Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been a year. A year since everything happened. Nothing made sense at first, just an order to leave immediately for their safety. Only Shanon bothered writing a note to anyone. But they thought they’d be back within the week and with such a panic to go, surely apologies would smooth over any hurt feelings that happened from abruptly disappearing.

Everything blurred together after the tense train ride out. News vans, cameras, microphones shoved their way, shouts carrying demands of information. They all stayed quiet.
Arthur and Delilah intended to keep it that way. Termination, effective immediately. But a hefty chunk of severance pay would be granted to anyone willing to sign an NDA on their way out the door.

It wasn’t a hard decision for Sam. They took the money and left. Tried to put as much distance between themselves and everything that happened.

Times were tough for a while, but eventually they found a job and built a stable life away from Gardenview. It crossed their mind occasionally, idle thoughts of how the toons were doing. How Sprout and Cosmo were doing. They hoped that no fires had started in their absence, or if they had, the two at least learned how to put them out. They tried not to care, but it was so hard not to.
Which is why they didn’t turn down Shanon when she managed to get a hold of them.

When Sam got back home after work, they were exhausted. They groaned when they noticed the little blinking light on their landline cheerfully informing them a voicemail was waiting to be heard. With a sigh, they kicked off their shoes at the door and punched in the code which activated the phone’s tinny voice.
“You have… 1… new messages! Press “1” if you would like to hear-“

They pressed 1 before the machine had a chance to finish. There was a telltale click as it switched over to playing the voicemail.

“Hi! This is Shanon! Uh, Shanon Mendez. We worked together back before that educational center closed? I used to watch that little girl who was obsessed with dinosaurs! Anyways, I was hoping to get to speak with you. I assume you’re busy, so if you could give me a call back? My number is…”

Sam blinked in surprise as Shanon rattled off her number and the voicemail ended with a little reminder to call her back ‘as soon as possible’ and a click of finality. They stood there in utter shock with the receiver to their ear, unsure of how to process what just happened. Shanon had somehow not only found their number, but was interested in talking.

So they hit the button to make the message replay, digging out a piece of scrap paper and a pen to write it down. They stared at it for a while after saving the message considering what they should do next. Shanon had asked them to call as soon as possible, but at the same time they were still tired from work and that left them disinterested in a call with someone so high energy.

Curiosity got the better of them. They dialed the number written on the paper, and listened to the phone ring. It took three rings for someone to pick up.

“Shanon Mendez speaking!”

“How the hell did you find my number?”

A long silence fell over the call.

“Who is this?”

“Sam. Sam Mc-“

“Sam!” The relief in Shanon’s voice was palpable. “I was so worried you wouldn’t call back!”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Oh! Oh yeah, that… I looked you up in the white pages. Your name isn’t that common and I was hoping you hadn’t moved too far. I guess I got lucky!”

Sam sighed, leaning back against the wall.

“What did you want to talk about?”

“Well… I’m gonna sound crazy for a moment, but I want to go back to Gardenview.”

“Isn’t it still a biohazard or whatever the hell? Why in the world would you want to go back?”

“…I’m worried about them, Sam.”

Sam didn’t need to ask for clarification. “How would you even manage to get in? I thought they locked it up when they kicked us all out.”

“They did, but they don’t have people watching over it anymore. I figured we’d hop the main fence then walk along the tracks until we got inside.”

“We?”

There was a nervous giggle, “That’s what I wanted to talk with you about. I don’t really want to go alone.”

“And so you decided to drag me into your wild scheme?”

“Not just you! I’ve been trying to contact all of the other handlers.”

“And how’s that going?”

Shanon clicked her tongue and Sam could almost imagine the way she looked off to the side.
“Slowly. Veronica changed her cellphone number, I guess she took advantage of leaving her old one behind when we left. I couldn’t find her name in the white pages so I started leaving messages for any Hurley I could find. Which was a lot. And I had to do the same thing for Devan. Did you know there’s so many Reeds in the world? It’s insane.”

“And Austin?”

“I found his name, so now I’m waiting for a call back and hoping that was actually him.”

Sam sucked on their teeth while processing everything Shanon had just told them. She seemed to grow nervous about the quiet.

“You don’t have to come, you know. You could tell me to get lost and I’d never bother you again. It’s just something I wanted to do, needed to do, and thought, maybe, you’d like to join me? I know you cared about Sprout at least a little bit? I hope? I know the job was most important to you and he ran you ragged but…” She trailed off as more uncertainty seemed to set in.

Against their better judgment, Sam sighed and asked, “When were you planning on going?”

“I wanted to go as soon as I rounded everyone up! Or, well, actually as soon as I figured out who would agree to go with me.”

“I’ve got a new job, Shanon.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Does that mean you’re not coming?”

“It means we need to make this work with my schedule.”

“Oh! Okay! Yeah we can do that! Sorry, I guess I’m getting ahead of myself a little!” Shanon giggled on the other end.

“We should have a meeting with all of us too, so there’s a plan and we’re not just hoping for the best.”

“Yes! A meeting! Hold on let me-“ A muffled sound came as Shanon moved around. “When do you have off? So we can meet!”

“Mondays. I could make it after my shifts Tuesday or Thursday though.”

“What time do your shifts end?”

“9:00 PM.”

“Monday any time… Tuesday and Thursday after 9… okay got it! I’ll call you when I’ve got the meeting set up!”

“Okay. Talk with you then.”

“Goodb-“

Sam hung up the phone before Shanon could finish, pinching the bridge of their nose.
“Sam McLaughlin, what the fuck have you gotten yourself into?”

Chapter Text

The meeting ended up being a whole month later at some shitty 24 hour diner half an hour’s train ride from Sam’s work. It was largely barren when they stepped inside, a random group of teenagers, a lone trucker, and Shanon excitedly waving them over as Austin looked faintly surprised at their presence.

“It’s so good to see you again!” Shanon said as they sat down.

Austin pursed his lips together, “You still look as tired as you did back then.”

Sam rolled their eyes while scooting their chair closer to the table.

“I didn’t come here for you to tell me I look like shit.”

“Woah, hey! No need for all that,” Shanon quickly butted in before Austin could respond, “We’re all here to work together!”

Begrudgingly he nodded. Sam chose to wave the waiter over using a menu, ordering a glass of water before looking back at the other two.

“Is it just us?” They asked, tossing a glance out of the window.

“Um, yeah. I was just telling Austin that Veronica decided she didn’t want to join us.”

“Because she didn’t want to go to prison.” Austin clarified.

“Mhm! And none of the Reeds I called knew a Devan, if they even bothered calling back. So that leaves just us!”

“Great.” Sam replied flatly.

Nobody spoke until after Sam’s glass of water was delivered to the table and the waiter was shooed off under the guise of needing more time to think about their order.

Austin broke the silence with a cautious, “So, what’s the plan?”

“Jump the fence and walk along the tracks until we’re there, according to Shanon.”

Shanon’s cheeks darkened with embarrassment. “Okay, that was… I hadn’t really thought about it before that, I was thinking on the fly!”

Sam hummed judgmentally, stirring their drink with their straw.
“So you’ve got a better one now?”

“Well… no.”

Austin sighed, propping his chin in his hand. “Whatever we do, we should bring bolt cutters.”

“What?”

“There’s gonna be locks all over the place, aren’t there? So unless you want to go all the way out to the center only to be thwarted by a padlock, we need something to get past them.”

