Tim sprang from his bed the minute his alarm sounded. He hadn't been this excited in a long time. He was actually getting to leave the hospital after all these years even if it was just for a few hours.

He quickly hops into the shower. Today was going to be awesome. He had never been to a zoo. And seeing one for the first time with Chance by his side made it even more perfect.

He gets dressed in a pair of dark jeans and his favorite button-up denim shirt and rolls the sleeves up to his elbows. Slipping on his boots, he stands and looks into the mirror. He smiles as he runs a hand through his damp hair, he hopes Chance likes what he sees.

He grabs his camera, checks the batteries and slides it into the pocket of his shirt. He prayed that Chance would remember to grab an extra chip.

The patients were to meet in the cafeteria for breakfast before loading on the buses. The cafeteria was full of excited chatter as he walks in.

"Good morning, Timmy." Rob says with a smile as he hands a tray of food to the patient.

"Good morning, Mr. Rob." Tim says quietly with a shy smile. After all these years of not talking, he still felt a little uncomfortable about it.

He takes his tray and walks over to the table where all his friends were already seated. He was happy that Daryl was seated with them.

"Morning, Photograph. Are you excited?" Austin asks with a huge grin.

"Very excited. I've never been to a zoo before." Tim answers as he sits down at the table.

"You're going to love it. Every animal on earth is at the zoo. Hippos, elephants, zebras, giraffes, alligators, monkeys, lions, tigers..." Adam starts to name all the animals he remembered seeing when he went to the zoo as a child.

"I think he gets the picture, Adam." Daryl chuckles as he takes a sip of his coffee.

"There are snakes too but I don't like the snakes. They scare me. Do you want to know what my favorite animal is? The sloth. Yep, the sloth is my favorite animal of all time. They are always so happy." Adam stops as he looks around the table.

Everyone was staring at him waiting for him to continue.

"Why, you ask? Because they are always smiling. You never see a sloth without a smile on his face." Adam says before cramming a fork full of eggs into his mouth.

"Gooood morning, Jerks." Mitchell says with a smirk as he prances over to the table.

"I think I just lost my appetite." Daryl says as he pushes his plate aside.

"He does kinda give you a nauseous feeling doesn't he." Avi adds.

"Oooo, what's this?" Mitch says as he snatches Tim's camera from his front pocket.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Tim says as he grabs for his camera.

"Timmy got himself a new camera." Mitch sings out as he holds it up for everyone to see.

"No, they found it." Tim says as he tries again to grab his camera.

"Just give him the d*mn camera and get the f*ck away from us." Daryl growls.

While Mitch was dodging Tim, Austin grabs the camera from his hand and hands it back to the rightful owner.

"Then what are you doing here? Why ain't you being punished?" Mitch says as he glares at the much older patient.

"What are you talking about?" Tim asks.

"Everyone knows that your buddy, Daryl, stole your camera." Mitch says with a smirk as he crosses his arms over his chest.

"I didn't steal anything." Daryl says in his defense.

"Oh, yeah? Then how did the stuff end up in your room? They found everything that he had stolen hidden away in an old footlocker full of childish comic books." Mitch smiles. "Looks like you guys befriended a thief."

"How the hell do you know all of this?" Daryl asks as he slowly stands from the table.

"Everyone knows." Mitch says as he cautiously steps back.

"We didn't." Tim says. "Chance said they found the stuff but they thought the person was being framed so all the information was being kept secret."

"Looks like we just found the thief." Avi adds.

"You boney son of a b*tch." Daryl growls in a low voice as he grabs Mitch by the shirt collar.

"Get your nasty hands off me, you weirdo!" Mitch shouts as he struggles to get out of Daryl's grip.

"Not until I stomp your thieving ass into this floor!" Daryl says through gritted teeth.

"DARYL!! STOP!!" Chance yells as he, Jenika and Tina runs over to the table.

"NO! DON'T STOP HIM!!" Adam shouts. "I WANT TO SEE THIS GOLLUM LOOKING THING WITH HIS ASS MASHED INTO THE FLOOR!!"

"It was Mitch. He stole everything and hid it in Daryl's room." Tim explains.

"We know. Thanks to the pictures on your camera." Tina replies.

"Daryl, turn loose of him! We'll handle this!" Chance says as he tries to pry the angry patient's hands from Mitch's shirt collar.

"No! I'm fixing to teach him not to f*ck with me!" Daryl says as he tightens his grip.

"SOMEBODY GET THIS LUNATIC OFF ME!!!" Mitch screams.

"Daryl?" Jenika says in a soft voice as she lays her hand on his bicep. "Honey, turn loose of him. Please? I don't want you to get in trouble."

Daryl's eyes shift toward the beautiful blue-eyed woman.

"Please?" She whispers as she rubs his arm.

Daryl shoves Mitch, sending him to the floor.

Chance breathes a sigh of relief as the much shorter man calmly sits back down. Standing only five foot ten, Daryl was still of muscular build and could be very dangerous if he wanted to be.

"Okay, everyone needs to finish breakfast. We'll be leaving soon for the buses!" Tina announces before reaching down and grabbing Mitch by the arm. "Get up!!"

"I haven't eaten breakfast yet." He says with a cocky attitude as he straightens his shirt.

"Looks like you'll be eating breakfast under lock-down." She says as she pulls him toward the cafeteria exit. "Chance? Can you come with me?"

"What are you talking about? That goon just tried to kill me!" Mitch says as he tries to pull away from her.

"And he had every reason to. You just thank your lucky stars that we, or should I say, Jenika was able to stop him." Tina says.

"Looks like you'll be missing this field trip." Chance says as he grabs Mitch's arm and pulls him toward his room.

"THIS AIN'T FAIR!!" Mitch screams as Chance shoves him into his room.

"I'll tell you what's not fair. That's trying to frame an innocent man." Tina says from the doorway. "And let me tell you something else, Mitchell Grassi. Tomorrow, I will be making arrangements to have you transferred out of here. Have a nice day." She adds as Chance closes the door and locks it.

********

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