"Marie!"

She hears Roan's voice calling for her. But she wants - no, needs to fight against it. She needs to go back and ask Kal more. Like what song? And what if the song doesn't work?

But Roan calls her name again and her mind can't seem to refuse the call. Can't seem to sink back into that weird place.

Her eyes flutter open. The light from the ceiling somehow more painful on her eyes than the one that knocked her back to reality. A shadow falls over her. "Marie?" it asks.

She groans as a pain flares to life in her head. She reaches up and pinches her forehead. "What happened?" she asks.

"You got knocked backwards into the couch and then and then you're pulse stopped but then it came back and it was beating so fast and then your body started to compulse and and-"

"Shh." She waves her other hand up at him hoping to swat at him like a fly. "You're talking too fast and loud."

"You were dead!" he exclaims.

"Dead?"

He nods, his face finally coming into focus.

Marie blinks. Is that how she was able to communicate with Kal? Because she died a little? But how did she even die? Would she feel any side effects from it or would she be completely fine?

"Can I sit up please?" she asks.

Roan blinks down at her before realizing what she means and backs up. Marie groans as she tries to sit up. When she succeeds she leans her head back so it hangs over the back of the couch.

Roan watches her. He wrings his hands together.

"So I died?" Marie asks again. She just... she can't believe she died.

Roan nods.

"Wow."

"But... you're back now?"

She hums. "I guess so."

"Did... did you feel dead?"

She shakes her head. Her hair brushes the back of the couch. "I didn't. Maybe I was too focused on Kal or..." Or what if when she was in that weird place talking with him she was dead?

"Or what?"

"How long was it between my pulse disappearing and me waking up?"

He shrugs. "Probably only a few seconds."

She sits up and looks at him. "So I wasn't out very long?"

He shakes his head. "Why?"

"I had a whole conversation with him. There's no way that it was only a few minutes."

"You talked to him?" His eyes widen.

Marie nods. "I did."

"What did you learn?"

She knows that it shouldn't bother her that he just wants to know what she learnt and not what happened in there. But it does bug her.

"It was... he was strange."

"Strange?" Roan sits down beside her.

She rotates so she faces him and tucks one leg under the other. "Kal was there, looking how he did in the picture you have. But there was also this teddy bear with him."

"Mr. Teddy?"

Maries eyes widen as she nods. "How did you know?"

He shrugs. "It was his stuffed teddy that he took everywhere with him. I wonder if that means Mr. Teddy was with him when he was kidnapped?"

She nods. "I think he was. Mr. Teddy was like... all of Kal's vengeance. It was so creepy." She shudders just thinking about the bear.

"So... Kal wants revenge for what happened to him?"

Marie nods. "I tried my best to tell him it's not working and that he's hurting the people who are trying to help him, but I'm not sure how well it got through to him. I think his vengeance has a lot of drive and control over him."

Roan frowns. "I can't even picture that. My brother was such a sweet and cheerful kid."

"Things like this will change people."

Roan lets out a low whistle. "I guess so."

Marie reaches out and grabs his hand. She folds it in between her two. Roan looks up at her. "Kal knows you're trying to help him. He knows that you miss him. I made sure to get that through to him. In return he told me how to help put him to rest."

"Thank you, Marie." He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens them again there's determination dancing in them. Proud and unwavering. "Now how do we help my brother?"

***

"A song?" Mike asks.

Marie nods as everyone around her breaks into confused and bewildered looks.

"But that's what we've been doing!" Amy exclaims.

"But it's not just-" Marie tries to explain.

"None of the songs we've sung have ever worked," Nayoko says, interrupting Marie's explanation.

"Well that's because-"

"Maybe we need to try a song from a genre we've never done before," Amy says.

"Would you shut up please!" Marie yells, jumping to her feet.

Amy and Nayoko look up at her. Nayoko looks ashamed while Amy rolls her eyes.

"Thank you," Marie sighs as silence fills the room for more than a minute. She sits back down on the couch. "It's not just any random song that we have to sing. And it's not even we that have to sing. My best guess is that Roan has to be one of the people singing it."

"So what song is it?" Roan asks.

Marie hadn't told him yet. She didn't feel right telling him first before everyone else. They'd all been working so hard to try and keep this place floating while also dealing with a ghost. It wouldn't have been fair for Roan to be the first to find out. Especially since the song also involved Mike. They deserved to find out together.