Shanon shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she finally seemed to realize the weight of what they’d be doing. “I guess that’s smart.”

“It’d be easier to cut the fence and go through it anyway.” Sam chimed in, getting an odd look from the others they chose to ignore.

“What else should we bring?” Shanon dug a little notebook out of her purse, pulling out a pen shortly after. She opened the notebook to the first blank page, scribbled in the corner until ink flowed, then wrote down in her clean handwriting ‘bolt cutters’.
“Flashlights and extra batteries,” Austin said with little hesitation.

“Flashlights and extra batteries…” Shanon muttered as she wrote it down.

“First aid kit.” Sam added.

“Do you really think it’ll be that dangerous?”

“No, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially knowing who’s still there.”

Shanon simply nodded and added it to the list.
“Maybe we should bring something for the toons? I mean… we did up and leave without a goodbye.”

“God, I wonder if they’re eating,” Austin muttered.
Sam bit the inside of their cheek, feeling something tighten in their chest over the thought of dwindling food in the center. They didn’t have to eat, all of the handlers knew that, but it was a regular and comforting activity. Especially for Sprout.

“We’ll bring food then!” Shanon said with finality, writing off to the side and underlining it twice. She tapped the pen underneath it in thought. “What kind should we bring?”

Mindlessly, Sam began to rattle off a list they had heard perhaps a million times by now. “Flour, sugar, butter, milk, eggs.”

“Eggs,” Austin echoed, “Really? Wouldn’t they just break?”

“And milk and butter would get warm.” Shanon pointed out.

Sam took a moment to think it over. “We can bring a cooler then.”

“I don’t want to lug around a cooler through that complex. Especially if we’re walking down the tracks. We should just bring snacks, stuff in packages.”

“No, that isn’t enough. I’ll carry the cooler if I have to.” Sam snapped.

Shanon gave them a sympathetic look, then added their demands to the list without further argument. Austin sighed in clear defeat.

“Maybe some canned things. Fruits, veggies, stuff like that.”

“You’ll be the one carrying them.”

Sam reveled in the way Austin’s face scrunched in annoyance.

“Deal,” he finally said, “That means you’re carrying the rest of the supplies, Shanon.”

“Fine by me!” Shanon wrote down the new additions and began to tap her pen again.
While they were all thinking, the waiter finally came back around to get their order and refill their drinks. Sam got a cheap basket of fries, Shanon ordered a milkshake, and Austin opted to not get anything. When the waiter left, discussion resumed.

“We’ll need to bring water. I doubt they still have anything running at the center.”

Austin groaned at the thought of carrying more things. “We can only take so much.”

“I’ll carry it too then,” Sam glared at him, “If you’re gonna bitch about it.”

“We could split the water between us?” Shanon offered in an attempt to deescalate.

“How so?” Austin’s voice was full of doubt.

“Okay, so, we all bring backpacks with us and fill them with water bottles. Sam’s got a cooler, you could probably bring another bag for the cans, and then I’ve got all of the other stuff in my backpack where it can fit. Then we should at least have enough water for them to drink for a bit?”

It took a moment for Sam and Austin to think over Shanon’s plan and nod in agreement.

“Write it down so Sam can’t get out of it.” Austin reached over and tapped the paper.

Sam frowned. “Hey, I said I’d do it, didn’t I?”

“You also said it about the founder’s photos.”

“That’s a low blow, you know how damn busy I was. You could’ve done it yourself.”

Shanon laughed nervously. “Okay, no need to bring up old work stuff! We’ve got other things to focus on.”

Reluctantly, Austin shifted the topic of conversation. “We should figure out when exactly we should do this.”

All three of them stared at one another as if expecting the others to come up with an answer. Eventually Sam thought of something.
“Christmas.”

“What?” Shanon and Austin said in unison.

“We should do it around Christmas,” Sam began to list off the benefits on their fingers, “We’d have time to collect everything we need, it’d be easier to get consecutive days off work, other people will be less attentive because they’re worrying about the holidays, and who’s expecting a group of people to go to an abandoned center when they should be with family?”

Austin slowly began to nod. “That’s true, people would be too busy to notice what we’re trying to do.”

“And it’ll be like the biggest gift of all!” Shanon smiled, clapping her hands together excitedly. “We could always figure out the exact timing when it’s closer to December, since we need our schedules to align, but that’s perfect!” She frantically scribbled down their latest decision towards the bottom of the page. “Anything else we need to figure out now?”

Everyone went quiet as they thought.

“Not that I can think of.” Sam finally said.

Austin drummed his fingers on the table. “Maybe who’s going to buy what?”

“We can do that later, we’ve got time.”

Both Shanon and Austin gave Sam a doubtful look.

“Fine. I’ll get the baking things and the cooler.”

“I’ll bring the canned goods and bolt cutter.”

“Then I can bring the water, flashlights, batteries, and medkit!” Shanon quickly wrote down who would bring what, then flipped to the next page to make a version of the list for Sam and Austin. She tore them out and pushed them across the table with a bright smile.

Sam took theirs and folded it up, tucking it in their pants pocket. They awkwardly looked between Shanon and Austin who also seemed to not know what to do now that they had figured out the details. The waiter’s timing was impeccable as they slammed down Sam’s fries in front of them and Shanon’s milkshake in front of her before disappearing. Shanon took a sip of her milkshake and let out a wistful sigh.

“Shelly used to like having milkshakes whenever I could get a long enough break around lunch to spend it with her. She’d be so excited, waiting for me at one of those little booths and ready to tell me as many dinosaur facts as she could think of.”

“I don’t think Astro would ever have been able to wait like that for me,” Austin snorted.

“Why, because he would’ve fallen asleep?” Sam asked in between popping fries into their mouth.

“No, because the milkshake would’ve been gone. You would not believe how bad his sweet tooth is, god.”

That got a laugh out of Shanon. “Really? That bad?”

Austin’s groan was bad enough Sam began laughing themselves. “That explains why he was always hanging around the kitchen when he could. And here I thought Pebble was the worst when it came to begging for treats.”

“Oh god, not Pebble!” Shanon squealed, clearly having her own memories of the pet rock up to no good. “Do you remember that time Dandy tried using him to get cookies off of a high shelf?”

The laughter that followed continued through the night as the group took the time to talk about their memories taking care of the toons. Some good, some bad, all equally cherished in their own right. For a moment it felt like when the center was in its early days and they weren’t all swamped with work and there was time to talk about everything the toons got up to.

It was almost eleven by the time they all departed, plans made and feelings light. Sam started the walk towards the subway with a sigh, shoving their hands in their pockets and mulling over everything that had happened. They were really going to go back to the center, after all this time. Hopefully Sprout would forgive them for being gone so long.

Chapter Text

About a week into December, they decided the day after Christmas would be when they actually went back to Gardenview.
The day of, Shanon came to pick Sam up in her car around ten in the evening. Austin had agreed to meet them a short distance from the center, but it was still an hour and a half drive to even get there.

“How was your Christmas?” Shanon asked as she popped open the trunk of her car so Sam could put the cooler inside next to cases of water.

They shrugged. “Fine, nothing special. How was yours?”

“Chaotic. I’m sure you can imagine how well it goes when a big family gets together and someone’s always getting into trouble.” She slammed the trunk shut with a dry laugh. “If only they knew what I was getting up to today.”

