It seemed like it was going to be a good day. When Paris' smile was the first thing you saw in the morning, it was hard to think it wouldn't be. He always managed to be happy, even when he wasn't. Aside from that, it was hard for Felix to stay upset. Anytime he felt a frown coming on he was quickly reminded that he had his amazing woman back. Nothing to upset him.

The four aids began to do their morning round of meds. Felix headed down to the twins' room. As he reached the door, he suddenly dropped his tray as a metal hand grabbed his neck. His father's deep red eyes burned into his. He wasn't scared at all, considering he knew Ricky would never actually kill him.

"What was the pact?" He sneered, "What was the deal you made with Jasper?" 

He coughed at his father's tight grip, "It's... A little... Hard... To talk... Like this..."

Ricky dropped him on the floor and resisted the urge to kick him. That was still his son, after all, but he was pretty fucking pissed. "Speak."

"I can't. Part of the pact is I'm not allowed to tell anyone else. None of us are." Felix sat up and began to pick up the pills scattered. "I'm sorry. I know you're angry with me. You're probably not too happy with how Ripper and Knox turned about, either. But hey, the twins are doing great and Annabelle's still got plenty of potential, so at least not all your kids are disappointments."

"Goddamn it," He scoffed, "I hate that you're so calm. Your mother and I both aren't exactly the calmest people in the world, so I have no idea how you turned out so level headed."

"You almost sound like you're upset about that." He stood back up, adding, "It's her, you know. She takes away all the rage. Anytime I think about getting mad or upset, I just picture her beautiful face."

Ricky clenched his fists as he began to walk away. "It'll fade eventually."

If Felix could, he'd yell at him until he was blue in the face. That would just contradict what he'd said, though. Ricky was raised an orphan and never truly knew what it felt like to have your father disappointed in you. He couldn't understand the true weight he was putting on his son. They both had their hopes for how this would turn out, neither one knowing what was right.

He gave his brothers their meds for the morning. They noted how quiet he was but he brushed it off. Felix crossed the hall, entering Casper's room quietly. He didn't want to spook the little ghost. That was never a good idea. Luckily, the blue haired boy heard him coming. He was rather happy to have Felix as his aid again. Shae was much too grumpy for his taste.

"Hey, Cas." He softly smiled, "How's the new book?"

He peered up over the pages of a novel, "Interesting. Humans have such a funny way of looking at our world."

"How so?" He asked as he handed him his pills.

"They don't seem to understand that the underworld and the afterlife are different things. I guess I never really did when I was human, but now that I think about it, it was kind of stupid to think that life is so black and white." Casper's soft voice explained, "Heaven and Hell are weird concepts because they're supposed to be good and bad. But, bad people do good things and good people do bad things."

Felix sighed, "That's about the more accurate thing I've heard in awhile. We used to think we were a lot more intelligent than the humans too, but we're not. We're just stronger and more powerful, but we're not smarter."

"I remember one time in history class, my teacher told me we had to learn history so we don't repeat our mistakes. Seems kind of useless, though. We repeat them all the time. I mean, look at the humans. They know how bad dictators were before yet they still keep giving them power."

"That's because everyone has different perceptions of good and bad. What one person thinks is trash, another can see as gold. I wish I could stay longer, but I really should go check on Marci." 

Casper smiled sweetly, "I understand. I'll see you later."

Felix acknowledged him with a lighthearted grin. It was hard to believe that small, innocent boy was a ticking time bomb. Out of any patients here, his condition was the most similar to Marci's. Perhaps that's why Felix offered him so much sympathy and compassion.

"There you are." Angela spoke as she saw him step out into the hall, "Jasper wants you and Marci in his office as soon as you can."

He sighed, "That can't be good. Alright, thank you." 

Felix turned back down the main hall and began his walk to the smaller, more colorful ward. It so happened to be that at that very moment Micah was leading Ryan in the same path. He thought it was best to let them walk ahead of him. The last thing he wanted was to have to explain why there was now a bruise rising on his neck.

Towards the end of the hall, there were two large rooms. One was reserved as Shae and Yuki's bedroom. The other was turned into a colorful playroom. It looked out of place in an asylum, obviously. Yet, it was so fitting at the same time. There was an abundant overload of pastel pink and creamy white shades around the room. Everything from the baby blankets to the frills on the curtain screamed princess toddlers.

