The Time Watchers huddled into a defensive circle, each of us on either side. We all held up our watches, who quickly pulled out their weird arm things, electricity bouncing off of the metal. Robots circled us, all armed with various guns. Some guns hummed, some had rolling barrels, some glowed, some were small, some were big, etcetera etcetera. I recognized almost all of the robots. Some looked new, though. A golden retriever with only three legs weaved its way through the robots, barking and wagging its tail. It ran circles around us, or more appropriately, hobbled. The robots were led by one man in a lab coat, who held a gun that had three fin like things on it. Glass that held a pink and purple substance surrounded the area where the barrel would be. The muzzle had three rings around it. The man had a vicious snarl on his face, gun pointed at us fiercely. When he recognized our faces, he slowly lowered his gun, expression softening.

"Kids?" He asked, almost in disbelief.

"Friday?" Asked Evelyn, taking a step forward.

Charitie stopped Evelyn with an arm blocking her way. "Wait! He could be an imposter like the other one."

We eyed him, Friday giving us a strange look. Charitie took a single step, almost unsure of herself, and asked, "Are you the doctor?"

To my surprise, Friday started to laugh, seeming to remember something. "I'm not the doctor," he said with an overdramatic tone. Then he clapped once, slapped both knees, and snapped, squatting with finger guns held up at us, all the while with a wide smile. "I'm the Professor."

"It's him!" Exclaimed Razz, the kids rushing at him and hugging him. I ran up with them, extremely relieved to see his face. Never thought I'd feel that way, but after everything, it was nice to see him. He laughed and hugged back, seeming a bit awkward with his embrace. The robots lowered their guns, too, seeming much more friendly and happy.

"Friday, you're okay!" Madie embrace him harder.

"Dad!" Connor buried his face in Friday's chest.

I pulled away a bit to look him in the eyes, and he looked back. "Why didn't you tell us you had autism?"

"Yeah, why?" Questioned Evelyn, looking at him too.

He sighed and let go, and we did too. He seemed to be sorry, either for us or himself. Probably for us. "I didn't know how you all would react. Whether you would make fun of me, see me differently, baby me... I just didn't want you all to see me any differently. I want to be seen as me, and when I'm around you guys, I can do that. I'm sorry I kept it from y'all. Really, I am."

"We don't see you differently." Said Razz, holding onto him again.

Everyone nodded or agreed.

He sighed again, releasing a breath he had been holding.

"Well, I mean, one person sees you differently." Razz said, looking smuggly at Connor.

Friday looked at Connor, too, smiling. "Yeah, I heard him call me something other than my name. What was it again? Dad?"

Connor nodded. "I made up my mind when we were gone. I'd like you to adopt me. If it's alright with you, I mean."

Friday beamed even more. "I'd be honored." He said, dipping his head.

The retriever was still running about, barking happily. The dog went up to Friday and jumped up on him, trying to lick him.

Friday scratched behind the dog's ear. "Oh, have you met Benjamin yet? I found him in an alley that smelled like cabbage."

Connor scratched the dog's back, and the Time Watchers went up to pet him. I stayed back, not sure if the dog was sanitary. I already felt gross because we didn't have a single bath while we were doing our mission. I didn't want to become even more disgusting. Friday was babying the dog, talking in a sing-song voice and making faces at him. Ben seemed extremely happy with what Friday was doing, and started jumping up and down, trying to get to his face.

"Hey," I said once Benjamin jumped down. "Can we take a shower or something? We're all super gross."

Friday looked at each and every one of us. "Of course you can. I have a downstairs and upstairs bathroom. I don't have any clothes for you guys, so you'll have to wear what you're wearing now. Not too bad, I hope."

"Thank you," Evelyn smiled at him.

"Hey, no problem." He grinned back. "There are a few combs and brushes under the sink in the upstairs bath, and there's extra towels in the downstairs cabinet if you need them. So I guess you guys sort out who will use the bathrooms first."

"I call dibs on the upstairs!" I exclaimed, running up the steps after weaving through the robots. I was so sick of just having grease and sweat on my body, I just couldn't let anyone have a shower before me. Finding my way into the nice looking bathroom, I turned the old, 1980's shower knob thing I forgot the name of, watching water rain put of the shower head. The shower head itself looked slightly rusted, and was wide enough for water to go all over someone's body. Satisfied, I locked the door and pulled out a brush from under the sink, then set it on the small counter and looked at myself in the mirror. Man, I look ugly. Well, uglier than usual. My brown, wavy hair was extremely greasy. My brown eyes were tired, dark circles helping their appearance. My pores were clogged up a bit. My skin was covered in dirt. I growled, scowling at how hideous I was.

"It's not so bad, Amelia." Lorita chirped. "You could have burned half your face, or been stabbed in the eye, or--"

"Thank you, Lorita." I hissed.

"Oh... okay. Sorry, did I upset you?" Her voice sounded concerned.

I sighed with irritation. "No, Lorita. Everything's fine. Relax."

"Okay, Amelia." Her mood bounced back up. "You should probably take your shower now, or else the water will become cold."