“I’m sure you would’ve been the main subject?”

“You have no idea.” Shanon shook her head and slipped behind the driver’s seat.

Sam got in the passenger’s seat, pulling on the seatbelt and appreciating the warmth the car offered compared to outside. Shanon put the car into drive and began heading down the street still decorated with an obnoxious amount of twinkling lights. Fewer lights could be seen as they left the city behind, eventually leaving them with only the headlights of Shanon’s car to light their way. Sam leaned their head against the window, watching as their exhales fogged up the glass.

“They’re going to be so upset.”

“Hm?”

“The toons,” Shanon said in a soft voice, “They’re going to be so upset at us.”

Sam straightened up and looked over at Shanon who was biting her lip anxiously.

“Of course they’re going to be upset. We just left them without saying anything.”

“I know! I know. It’s just… What if they’re mad at us?”

“Then they’ll be mad at us.” They shrugged.

“Oh come on, you know what I mean! What if they’re so mad at us they just tell us to go and this whole trip is for nothing!”

“Shanon, you know that isn’t what’d happen. Even if they are mad, they’ll get over it. Friendship first and foremost or whatever little kid bullshit they live their lives by.”

A dry laugh left Shanon as she gripped the wheel tighter. “That’s almost worse.”

“Almost.”

They stopped talking for a while after that. Shanon reached over to turn on the radio, cheerful Christmas music playing stubbornly despite the holiday already passing. It prevented the silence in the car from getting oppressive. Sam took the opportunity to go over their plan in their mind.
They would park in the woods at the very edge of Gardenview’s property and take a few minutes to distribute all of the supplies they brought along. Once everyone was set up, they would walk around to the side, cut the fence, then make the long trek over to the outside train. They’d let themselves into the station and take the tracks down into the center. From there, they’d have to take the stairs all the way down to the toon rooms where hopefully their trip would pay off. The thought of getting there and finding nothing, or something worse, briefly flashed through Sam’s mind. They shook their head to chase it away. All of the toons might be in rough shape, but they’d still be alive. They had to be.

The rest of the trip was admittedly boring. Music kept it from being a slog though, with Shanon humming along to carols on the radio until she reached over to turn it down so she could talk.
“You know, I brought a little something extra for Shelly.”

“Hm?”

“I know we decided on bringing food along as our gift to everyone, but I couldn’t help myself! She’s really such a sweet girl and I felt so bad about having to leave with only a note, she deserved better than that.”

“What did you get her?”

“One of those little self-help books. I read it all the way through to make sure it was appropriate, of course, and even added my own notes for extra encouragement. I thought she’d like something like that. It’s not quite a replacement for our chats, but it’s the next best thing.”

Sam couldn’t say anything about it when they’d spent over half an hour agonizing over which cookbook to buy for Sprout.
“And here I thought I was going above and beyond for buying Sprout a cookbook. Way to show me up.”

Shanon smiled. “He’d like getting a new one, wouldn’t he?”

“He used to read them with Cosmo when a new one got delivered,” Sam couldn’t help but smile at the memories. “It usually meant a full day where I didn’t have to worry about the place burning down.”

Shanon laughed at that. “Without you, I think Gardenview would’ve been closed within the first week of Cosmo’s introduction!”

“Tell me about it.”

Shanon waited a moment.
“Do you think Austin brought something for Astro?” She mused.

“If I brought something for Sprout, you know damn well he’s lugging something special along too.”

Shanon laughed again even harder this time, the car swerving slightly as she did so.
“I guess we’ll just have to ask him when we get there, won’t we?”

They reached the meeting spot shortly after, Shanon pulling her car as far past the tree line as she dared and turning off the headlights. She left the car running while she pulled out their phone and dialed Austin’s number. Sam was debating whether it was worth risking the cold to start packing their backpack when he finally picked up.

“Hey! Yeah we just got here. How far out do you think you are?” Shanon was quiet as Austin presumably gave his answer on the other end.
“He says he’s about ten minutes away,” She said, covering the receiver to tell Sam before going back to speaking with Austin. “Did you bring everything we needed? Okay, good! Oh! One last thing before you hang up, did you bring anything for Astro?”

Whatever was said had Shanon laughing all over again, barely able to relay the message to Sam. “He asked— he asked how I knew!”

She was still giggly when she returned to talking with him. “What did you get? Oh that sounds so wonderful, he’s going to love that! Okay, I’ll let you get back to driving now, see you soon!”

Shanon snapped her phone shut and looked at Sam with a smile. “He bought Astro some audiobooks on CD, along with a player. I would’ve thought he’d bring some new books, maybe an astronomy textbook?”

“Well, he was already complaining about how much he has to carry, a few more books and he might end up turning around and going home.”

Shanon gasped and playfully smacked Sam’s arm. “Stop! He would not!” The smile on her face betrayed how she actually felt about the jab.

“I guess we’ll never know.” Sam shot back coyly.

It didn’t take long after that for Austin to arrive, mimicking Shanon by pulling his own car into the woods and parking it somewhat close to hers. Shanon turned off her car then twisted to fish a backpack out of the backseat, pulling it into her lap and pulling out a flashlight. She got out of the car and turned it on just as Austin turned off his car headlights and got out himself.

“We’re really doing this…” Shanon muttered as she popped open the trunk.

“Yep.” Sam replied as they clambered out of their seat and walked around to join Shanon in shoving water bottles into backpacks.

Austin moved to join them, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder that clinked annoyingly whenever he moved and a pair of bolt cutters in his opposite hand. He set the bolt cutters in the trunk and began filling his own backpack with bottles.

“Is it bad I’m starting to get nervous?” Shanon blurted out as they finished packing their bags. “I mean, wow, after all this time we’re really going back and it’s like we’re criminals instead of old workers.”

“We are criminals once we do this.” Sam pointed out as they lifted the cooler out of the trunk.

“Good old breaking and entering.” Austin chimed in as he shifted his bags around to the most comfortable arrangement for himself.

Shanon laughed nervously, picking up the bolt cutters and slamming the trunk shut. “Well, too late to turn back! Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

Not long into the walk across snowy ground, Sam was really beginning to regret volunteering to carry the cooler. It dug into their hands despite the thick gloves they had on, and seemed to grow heavier with every step they took. A glance at Austin showed he was suffering with his own burden, rolling his shoulder every so often to try and offset some of the weight. Only Shanon seemed to be having an okay time with the bolt cutters in one hand and a flashlight in the other.

“Are we just walking straight the whole way there?” Sam grunted.

“Um, yeah, I guess so? Why?”

“I’m going to need to take a moment soon, this shit is heavy.”

“It’s almost like somebody warned you it was a problem,” Austin cackled.

“Shut up, I see you’re struggling too.”
Austin promptly shut up.

“It’s really not a big deal if you need a minute every now and then! We’ve got time!” Shanon looked over her shoulder with a smile.

“We at least need to get inside before sunrise.”
Sam glared at Austin. “It’s not going to take us six hours to get in because I needed to take a break from carrying this heavy ass shit.”

Austin shrugged. “We could’ve avoided the situation in the first place.”

In an attempt to stop a fight before it started, Shanon turned to Austin. “What CDs did you get Astro?”

“The History of Astronomy and a few on what’s new about space. I thought he’d find it interesting.”

“No books?” Sam asked.

“I could bring more using the CDs. You know he’d eat through a whole textbook in only a single day, especially without any responsibilities to pull him away from it.”

