision they made after that was hard to judge. He was a wanted criminal. Tani had no idea if anyone might come after her, or if her own family would be safe if she tried reaching out to them. Depending on how high up the food chain the monster was that had banished her, there was a chance she might never be able to reveal who she was.

"You can sleep over for one night at least, but you can't stay here."

That was understandable. Given their options, Randall wasn't going to push for more than that—and he was certain he'd figure something out by then. Underneath the table, he twisted the small, folded piece of paper held in his second pair of hands.