I scowled even more at her bossiness, but did as I was told. I took off my clothes and put them next to the brush, then stepped into the shower and scrubbed myself with soap. It smelled like the soap my mom would use, and I became homesick quickly. After this, I am so going home. No more... this right now. I'm all done at the moment. I washed my hair thoroughly, using the kiwi and lime scented shampoo and strawberry scented conditioner that stood at the edge of the tub. When I didn't feel any more grease, and when dirt stopped streaking off my body, I decided I was clean enough to step out. Ringing my hair out, I toweled off, drying my hair and putting my clothes on quickly. Brushing out my hair, I stared at my complexion, chewing the inside of my cheek a bit as I observed myself.

That'll have to do for now, I looked down at the sink, then knelt and opened up the cabinet that held the brushes. "I wonder what this old guy has in here."

"Amelia? Snooping isn't very polite." Lorita chided. "Also, he is only thirty-three."

"It's not like he's hiding secret documents in his bathroom. That was for his secret lab. I just want to see." I continued searching, shoving past toilet paper and toothpaste. To my surprise, I found eyeliner at the back, and I pulled it out. "Why is this in here?"

"I'm not sure."

"You think he had a girlfriend?"

"He has never dated anyone."

"Seriously?" I looked down at her, confused.

"Yes, I would not lie to you."

"That's pretty sad. He's a... decent guy."

"It's because no one really treats him like an equal. They treat him like a kid, and he absolutely hates that. Also, he's never really clicked with anyone. He feels socially awkward around people his age and up, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. But he could find someone who's... twenty or something. I'm sure they'd be good together."

"It's his preference."

I shrugged and put the eyeliner back, then stood and closed the cabinet. After making sure I had everything, I charged Lorita's battery, then went out of the bathroom, walking past two or three robots on the way downstairs. I made my way to the living room, seeing everyone was in there. To my surprise, they had all taken a shower, and I stared in disbelief.

"How long was I in the shower for?" I asked, making everyone look at me. The Time Watchers were playing a board game that I somehow recognized as Clue, and Friday, Ben, and Connor were on the couch. Friday was wearing a square pair of glasses, and it took me a minute to get used to him with them on.

"About..." Friday looked at his regular watch. "Maybe twenty-two minutes or so."

"And that was enough time for all of them to get a shower in one bathroom?!"

"Yeah." Connor nodded. "I don't think Lorita taught you this yet, but you need to learn how to do things quickly, like eating, showering, and other stuff like that."

"How long did it take each of you to do that?"

"Four-point-four minutes each." Replied Charitie casually.

I blinked.

"Snuggles over here was the hardest one to teach." Said Madie, pointing at her sister Evelyn. "Her showers used to take fourty-five minutes!"

"Yep." Evelyn smiled and nodded. "Took me about... maybe two months to get me to actually get down to ten minutes."

"Why'd you call her Snuggles?" I asked, taking a seat on one of the chairs.

Madie laughed. "It's an inside joke. I'm Snaggle Tooth, and she's Snuggle Butt." The two siblings began to laugh even more.

"... What?"

"I don't even know," sighed Friday, leaning back and shaking his head, "they're weird kids."

"Heck yes, we are!" Evelyn kept laughing.

Once they were calmed down, they kept playing their game, and Friday and Connor kept talking about what they would have to do to get Connor into Friday's custody. Luckily, Connor's dad already had a record for child abuse, so if they were to report the latest one, Connor would go into an orphanage. From there, Friday would come and adopt Connor. Although Connor would have to spend a few nights in the orphanage, he said he'd be fine.

"'Ello, 'ello, 'ello!" Evelyn said as she moved Mr. Green--who she was playing--three spaces to the billiard room.

"Missy, why?" Charitie laughed.

"Why not?" Evelyn beamed at her.

Essie narrowed her eyes. "Touché."

"My turn!" Madie grabbed the dice and rolled it, then moved Mrs. Scarlet five spaces, and went into the kitchen. "I think..." She observed her cards carefully. "That Mrs. White used a pipe in the kitchen to kill Mr. Body."

Charitie slowly handed her a card face-down, and when Madie looked at it, she handed it back and marked something off on her sheet.

"I am so glad that's all over." I sighed, leaning against the chair. "No more running from Eric's guys."

Friday stopped talking to Connor and looked at me, then smiled apologetically. "I'm afraid it's not over yet."

"What?!" I shot back up. What does he mean it's not over?! We won!

"Eric's still out there. The only way it will be over is if we take him down. I already talked to them about it," he inclined his head to the Time Watchers, "and we all agreed we'd create a plan tomorrow to take him down. It'll have to be full proof, obviously. It'll also be incredibly dangerous, and I want you to train more so you're a bit more prepared for what's to come."

"... Okay." I frowned and looked at my feet. Dang it! And I was here thinking we were all safe and good.

"Also," he added, "we need to get some more things for the house. I'm still trying to get my fridge full again."

"Like plates and glasses, right?" Asked Essie.

"Yeah, they smashed them all. More lightbulbs would be good too, and some gorilla glue to fix some other things in the office..." He pulled out a small notebook from his lab coat's pocket, along with a pencil, and began to scribble down a few things.

I leaned back again, sighing tiredly. "Oh, boy. This'll be fun."

"I know, right?" Evelyn smiled at me.

* * *