Shanon looked faintly shocked. “Really? I didn’t know he liked reading that much.”

“I don’t know how he found the time between all the naps, but he did. Maybe he’s read every book at Gardenview by now.”

“Maybe not him, but I’m sure Brightney could have! Goodness that girl was obsessed with reading! I know curiosity and learning was her whole deal, but she seemed to know the library better than any of us humans ever did.”

“Didn’t one of the twins like reading too?”

“Oh shoot, yeah! It was um…” Shanon bounced a little as she tried to think.

Austin thought of it first. “Dazzle. Had to have been. He and Astro were pretty close.”

“Between the three of them, there can’t be a single book unread in that whole building! We’ll have to ask what their favorites are! Maybe it’ll be something good.”

Sam couldn’t hold back a snort. “I don’t know if I’d trust their judgment about what makes a good book. They’re pretty sheltered.”

“Oh come on, give them a break! I know for a fact there’s more than just little kiddy books on the shelf because Shelly was always finding more dinosaur textbooks. Real ones, not the simplified ones.”

“Whose idea do you think that was? Arthur or Delilah?”

“Had to be Arthur’s,” Sam said, “I don’t think I ever saw Delilah actually care about anything but her little projects and you know how Arthur was when it came to trying to please everyone.”

“I’m sure she cared in her own, special way!” Shanon declared.

Everyone was silent for a second then burst out laughing.
“Hell no.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Yeah, she really didn’t.”

By that time the trio had made it around to the side, Sam was more than ready to drop the cooler at their feet. They did just that as Shanon and Austin inspected the chain link fence. Austin whistled as he eyed up the entirety of its ten foot height.

“I can’t believe you ever wanted to try climbing this thing.”

“Hey!” Shanon’s cheeks darkened and she looked away. “That’s why we had that meeting.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hold my flashlight.” Austin allowed his own bag to drop into the snow, swapping his flashlight for the bolt cutters in Shanon’s hand.
He cut methodically through the fence, a simple line of snips up through the links until there was enough room to crawl through when it was pulled back.

Sam and the cooler went first. They crawled through, ignoring the discomfort of snow melting through the knees of their pants. The cooler was yanked through afterwards and shoved off to the side so they could take the flashlights from Shanon. She crawled through next, looking just as uncomfortable in the process. Austin came through last, pushing the duffel bag ahead of himself then setting the fence back in place as much as he could manage. He took back his flashlight and slung his bag over his shoulder as Shanon took back her own.

“Okay, we shouldn’t be that far from the parking lot…” Shanon muttered as she stood up and dusted snow off herself.

Sam took a moment to squint off into the distance while they picked up the cooler. “The train station is that building right there.” They gestured with their chin.

The other two pointed their flashlights in the indicated direction, the light just barely managing to reach it. Austin couldn’t cover his sigh.
“I wish they built this place closer together.” He grumbled while starting to head towards the station.

“I don’t think they really built it for people to be breaking in.”

“How inconsiderate,” Sam spat, earning a snort from Austin.

The walk to the train station from the fence was comparatively short, but brought the exact same amount of relief when Sam could drop the cooler at their feet. In front of the three stood the employee entrance, locked when Shanon tried the door. She frowned at it and tried again as if that might change the outcome.

“Shoot. Should we break the knob with the bolt cutters?”

“Give me a moment,” Austin said, putting down his duffel bag and unzipping it. Inside was a decent amount of canned goods, a portable CD player, a CD case, and for some reason a crowbar.

“God Austin, why in the hell do you have that?” Sam asked as he handed off his flashlight to them.

“Because I was thinking ahead,” He snapped while getting himself into position. “I wasn’t going to come all this way and be stopped by a locked door.”

“At least you thought of it,” Shanon said weakly.

It took a minute for Austin to actually manage to break open the door with Sam and Shanon awkwardly watching the whole time. When the door finally gave way, a thin sliver of light spilled out from inside. Everyone froze.

“The lights are on.” Austin breathed out.

Sam stared in disbelief. “Shit.”

“Do you think someone’s in there? Did we get caught? Oh god I’m so sorry, this is all my fault!” Shanon began hyperventilating, looking around frantically in her panic.

“Stop that, it’s not going to get us anywhere if you freak out.” Austin grabbed her shoulder. “If someone is here we need to find a place to hide before we get caught.”

Sam took the opportunity to carefully open the door, peeking their head inside. The place was empty at first glance and a layer of dust covered the hall. Nobody seemed to be running to come get them so they stepped back out and picked up the cooler.

“Sam, what are you doing?” Austin looked confused.

“Heading inside.”
With that they ducked inside and began making their way through the building.

“Wait! Wait for us!” Shanon stage whispered, frantically urging Austin to gather his things as she ran after Sam.

Chapter Text

Once inside, they walked through the employee area, relying on faded memories to navigate towards the train platform. The whole time they expected somebody, anybody, to come out and yell at them all to get off the property or some other chain of events that would result in getting arrested. It never came.
The group managed to walk unaccosted through the station until reaching the platform, pausing at the yellow safety line.

Sam set the cooler down at their feet and inspected the edge of the platform for the safest way to lower themselves onto the tracks. They had just decided they’d sit on the edge and flip themselves around to drop down when Austin suddenly turned his head to look down the tracks.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Shanon spoke with a shrill voice, nearly bursting from anxiety.

Sam strained to hear what Austin did, but soon enough they heard it. The unmistakable noise of a train coming down the tracks.

“The trains are running.”
The thought was even more shocking than the discovery the lights were still on. They remained crouched dangerously close to the edge of the platform while trying to process the absurdity of the situation. It was only after the train got louder that they finally scrambled to get back to the safe side of the line, dragging the cooler with them in their panic.

The trio stood staring at each other, uncertain of what to do as the train grew closer.

Austin dared to break the silence with a whisper. “Someone else is definitely here.”

“Yeah no shit someone else is here,” Sam snapped back, “Those trains don’t run on their own.”

Shanon shifted her weight from side to side. “Do you think… maybe it’s Dyle’s doing?”

“At this hour? It’s past all of the toon’s bedtimes, and he was always up everyone’s ass about being on time for everything! What toon would even be awake at this hour?”

Shanon and Sam slowly turned to look at Austin who immediately held up his hands. “Astro doesn’t know how to run the trains, let alone do something like this. He stayed out of trouble as much as he could.”

Shanon and Austin then looked at Sam who crossed their arms. “Sprout didn’t get into this kind of trouble.”

Sam and Austin didn’t bother to look at Shanon, who still frantically shook her head as if they had. “Shelly was so well behaved, she’d be sleeping right now!”

“So who sent the train?”

“Maybe one of the pranksters?” Shanon suggested.

“Awfully weird prank,” Austin muttered.

Sam looked in the direction the train would be arriving from any second now. “Look, whoever sent the train clearly wants us to be here, human or toon. We might as well get on it when it arrives.”

“Are you crazy?” Austin looked at Sam incredulously, “You just said it yourself, we have no idea who sent the train!”

“If you want to risk attempting to walk down the tracks while a train is running, be my guest.” Sam bent down to pick up the cooler as the train finally began to pull into view. “But I’m getting on it.”

They all watched as the train pulled to a stop in front of them, doors hissing open. None of them moved to enter. Eventually Austin nudged Sam with his flashlight.
“You said you wanted to take it. Get in.”

