There was an awkward silence that settled between the two men as they waited, neither one seeming to know what to talk about in this situation. After a few minutes, Bert quietly sat on the settee as Robin sat himself near the fire. Robin stared into the dancing flames to keep himself from anxiously watching the stairway. The movements of the fire were hypnotizing, tumbling, and rolling in a similar way to the jumbled thoughts in Robin's head.

After a few minutes, Holly was at Margo's arm as they carefully descended the stairs, with a worried Cookie at their heels.

"She got changed and then just sat in her chair at her vanity. I practically had to pull her up before she started coming with me," Margo said as they reached the ground floor where the men sat waiting.

Holly walked over to the settee in the living room and sat mechanically next to Bert. Her eyes were staring peacefully at the fire with a small grin on her face. Sugar Cookie came over and sat on her lap, and when the nanahound failed to receive any attention, she jumped up and licked Holly's face.

In an instant, Holly stood up and moved to a different chair, throwing Cookie to the ground as the nanahound let out a defiant yelp.

"Last time she was controlled, he commanded her to destroy a city," Margo mused, rubbing her forehead. "I wonder why this time he's making her sit around and wait at home... Unless..."

Cookie again attempted to jump into Holly's lap, but this time, instead of asking for attention, she lay down angrily with an annoyed sigh. Holly's face changed for a second as if confused by this behavior, looking as if she recognized the dog for a second before petting Cookie.

"Hmm...Wait, that's interesting."

Margo jogged into the kitchen to grab a pear and placed it in Holly's hand.

Holly stared blankly at the fruit in her hand for a second before a small grin crept onto her face. Her smile remained as she began biting into it.

Margo slowly lowered herself so that her face was at Holly's eye level. "Holly, can you understand me?"

Holly's smile remained the same as she looked at Margo, a small gleam of recognition passing through her eyes before quickly disappearing. However, Holly didn't respond to Margo's question.

"But you do recognize me, right?"

Holly only blinked in response, looking back into the fire. The grin on her face slowly faded.

"Okay... So, for some reason, Hank doesn't have complete control... She can recognize things and do small things outside of his instructions... But I'm not sure she is processing what is going on outside of what Hank has asked of her—"

Bert hummed in apprehension.

"Or maybe she just grins at anything that approaches her?" Bert suggested, as he knelt down into Holly's eye line, but Holly's face didn't change as before. Her fece remained blank outside of a brief moment where her eyes squinted in confusion.

"Or, maybe you are right, Margo... Why do I feel a bit offended she didn't smile—"

"It is likely because Hank doesn't have her entire heart," Margo continued, ignoring him. "Which is good news. We might be able to break his hold easier than last time because of that."

"How did you break the hold last time?" Robin asked nervously.

Margo let out a nervous laugh.

"I had to almost kill her. When Hank saw she was defeated, he broke the hold on her himself."

"So you didn't break the hold on her."

A sudden, heavy silence landed upon the room.

"I'm—I'm just trying to be positive," Margo mumbled, scratching behind her ear and letting out a frustrated sigh. "See, this was exactly what I was worried about," she yelled through her clenched teeth, shaking her head as she stomped over to where Holly sat.

"Seriously, Holly. Don't make me have to kill you this time."

Margo angrily sniffed as she turned, mumbling profanities under her breath as she made a portal,  disappearing in an instant.

There was a silence that fell on the room at her departure. Bert looked down awkwardly as he shifted his feet, tapping loose dirt from his boots onto the magical floorboards.

"Listen, I'm—really sorry—I—" Robin started.

Bert started to shake his head and sat down again on the settee as he scratched his head.

"Truthfully, I don't think you did anything. This is a greater plot than you, or even your brother."

As soon as Bert sat down, Holly stood up from her seat and walked to the kitchen.

Bert and Robin exchanged looks and quickly followed after her, intrigued by her sudden action.

Holly entered the kitchen and began mechanically retrieving food from the pantry cabinets, as if to begin cooking.

"Wait, Holly, let me do that," Robin instructed, intervening by gently grabbing her shoulders and taking the knife out of her hand, carefully leading her over to the kitchen table.

Robin turned and grabbed some soup he had made from the icebox, thankful to have prepped something for a time like this.

"Do you want some too, Bert?"

"No, I should probably head out to find Margo soon. For all I know, she is finding Hank to kill him as we speak."

"Really?" Robin said, hope rising in his chest. "Would that break the magic?"

"Probably not. Even with him dead, the magic would still remain."

"Oh."

That response was all Robin manage, as the weight of powerlessness fell back into his shoulders. He felt embarrassed for a moment that he thought killing Hank would help.

"I bet you regret leaving London now, huh?" Bert joked after a beat of silence as Robin laid out two bowls on the table.

"Would it be bad to admit, just a little?" Robin responded with a small laugh.

Bert snorted. "Maybe it is... but don't worry, I don't think Holly can hear you."

"However," Robin continued as he lit the stove, "knowing this all would have happened regardless of whether I was here or in London makes that regret subside a bit."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Because," Robin paused to think of the right words, "even though all of this happened, and it might be a challenge to get things back to how they were, it's a battle for a life I want to fight for. I didn't have that kind of life in London. I don't think I would have had it if I never came to Sunshine Acres; and I don't think I would have it if I go back now, without fixing things here, either."

"So you aren't going home then?" Bert asked with a knowing smirk.

"Definitely not until I confront my brother, see what's going on, and get Holly back to normal," Robin replied, stirring the boiling soup on the stove more aggressively than necessary. "Beat his ass, if I have to. Try to get any information that might help."

"You don't have to do that."

Robin looked up from the pot at the stove, and over to Holly, who was looking blankly out the window, and out to the pond behind the house.

"I think I do."

Bert let out a small chuckle.

"Well, Robin, I guess you really are a good man in the end. Holly has given her heart to many horrid men, but this time she might have just hit the jackpot."

Robin smiled. "Well, it's a rarity to find a pretty, ultra-powerful sorceress who makes jewelry over in London's society. You have to hold on to a girl like that when you find one."

Bert laughed and shook his head. "Exactly. That's how I felt when I first met Margo, and I haven't let her go since. Smart men think alike."