Marie rubs the back of her neck. "Okay, so like, the thing is... he didn't actually tell me what song. He just said that a song would put him to sleep and when I asked he said that Roan or Mike would know." She braces herself for everyone to yell at her. She knows it isn't the best information she could have gathered. Or even the best information that could help them. It's vague and could have a ton of different possibilities.

But now it's up to Roan and Mike to figure out what song Kal was talking about. The work and the weight is off Marie.

It's not as relieving or freeing as she thought it would be.

"I don't know what song he could be talking about." Mike taps his chin.

"There wasn't any context or even a hint?" Roan asks.

Marie blushes. "Well, I told him we were trying to put him to sleep since he wasn't understanding what I meant by putting him to rest."

Mike and Roan share a knowing look.

"We know exactly what song we need then," Roan says.

"Really?" Nayoko scooch's forward on the block she sits on. "What song?"

Mike sighs. "It was his bed time song."

"Our mom used to sing it to him." Roan looks down at his hands in his lap. A frown on his face.

"Isn't this good news?" Marie asks.

"Yeah," Amy pipes in. "Shouldn't we be dancing and celebrating that we now know the way to get rid of him?"

"That's the thing though," Roan says. "Only my mom knows the song."

Silence fills the room. Until Nayoko breaks it. "Can't we just ask her then?"

Mike coughs. "She died a few years ago."

"Oh."

"So we have no idea what this song is even about?" Amy asks.

Mike nods. "Her and Kal were very secretive about the song."

"Something about Kal wanting something all to himself." He rolls his eyes. "Dang you, Kal."

"What if I went back and asked him for the song?" Marie asks.

Roan's eyes widen. "You can't! You don't know if you'll be able to make it there again. Or come back again!"

That's another thing. They decided to not tell anyone about Marie's little bit of dying.

"But what if it does work?"

"There's no guarantee you could get him to tell you anything else. You could barely get him to tell you about the song!"

"But-"

"There actually might be one thing," Mike says softly.

Everyone in the room turns to him.

"What do you mean?" Roan asks.

Mike sighs. "After Kal was declared dead your mothers health started to decline. One day I came home to find her recording herself. She wouldn't tell me what it was about even after my constant nagging. After that I never caught her doing it again. But a few weeks after her death I found the videos. But I- I couldn't bring myself to watch them."

Marie didn't expect Mike to be an emotional guy, and she still doesn't think he is. But the tears rolling down his face would be able to convince her otherwise.

Roan looks up at Mike with wide disbelieving eyes. "You're kidding... right?"

Mike shakes his head.

Roan's hands ball into fists. "So you just decided to not tell me that mom left some videos behind? Videos that could have helped me?"

"I'm sorry, Roan. I just- I- we had just lost them both and it was-"

"Show them to me." Roan lowers his head. His face falls into the shadows.

Maries not sure whether to comfort him or avoid him.

Mike sighs. "Alright. We'll go home and watch them together?"

Roan just nods as he stands up. He grabs his coat from where it lays on the couch and heads out of the common space.

Mike watches him leave. Only sighing once he looks at everyone left in the room. "Let's leave it there for today, alright? Maybe me and Roan will have some answers for you all tomorrow."

Nayoko is the first one to make a move. She jumps up as best she can and limps over to Mike. When she reaches him she wraps her arms around him. Mike stiffens before relaxing and hugging her back. She pulls back and looks up at him. "Thank you both so much. I know this is hard for you."

Mike wipes his eyes before coughing into his fist. "Thank you, Nayoko."

She nods and hubble's back over to her crutches. She picks them up and turns to Amy. "Can you give me a ride home?"

Amy nods and she, too, stands up. She pats Mike on the shoulder. "You and Roan are both brave and strong."

Mike nods.

The two girls leave.

Finn stands up next. He and Mike do a bro hug before he, too, leaves.

"I don't think I'll ever understand him," Marie says as she stands up. She grabs her purse from where it sits on the ground.

Mike laughs, but it comes out a little hollow. "I don't think I ever will either."

Marie sighs. "I do hope you and Roan can figure this out." She places a hand on his shoulder. "But don't push yourselves. If the videos are too hard to watch just take breaks, okay? We don't need to solve this right away."

Mike nods. "I'll keep that in mind. But for Roan..." He doesn't finish the sentence but both of them know what he means.

Roan will push through.

"I'm going to head home. I'll see you guys tomorrow?"

Mike nods. "Hopefully we'll have our answers by then."

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