“Fine.” Sam stepped inside, turning back to look at the others. When nothing dramatic happened, they stepped in to join them and the familiar automated message began to play.

“Please stand clear of the doors.”
The doors shut with a hiss and click and the train began to move. All of them opted to sit down, setting their bags at their feet as the message continued to play.

“Welcome to Gardenview Museum and Educational Center! You are currently on a train to the main center where you can meet Dandy and all of his friends! We ask that any of our friends currently standing use the handrails and stay away from the doors, for your safety.”

Sam sighed and leaned back. “I got so tired of hearing this.”

“I still remember all of it,” Shanon giggled, holding up a finger and joining in with the voice as it picked back up.

“There are many activities at Gardenview for you to enjoy! Explore the vast reaches of space with Astro, go with Shelly on an archeological dig, have a picnic with Sprout, or join Vee for a thrilling game show and much more! If you ever find yourself getting hungry, make your way to one of our diners where there’s plenty of food to go around! And of course, meet your favorite toons! They’re always excited to meet new friends, so don’t be too shy to say hello!”

Austin snickered. “They really made it sound more exciting than it was, didn’t they?”

“You’re only saying that because you watched over the most boring toon.” Sam said while rolling their eyes.

“Astro is not boring!”

“He sleeps like 13 hours a day, that’s boring.”

Austin huffed, having no real rebuttal to that and choosing to look away instead.

Without the automated message playing, there was time to think. Worry was building in Sam’s mind over who had sent the train to get them. Was it another human? If it was another human, why would they want all of them going further into the center? Surely Arthur and Delilah wouldn’t want them here, let alone any security that had been hired.

If it was a toon, which of them would do it? They all should have been asleep hours ago considering it was around midnight. Maybe they hadn’t kept up with curfew without anyone around to actually enforce it. Sam found that a little hard to believe, but it had been well over a year with the toons on their own. Things were bound to have changed.

They knew they were nearing the end of the ride when the voice returned, Shanon joining in once again.

“Friends, please gather your belongings, watch your step as you exit, and make sure to take our smaller friends by the hand as you exit the train. If you need additional assistance, please speak with one of our helpers wearing a striped hat on the station platform and they will be happy to assist you. Thank you for coming to the Gardenview Museum and Educational Center! Please enjoy your visit and have a fantastic day!”

The train began to slow and Sam felt their anxiety spike as they put their backpack back on and picked up the cooler. Whatever had allowed them to take the train would no doubt be waiting for them once the doors opened. Shanon and Austin looked equally frazzled as the trio made their way towards the door, waiting for it to open.

“God, I really hope security isn’t waiting for us,” Shanon whispered full of dread.

Sam looked out of the door window as the train finally arrived at the central hub, seeing something small waiting for them on the platform. It was definitely a toon that had let them in, which was reassuring to say the least. As the train stopped, they finally recognized who was out there waiting for them.

The doors hissed open and Sam was the first to step onto the platform. Standing there to greet them, very much out of breath but still striking a pose, was the very face of Gardenview himself.

“Howdy!” Dandy panted, “Welcome back to Gardenview Museum and Educational Center! Golly, it’s been such a long time since you’ve visited! We’re so glad to have you back!”

Chapter Text

Nobody moved for a few seconds. Dandy looked up nervously at the ex-handlers, a smile stubbornly staying on his face as if nothing was strange about the situation.
“C’mon, you’re making a toon nervous!” He forced a laugh.

“Dandy?” Shanon finally said with disbelief as she stepped out of the train.

“The one and only! Surely you didn’t forget about lil’ ol’ me, Shanon!” Even with his cartoonishly exaggerated movements, there was an unmistakable nervousness in his expression.

“No, no we didn’t forget it’s just…” Shanon looked to Sam and Austin for help.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Sam leaned down to look at the flower closer.

Dandy laughed again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, I reckon it is pretty darn late. It’s a bit of a long story… Hey, why don’t we go somewhere nicer to talk! No reason to be standing around the train station platform when there’s some cozy seats inside!” He turned around before the group could argue and began leading them towards the turnstiles.

All three humans looked at one another then slowly began to follow after him.

“I hope you don’t mind the mess! Tisha’s been doing her best but there’s only so much a single gal can do! Of course, we all try to chip in, can’t make her do it all by herself!” Dandy rambled as he made his way through the lobby, going straight past the shops and towards an elevator.

Despite him calling the place a mess it was… eerily clean. There were some boxes strewn about that would never have been there if the center was operational, but otherwise it still resembled how it looked when it was open.

When they got into the elevator, Dandy was already waiting at the buttons.
“Where did you want to go? Ooh, I know! Let’s head to one of the safe diners! I’m sure you’re all hungry after all that walking, and I could go for a snack myself! Maybe Sprout left something for us!”
Again he didn’t wait for an answer as he reached up to press the appropriate button.

“Wait, wait, you still have food in the diners?” Austin sounded as surprised as he looked. “I would’ve thought it’d all be gone by now.”

Dandy giggled, looking mischievous as he waggled a finger at Austin. “We’ve got our own way of getting supplies, Austin. I would never let any of my friends go hungry!”

“Right.” Austin seemed even more confused than before, which Dandy chose not to acknowledge.

As the elevator began to head down, Sam thought about what Dandy said regarding where they were headed.
“Safe. Why did you have to specify safe?”

Dandy looked away quickly, rubbing the back of his head and making a face. “Well, um, er, it’s… I…”

He continued to hem and haw until Shanon happened to say: “What happened to the buttons?”

Both Sam and Austin turned around to see her inspecting the panel of buttons, many of which were broken or outright missing.

Dandy was much more forthcoming about the change than Sam’s question. “Oh! I forgot to mention, some things have started breaking down, and really there’s only so many spare parts! We’ve raided the warehouses for new buttons but…” He visibly wilted as something crossed his mind but he quickly perked up. “But you can still get to all the floors that matter so it’s not a problem!”

“Floors that matter?” Sam muttered.

“The most important places are our rooms and the diners!” Dandy said defensively, “We still need to eat and sleep, don’t ya know?”

“Is the projector room important too then?” Shanon asked while pointing at the very much intact button that could take them there.

The elevator clanked into place and Dandy took advantage of it to switch subjects. “We’re here! Oh boy! This is like your old stomping grounds, Sam!” He rushed out, leaving the others behind.

Sam chose to hang back near the elevators, and the others did the same as they watched Dandy fumble around to find the light switch.
“He’s hiding something,” they whispered.

“What do you think it is?” Shanon asked, leaning towards the others.

Austin shook his head. “It’s gotta be something pretty big if he’s this jumpy.”

A moment later light flooded the room with an ‘Aha!’ from Dandy and hisses of pain from the others. He ran back over, grabbing Shanon’s sleeve and starting to pull her along.
“C’mon!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Shanon blurted out, throwing a glance back at the other two who followed closely.

Dandy practically shoved all of them into a dining booth then ran off again into the kitchen. Sam looked at the cooler they set on the table and sighed as if it had personally offended them.

“I guess it’s good we brought other things then,” they muttered.

Austin put his head in his hands. “We could’ve saved ourselves so much more trouble.”

“It’s the thought that counts!” Shanon protested, “I’m sure they’ll still appreciate it!”

“Appreciate what?” Dandy had come back with a plate of cookies which he put on the table before climbing up into the booth next to Austin.