Marci obviously was far from having any regressive problems. She did, however, posses a child like imagination as a result of being a former circus performer. Though she could enjoy serious time with her boyfriend or girl time were Joan, she did also enjoy getting to play babysitter. The girls missed having her around as well. It wasn't until Felix returned to her life that she'd returned to her old self.

She was one of the few people Yuki would let close to him. The little elf stayed curled up to her side while she read him a book. Joy occupied her time reorganizing all the doll clothes while Friday tried to convince her to give her OCD a break.  The small vampire tried her best when she could, but she decided her energy was better focused on her coloring book. She knew there was no helping Joy when it came to her obsessions.

Friday's face lit up when she saw her favorite person in the whole world. She jumped to her feet and latched onto Micah. He laughed, picking her up, "Hey, Princess. Do you remember what today is?"

"Bath day!" She cheered, raising her hands over her head. 

"That's right. We have to take our medicine first, though, okay? Paris made something really special for you guys. What did he say they were...? Pumpkin french toast muffins." 

Marci glanced up from the book she was reading out of. Her face was lit up like a Christmas tree, "Wait, are you serious?"

"Very-" He began to speak, but was cut off by Felix's laughter.

Micah turned around, realizing the pink haired vampire was in the doorway. He was beaming with happiness as he said, "God, I love the look you get when someone mentions sugar. It's priceless. Do you wanna what she told me when we first started dating? She said she wouldn't give me any sugar in the bedroom if I didn't give her any in the kitchen."

She pursed her lips, "Love you, babe."

He walked over to her and knelt down beside her. Felix pecked her cheek, "I love you, too. Jasper wants to see us in his office."

"But," She pouted, "Pumpkin muffins!"

"Angela did say as soon as possible. She didn't say immediately." He cunningly responded.

Marci smiled, "That's more like it."

"I couldn't let you go quite yet anyways. You do need your morning meds." Micah said.

"Don't they like... knock her out?" Ryan asked.

He set Friday down and took a few things off the tray the other aid was holding. "The one she was on when you arrived her, yes. Her medication has been changed recently, though. Give the two princesses their meds, please." 

Ryan found a place to set down the tray. Friday took hers with no problem, considering she could see and smell her reward on the other side of the silver platter. The more he was around her, the easier Ryan could understand why she was so lovable. She was a breath of fresh air compared to the other patients.

Micah gently handed Yuki a dish with pills in it and a small glass of milk. He tossed back one after the other to get it over with quickly. Marci still had the injection site in her arm. It was taped up for the time being considering she wasn't on an IV. Micah removed the current tape to be able to inject her treatment slowly.

She bit her lip at the painful sensation of a foreign liquid being forced through her veins. Felix wrapped his arm around her waist to comfort her. She glanced over at him, smiling and resting her head on his shoulder. "What'd you think Jasper wants?" She wondered.

"There's only one reason he'd need the both of you." Micah replied. He removed the syringe and put new tape down delicately. 

Felix sighed, "I know. We haven't seen them in awhile either... They're going to be pissed."

"Who?" Ryan asked, having overheard this conversation. He picked up one of the freshly baked muffins and offered it to Marci. 

"Thank you." She replied, "Should I tell him?"

"He'll find out eventually." Felix said.

"Yeah, true. There's two hunters that Jasper hires when he needs a little extra security, or when he needs people detained, or whatever reason you could think of needing a hunter for. In fact, they were probably the ones that captured Croc to bring him here."

"They're old friends of mine and Cecil and I met years ago when we were drifting. I was the one that hooked Jasper up with the contact. They don't really like him all that much. They only do it because they're like family to Marci and I. So, usually Jasper makes us be the ones to call them." Felix explained.

"Aside from bringing in one or two people, their services haven't really been needed in recent years. They weren't made aware of Felix's banishment, to my knowledge. I'm guessing they're not going to be happy he hasn't stayed in touch." Micah said.

He sighed, "They'll understand once I explain, but they're still going to give me Hell about it." 

"The real question is why does he think he needs them?" Ryan responded.

Micah rose to his feet, walking over to sweet little Friday. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Things are calm right now because we are in the eye of the storm," He gently picked her up, "But the end is near."

He couldn't help but think how unfair it was for creatures like this. Friday would never know any better. She didn't understand that her life could be a lot better than living in this manor, but the world won't accept her. That's painful enough. Then, these vile creatures can't even let them live in peace. They have to attempt to rip away what little good they have left. He knew one thing for sure; Even if they do succeed, they'll have to put up one Hell of a fight to take down Qrow Manor.