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Chapter Text

The Baudelaires trudged onto the exercise field for the second night. Count Olaf was already languishing on the bleachers, a phrase which here means “waiting with poorly concealed exhaustion for 3 orphans to show up so he could force them to run in circles all night.” He blew his whistle. “Run orphans!” Count Olaf shouted at the tired children. “I’m poorly concealing my exhaustion from watching you run all night!”

The Baudelaires sighed, glanced at each other, and began to jog around the circle. “At least we're not missing Vice Principal Nero’s violin concert this time” Klaus whispered to his siblings. 

“Freet!” Sunny said, which meant “there's our silver lining”. The phrase “there's a silver lining” is used to refer to a situation which may seem bad at first glance but upon closer look has something good about it. For instance, if you were drowning in a submerged bathtub but managed to find the last pages of your dearly departed sister's diary, that would be the”silver lining” of your bad situation. However, as the Baudelaires jogged along the fluorescent circle, it did not feel like their situation had a silver lining. The silver lining of their situation was as helpful as the silver lining of the circle they ran around, shining in the moon.

As the night droned deeper on and Count Olaf began to snore against the bleachers, the Baudelaires slowed to a walk. Violet looked over at her brother. His breath was coming in small gasps, and every few yards he would cough. Violet placed her hand on his forehead. “Infi?” Sunny asked.

“No, I don’t think he’s sick, Sunny.” Violet replied. “See, his forehead isn’t warm. If he was sick he’d have a fever.” Violet could remember her mother checking her for a fever, placing her cool hand under Violet’s bangs. If she was feverish, her mother would curl up with her in their favorite living room chair, and her father would read Shakespeare aloud until she fell asleep. Now, even though that chair was gone and that book of Shakespeare was ash, Violet was checking her brother for illness just like her mother had. Klaus wheezed again. 

“I’m fine, Sunny”

Violet studied her brother as he gasped. She waited until they had reached the farthest point of the circle from Count Olaf, then leaned in and whispered to Klaus. 

“Are you wearing your binder?” Klaus dipped his head to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. Violet wrapped her arm around his shoulder. “I know you don’t want to go without it around Count Olaf, but it’s bad to exercise in it for too long.”

Klaus coughed. “It can cause temporary and permanent rib damage, resulting in shortness of breath, dizziness, and chest pain.”

“Ukit!”

“I can’t take it off right now Sunny. I don’t want Count Olaf to know.” Klaus told her. He stumbled and stifled a wince.

“Klaus…” Klaus looked into Violet’s eyes. His face was desperate, a word which here means “unwilling to follow guidelines meant to protect one’s physical health”. 

Violet rested her head on Klaus’ shoulder, blinking drowsiness from her eyes. She had promised her parents she would protect her siblings. And while she understood why Klaus was choosing to keep his binder on, she couldn’t help but feel like she was betraying her parents to allow Klaus to come to harm. But the other option, of Klaus revealing his secret to Count Olaf and the other people around them, was too perilous to attempt. She squeezed his shoulder.

“When we’re done tonight take it off. You shouldn’t sleep in it. Maybe by tomorrow night I can invent a solution to flatten your chest without compressing your ribs.”

Klaus yawned. “I’m confident in your abilities. Maybe tomorrow I can visit the library and see if there are any anatomy books that might help.” He gave Violet a weak smile.

Violet smiled back. As they passed a drooling Count Olaf, she whispered into Klaus’ ear, “When we’re safe, I'll fix this.” 

Chapter Text

Quigley Quagmire stared down at them from the rafters. His face flickered when he saw Klaus. “That's strange,” he called down as he lowered himself to the floor, “I could have sworn the reports said three Baudelaire sisters.” Violet stepped forward in front of Klaus, getting ready to open up her mouth. “No matter.” Quigley continued. “Must’ve been an old report.” He peered at Klaus. “You are a Baudelaire, correct?” 

“Ah, yes, I am.” Klaus said, flustered.

Quigley smiled. “Always great to meet a Baudelaire! I’m afraid I haven’t gotten an updated report, those old boys back at headquarters never were too on top of things. What’s your name?”

Klaus floundered for a moment, confused. “Klaus, sir.” He accepted Quigley’s handshake.

“Ah no need to call me sir! If anything I should be calling you sir!” Quigley turned to the Baudelaire sisters. “And you must be...Violet? Lovely to meet you! And this would be...Summer? You don’t much look like a Summer.”

“Sunny” Violet gently corrected, shaking Quigley’s hand.

“Oompa!” Sunny shared her greeting.

Quigley’s smile grew larger as he looked at them all. “It’s wonderful to meet you Baudelaires. Come along! I have a lot to tell you and little time to do so.” And he turned and began walking down a hallway. Violet turned to look at Klaus and mouthed “what?” in a surprised manner. Klaus shrugged, giving a little smile before hurrying to catch up to Quigley on his long legs.