Shanon waited until the toon was seated before explaining. “We were worried you didn’t have anything to eat, so we brought some things with us.”

“Gee, that’s awfully kind of y’all!” Dandy declared without hesitation. “I’m sure Sprout will be downright tickled pink! He’s always worrying over how much we’ve got!”

“Do you not have enough?” Shanon’s question carried clear worry in it.

“Oh sure we do! Plenty to go around! Here, you guys should try some!” Dandy pushed the plate closer to the center of the table with a beaming smile.

Hesitantly, Sam reached over and picked up one of the cookies, inspecting it while Austin and Shanon took up their own. Sam took a bite and it was painful how familiar it tasted. At least this version wasn’t as burnt as in their memories.

“Not bad!” Shanon ate all of hers quickly.

“Sprout and Cosmo sure have gotten better in the kitchen since they first showed up! Less fires too!”

“That’s good to hear,” Sam muttered while finishing their cookie, “I was worried about that.”

Dandy laughed, his petals swaying back and forth with the motion. “No need to be! We’ve got it all under control!”
He paused for a little bit, looking between the three. “Where’s the other handlers?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

Austin coughed and looked away while Shanon looked at Sam with pleading eyes. They shook their head sharply.
“Nuh-uh. You made the calls, you tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Dandy was struggling to hold his smile.

“Well,” Shanon began hesitantly, “Veronica didn’t want to come because she didn’t want to get in trouble.”

“And Devan? I’d really like to see him!”

“He… I couldn’t find Devan, no matter how hard I tried, I’m sorry Dandy.”

An awkward silence fell over the group. Dandy seemed to squirm because of it, nibbling on a cookie as his eyes darted from person to person. He was trying, and largely failing, to cover how upset he was. Shanon was the one who chose to break the silence when it looked like he was about to start crying.
“Dandy, do you think we could see the others?”

Chapter Text

All of Dandy’s tears instantly dried up.
“Right now?” He shook his head. “Oh no! They’re all trying to sleep right now!”

“But surely this is important enough to wake them up for? I’m sure Shelly wouldn’t mind if it was me interrupting her sleep.” Shanon tried.

Dandy faltered at that then shook his head again. “Sleep is important! Speaking of, you all should sleep too! It’s awfully late and-“ He faked a big yawn. “I need to get back to bed!”

“And where are we supposed to sleep?” Sam looked at the flower expectantly.

“Um… you could sleep in my shop! There’s loads of room in there and I’ve got all sorts of blankets and pillows and stuff because Astro hangs out with me sometimes!” Dandy slipped out of the booth, already prepared to lead them back to the lobby.

“We need to put all this stuff somewhere.” Austin unzipped his backpack to show Dandy all of the water bottles stuffed inside.

Dandy took a moment to think then snapped his fingers. “Let’s just put them all in the pantry over there! Easy peasy!”

He waited for the others to follow him this time, going straight to the pantry and offering to put away the things they handed to him. He could only put away so much before he had to start pointing out higher shelves things could go on, much to his clear embarrassment.

“Can I leave this here?” Sam kicked the cooler where it sat empty next to the fridge.

“Sure!” Dandy chirped, “Did you want to leave your other bags too?”

“No, we’ve got other stuff in there.”

“Ooooh, what kinds of stuff?”

The innocent curiosity Dandy displayed caused Shanon to pause, then led her to kneeling on the floor to properly show off everything she brought in her backpack.
“I’ve got some flashlights, batteries, a medkit, and I brought a gift for Shelly. Don’t tell her though, I want it to be a surprise!”

Dandy looked over everything with a surprising level of fascination, especially for the medkit. “That won’t be a problem, my lips are sealed!” He said afterwards, mimicking zipping his lips and throwing away the key. He turned to Austin with the same level of expectation.

It was clear how uncertain Austin was to be showing Dandy what he had in his bags, but he didn’t last long after the flower started to clasp his hands together under his head to beg.
“Fine.”

Austin got on the ground like Shanon did and unzipped his duffel bag, opening it for Dandy to look inside.

“Gee! All I recognize are the shears!” He pointed to the bolt cutters. “What’s the other stuff?”

Austin seemed to think about how best to explain everything in his possession. He fished out the crowbar and held it up for Dandy to see.

“It’s like… a really big key,” Austin said slowly.

Sam had to hold in their laughter, turning away from the situation to prevent breaking down.

“Golly! That’s a weird key! It doesn’t look like it’d fit into a keyhole!”

“It’s a… magic key.”

“Wow! Do you think you could show me?”

Austin sputtered, trying to think of what to say to that.

“It only works once!” Shanon stepped in frantically. “And then no other key would work on the door! You wouldn’t want that in Gardenview, would you?”

There was a moment of silence as Dandy thought about it. “I guess not. It’d be real scary if we couldn’t lock doors anymore… Well what about that, what’s that?”

Sam turned back around to see Dandy pointing at the CD case.

“They’re CDs.” Austin fumbled to open the case to show off the discs inside, each one decorated in some vaguely astronomical manner and labeled with titles and authors. Dandy inspected them closely.

“Golly they’re real pretty! Do you think they’ll work with a computer?”

“Maybe? But I brought something that you can use to play them.”

Austin pulled out the player, setting it on the floor and popping it open with the eject button. He slipped one of the CDs out of the case and carefully placed it in the player. He pressed the play button and the player whirred to life, taking a moment to get going. The narrator began to read out the title and author of whatever book had just been popped into the player.

“I think you can skip between chapters too,” Austin mused as the voice on the CD rattled on about copyright.

“Can I try?” Dandy asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

“It wouldn’t hurt.”
Austin pushed the player towards the toon who carefully pressed down the fast forward button and held it there. The humans watched in quiet confusion, wondering when Dandy would let up.

“Oh, you don’t have to hold it!” Shanon said suddenly.

Sam thought about it for a second longer. He was using it like a cassette player. The reminder of how antiquated Gardenview was and how sheltered its inhabitants are made them feel strange, especially as Dandy’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Really?” He let up on the button and the narrator listed off a random chapter. He didn’t allow them to finish as he pressed the button, much quicker this time. When the next chapter was read off, his eyes widened in delight.

“Do they all do that?” Dandy turned to look at Shanon with a delighted smile.

“Yep! And it works both ways.”

Excitedly Dandy turned back and hit the rewind button, looking just as excited about this discovery.

“Wow! That’s real neat! Much better than having to guess!” He tried out the buttons a few more times, then hit stop. There was another moment of confusion until Shanon reached over and hit the eject button which seemed to satisfy the toon.
Austin carefully took the CD out of the player and tucked it back into the case, putting both back into his bag and zipping it back up.

Dandy looked at Sam with the same expectant expression as he did the other two. They shrugged down at him.

“All I brought was food and a book.”

“Oh. That’s not all that exciting, is it?” Dandy’s disappointment was plain for all to see, but he quickly brushed it aside. “It’s still awful late, let’s go back up to my shop and get everything ready!”
He waited until Austin got back up off the floor then brought them all back to the elevator, jumping to hit the button.

“Gosh, it’s just like a sleepover! Those are always a blast! I’ve been a little too busy to have any recently though.”

“Busy with what?” Shanon asked.

Dandy instantly stopped talking, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Flower stuff.” He answered eventually.

“Flower stuff,” Sam echoed.

“Yuuuup! Real busy with flower stuff!” Dandy said too quickly.

The rest of the ride back up nobody spoke a word, and once more Dandy practically ran from the elevator when the doors opened.
By the time the trio caught up to him, he was already pulling blankets and pillows from a box and throwing them around the floor in the area within his shop. It was similar to what Sam remembered. Much less merchandise, some miscellaneous junk that would’ve never been allowed before, and a radio that constantly played classical music were definitely different though.

Shanon dropped her backpack in a corner and joined Dandy on the floor to create a makeshift bed.

“My back is going to be killing me tomorrow,” Sam muttered, crouching down to make their own bed.

Austin was the last to join in, tucking his things underneath the shop counter and making his sleeping spot next to them.

Dandy fidgeted with his hands, smiling at the group. “Didya need anything else? Water? A nightlight? Some more food?”

“I’m good!” Shanon said as she stretched out on her stomach.

“Ditto,” Austin said from where he laid his head on his backpack.

Sam just flashed a thumbs up as they laid on their back, staring up at the ceiling.

“Okie dokie! I’ll turn the lights off for ya! Have a good night! Sweet dreams!” Dandy waved, flicking off the light and shutting the door behind himself. More lights shut off as he presumably went around flipping switches until all that remained were the safety lights and exit signs.

“Do you think he’ll actually let us see the other toons?” Shanon asked softly a few minutes after they were left in darkness.

Sam barked out a laugh. “We came all the way out here, we’re seeing them one way or another.”

Chapter Text

Sam woke up with an ache in their back, the distinct feeling they were being watched, and the remnants of a good dream drifting away. They sat up quickly, looking around to try and figure out where they were. It was exactly where they had fallen asleep: the floor of Dandy’s shop in Gardenview. Shanon and Austin were still out cold, gentle snores cementing that fact alongside the general lack of movement.

Sam got up slowly, careful not to disturb the other two as they unzipped their bag and chugged half of a water bottle they had left inside. While wiping their mouth they noticed a faint bluish glow slowly moving down the lobby. They leaned over Austin to look past the counter, spotting none other than Astro trying to creep away back towards the elevators.

“Astro,” Sam hissed.

The toon looked back at them, clearly startling and then bolting.

“Astro, get back here!” Without hesitation, Sam vaulted the counter and began running after him.

He had just managed to summon the elevator and press a button when they caught him, easily scooping him off his feet and earning a shriek.

“I’m sorry!” He squeaked, already shaking from fear. The elevator door slammed shut, trapping them both inside as it began its descent.

Sam sighed and set him down. “You’re not in trouble,” they whispered.

“O-oh. Okay.” Astro didn’t sound entirely convinced, pulling his blanket tighter around his shoulders.

They stared at each other for a moment.
“Why are you up here? Dandy said everyone else was asleep.”

Astro fidgeted in place, looking everywhere but at Sam as if it might save him from the conversation.

“I was asleep for a little bit. I woke up.” He stopped and Sam gestured for him to continue. “Well, I had decided I would check in on everyone’s dreams. There’s… been a lot of nightmares lately and I wanted to make sure everyone was okay. When I checked there were too many.”
“Too many dreams?”

Astro nodded. “Three more than usual.”

Sam sucked on their teeth. “Us.”

“I assume so.”

“Why were you watching us sleep?”

That caused the moon to hide his face and look away. “I was curious. I started checking all of the upper floors to see if I could find anyone. When I came into the lobby and peeked over the counter, I saw the two of you sleeping.”

“Two?”

“You and Shanon.”

Sam had to hold back their amused snort when they realized Astro was too short to see Austin sleeping underneath the counter.
“Austin’s here too.”

Astro’s eye widened.

“Do you want to see him?”

Sam’s question was met with silence. They sighed and got down on their knee to be at eye level with the toon. “You don’t have to say yes. The way we had to leave was unfair to all of you. Nobody would blame you if you didn’t want to see him.”

Astro’s answer was so quiet Sam could barely hear it. “I do want to see him.”

“Then let’s go see him.”

“Right now?” Astro sounded vaguely alarmed. “He’s asleep right now.”

“I can fix that.”

Sam stood up and Astro immediately circled them, little stars tugging on their hand. “No, no! Let him sleep! Sleep is important!”

It was perhaps the most emotional Sam had ever seen Astro and they were only half surprised it was related to sleep.

“Fine, he can sleep longer.”

Astro immediately relaxed and the stars dissipated. Toon and human went back to staring at each other as the elevator rattled around them.

“Why did you come back?” Astro asked in a soft voice.

A small sigh escaped Sam before they could stop it. “Shanon’s idea. She was worried about all of you.”

“Were you worried about us too?” Vulnerability was written all over Astro’s face as he looked up at them. It made Sam feel uncomfortable.

“Sure.”

Astro observed them for a few moments more before the elevator doors opened. From what Sam could see, they were on the floor containing all of the mains’ rooms. Judging by the way Astro looked down the hall then back at Sam, he was trying to figure out what to do. He took a tentative step out of the elevator and turned back to them.

“Wait here.” A few steps away from the elevator he tossed a glance back over his shoulder, and when he saw Sam hadn’t moved, he scurried away deeper into the floor.

They considered following him. It would be quite easy to trail behind his soft glow and figure out what he was doing, but the thought of trying to do that was incredibly unappealing at the moment considering how tired they were. Instead they stepped out of the elevator and took a seat on a nearby box, allowing their head to rest against the wall. Surely Astro wouldn’t mind if they closed their eyes for a while.

They drifted between wakefulness and sleep, wondering what Astro was up to. Probably speaking with someone. Dandy if they had to guess, but they wouldn’t be terribly surprised if he was going around to speak with all of the mains to tell them who had come to visit. Maybe he would come back with Sprout in tow. For some reason, the thought of seeing him made them smile, despite all of the pain he put them through.

“You should go back to sleep too,” Astro said when he finally came back, disappointingly alone.

Sam scrubbed their face with their hand, yawning as they opened their eyes. “What time is it?”

“Around three in the morning.”

They sighed. “Three hours of sleep-“

“Three hours?” Astro’s alarm came back full force and one of his little stars frantically tried to pull Sam to their feet.
They debated fighting him on the issue, but figured if it was so important to him they would listen just this once. They slipped off the box and allowed him to pull them into the elevator, watching as he hit the appropriate button with a star. The doors slammed shut and they began their ascent to the lobby.

On the ride back up, he kept glancing at them.

“What, is there something on my face?” they asked once they got tired of it.

Astro shook his head. “I just never thought anyone would come back for us.”

Sam couldn’t think of any appropriate answer to that and Astro didn’t seem to expect one.

When they got back to the lobby, they headed back towards Dandy’s shop without a word.
Astro carefully opened the door to let them back in, clearly familiar with the motion. He scooted around Shanon, waiting for Sam to step over her before standing next to their spot on the floor. They begrudgingly laid down under his watch, awkwardly looking back up at him.

“I doubt I’ll get back to sleep that quickly.”

“You needn’t worry about that.”

Sam squinted at Astro. “What does that mean?”

He gave them a small smile. “Close your eyes.”

They sighed and did as asked, not expecting anything in particular.

Chapter Text

The next thing Sam knew, they were waking up a second time. Seeing as Astro was nowhere to be found, this time they elected to roll over and nudge Shanon with their foot. She swatted at it and snuggled deeper into her borrowed blanket. Sam nudged her again, more forcefully this time.

“Whuzit?” Shanon muttered blearily, lifting up her head in confusion.

“What time is it?”

“What’s huh?”

Sam enunciated every word. “What time is it?”

Shanon rubbed at her eyes, pushing up onto her elbows and patting around for her bag. She pulled her phone from one of the pockets and winced at the brightness of the screen. It took a moment for her to register the time.

“Almost seven in the morning.” She snapped the phone shut and allowed her head to drop back onto the pillow.

Sam exhaled and stretched, sitting up and folding their legs underneath themselves. Shanon shifted to peer at them from where the pillow smushed against her face.

“Are you really getting up? Most of the toons are still asleep right now.”

“I usually wake up around this time for work.”

Shanon shrugged and started to roll back over.
“Well I’m going back to sleep. I was having a wonderful dream.”

“Probably Astro’s doing.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He knows we’re here.”

Shanon didn’t respond right away, thinking still muddled by sleep. It was clear the moment it clicked as she shot up onto her elbows again.
“Astro knows we’re here? How do you know that?”

“I saw him earlier.”

“And you didn’t wake up Austin?”

“He didn’t want me to.”

“Who didn’t want you to what?” Austin yawned, blinking awake.

“Astro didn’t want me to wake you up.”

Austin simply nodded. “That sounds like something he’d say.” He was settling back down to sleep when he shot back up to look at Sam. “How the hell did you come to that conclusion?”

“He told me himself.”

“He… You saw Astro and didn’t wake me up?” Austin sounded even more incredulous than Shanon had.

Sam rolled their eyes and repeated for the third time: “Astro told me not to wake you up.”

“And you listened to him?”

They shrugged. Austin groaned, running his hand through his hair.

“How did he know we’re here?” Shanon pushed herself back to sit on her knees. “Did Dandy tell him?”

“He figured it out on his own when there were ‘too many dreams’.” Sam made air quotes.

Another groan came from Austin and he laid back down while covering his eyes. “I should’ve thought about that.”

“Yeah, you should’ve.”

Austin glared at Sam from between his fingers.
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“Maybe we should go down and see the toons then? At least some of them are bound to be awake right now.” Shanon suggested.

She was already standing and folding up the blanket she had been using.
Austin let out a pained exhale before following suit, Sam beginning to put everything back away where Dandy had pulled it from. In a way it felt like being at work again, minus the looming threat of screaming children and ignorant parents.

“I’m so excited to see Shelly, I hope she likes what I brought her!” Shanon pulled her backpack on after checking inside.

“I feel like she would be excited even if all you got her was a generic card.”

“Hey, she deserves more than that, Sam!”

Sam shrugged, pulling on their own backpack and waiting for Austin to gather his things before the whole group headed out of the shop. They flicked the lobby lights back on as they made their way to the elevators, Shanon hitting the button to summon one of them when they arrived.

“Do you think everyone will be excited to see us?”

“I doubt it,” Sam sighed, “We weren’t exactly interacting with anyone but our assigned toon regularly.”

“I remember you had to watch Cosmo a lot.”

Sam shot Austin a withering glare. “You know damn well those two were a packaged deal. Just consider yourself lucky you only had to watch over one.”

Whatever rebuttal Austin had never happened as the elevator door finally lurched open. They stepped in, Shanon moving to press the appropriate button when she paused.
“Huh.”

Austin looked over. “What do you mean huh?”

“Well, do you remember what Dandy was telling us about the other elevator buttons being irreplaceable?”

Sam looked over Shanon’s shoulder and felt just as confused as her. All of the buttons in this elevator were completely intact, not a single one even suggesting damage.

“Maybe they use this one less?” Shanon suggested without sounding convinced.

Sam scoffed, “Who the hell would use the fully operating elevator less than the broken one?”

All of them stood there trying to figure out what was going on when another elevator in the lobby clanged open. They all looked over to see who had just arrived.

It turned out to be Dandy, the flower cheerfully making his way back towards his shop until he noticed the trio in the elevator. Panic appeared on his face and he rushed over, nearly tripping over his own feet in the process.

“Hey now, didn’t you wanna go see the toons?” He asked, forcing a smile.

“Yes? That’s what we were about to do.” Shanon moved to press the button for the rooms. Dandy reached out and physically yanked her away, taking advantage of catching her off guard to pull the stunt off. She actually looked a little frightened of him, despite the friendly facade he was putting on.

“What was that for?” Sam snapped, taking a step towards the toon.

“Oh, you don’t want to take this elevator down it’s…” Dandy rocked back and forth on his heels, “Really slow. Yeah! Really slow! The other one is so much faster so that’s why we should take it! You want to see everyone right away, right?”

He nervously looked from person to person as if they might decline his offer.

“I… guess we do?” Shanon replied shakily.

“Wonderful! Then let’s go! Now!” Dandy didn’t move from his spot.

Awkwardly, Sam and Austin shuffled past him. Only then did Dandy start making his way towards the elevator he had come out of, humming a song to himself.

“He’s stronger than I thought he would be,” Shanon whispered to the others, “Way stronger.”

“What?”

“It was like another adult was pulling me, not a toon.”

“What’re you guys whispering about?” Dandy had turned around to look at them all, smile turning nervous again.

“Nothing,” Shanon said too quickly, “We’re just so excited to see everyone, isn’t that right?”

Dandy seemed unconvinced by Sam and Austin’s lame agreement, but accepted the excuse anyway.

“Alrighty, in we go!” He stepped inside the elevator, waiting for the others to enter before hitting the button to descend to the main’s rooms.
“Astro and Shelly are still in their rooms, I’ll drop Austin and Shanon off there. Sprout’s already in the kitchen with Cosmo, so I’ll take Sam to that floor. Does that sound good?” Dandy looked over at everyone.

“Yep!”

“I guess.”

“Mhm.”

The air was thick with tension as the elevator continued its descent. Relief came in the form of the doors opening, allowing Austin and Shanon to step out.

“Do ya still remember how to get to their rooms?” Dandy asked.

“Sure do, second door on the left with the dinosaurs!” Shanon answered with a thumbs up.

Austin nodded. “First door to the right with stars on it.”

“Excellent! See you guys again soon!” Dandy waved to the pair then pressed the button to head further down.

Sam watched him out of the corner of their eye. He was hiding something, no doubt about it, but they knew there was no way he’d ever give up the information willingly. They’d have to get it from somebody else.

The elevator came to another stop, and Sam stepped out this time. Dandy remained inside, giving them a big smile.

“Do you remember how to get to the kitchen?”

They just stared down at him.

He coughed awkwardly. “Alrighty then! See you soon!” With that he pressed a button and left them alone.

They heard the sound of someone talking in the distance and made their way towards it, recognizing the voice as they got closer.

“…and now he’s got us doing even more than usual because of some ‘special surprise’! I swear Cosmo, when I get ahold of that flower!”

Sam stepped into the doorway of the kitchen, chest tightening at the sight. Sprout was facing away from them, whisking something angrily as Cosmo stood in front of him with a worried expression.
Neither of them seemed to notice Sam at first, but soon Cosmo’s eyes met theirs. He gasped and reached over to tap Sprout on the shoulder.

“What?” Sprout sounded worried, following his friend’s pointing finger until he also saw them standing there.

The bowl in his hands clattered to the floor.
“Sam?”