"I'm sorry, her name was Vailly?"

Sally nodded as she looked up from her Legos, correctly answering Jeff's question. She, Jeff, Ben, Lost Silver, and S.O.S. were all gathered in the living room of the cabin Ben, Sally, and Silver shared with Engine. Hector was in the room, too, and he and Sally were playing with Legos on the floor. Sally's pet rabbit, Bugs, was sitting beside them. Jeff appeared to be rather worked up, and Ben looked nervous.

"And you told Tim and Brian about it, right?" Jeff went on.

"I did," Sally answered. "Why's that matter, Jeffy?"

"Wait, wasn't Vailly Evans the name of your dead brother's girlfriend?" S.O.S. guessed.

Jeff nodded in response. What little color there was in his face had been drained from it.

"Hold on - Sally, did you get her last name?" Silver asked.

Sally shook her head as she stuck two Lego pieces together. Silver's face perked up a little.

"But wait - Vailly is a pretty uncommon name," Ben argued. "I don't think I've ever even heard of anyone else named Vailly. Sal, what'd she look like?"

"She had long black hair and she was missing her right eye." Sally answered. Her tone was no longer so nonchalant.

"Hold on, she was missing an eye?" S.O.S. sat up from where she was sitting on the ratty old couch. Her eyes were wide. "Like, you know that for sure? No eyepatch or anything?"

Sally nodded solemnly.

"Vailly Evans was abducted over nine years ago while I was in the hospital for my burns." Jeff explained. "Liu told me that her kidnapper carved out one of her eyes to keep for himself."

The room fell silent. Silver's grip on Ben's hand tightened. Sally had stopped playing with the Legos, which seemed to annoy little Hector. Suddenly, the front door opened, and in stepped Tim. The look on his face was urgent.

"What the hell, old man?" Jeff snapped. "We're kinda in the middle of something here!"

"Yeah, whaddya want?" Hector echoed his father's sentiment.

Tim rolled his eyes.

"Jeff," he said, "there's something Brian and I need to show you. We've been keeping it from you for the past few days, but we figured you had the right to know."

~

The wooden chair slammed against the wall and fell to the floor with a loud crash. Tim slowly backed away, holding up his hands as if to shield himself. Brian stood in front of him, rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie in case he needed to take action.

"Look, buddy," Brian said apprehensively, "we know this is a big shock to ya - "

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SHOW ME THIS SOONER!?" Jeff screamed at the two men. His hands were clenched into tight fists, and his whole body was shaking. His lower lip trembled as tears trickled down his scarred face. His breathing was unsteady. He looked as though he wanted to tear himself apart. "Why didn't you tell me earlier that Liu survived!?"

"We didn't think you'd have a good reaction." Tim explained. "Clearly, we were right."

Brian shot Tim a look.

"For nearly a decade, I thought my brother was dead!" Jeff shouted. "Nine years! He was the only true family I had!" He grabbed at the front of his hoodie, pulling at it as if he wanted to rip it off of him.

"We know, Jeff," Brian said solemnly. "We know. But look, he's alive - "

"And he should hate me!" Jeff yelled back.

"Woods, he literally murdered a bitch 'cause she called you a monster." Tim argued. "Besides, you were under Slenderman's control when you attacked your family."

"That's not the point!" Jeff roared. "I don't care if it was Slenderman's fault: I almost killed him! I don't even know if he's still alive now!"

Jeff felt as though the atmosphere itself was closing in on him like steel walls. His chest was tightening up. His heart was pounding as if it wanted to jump out of his chest. He felt like he was going to die.

Wrapping his shaking arms around himself, Jeff fell to his knees, sobbing quietly. Humiliation slowly replaced his anger as he realized that he was crying in front of other people. He tried to calm himself down by wringing his hands back and forth.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered through his tears. "I'm sorry . . ."

"Hey, hey, easy now," Brian said softly. He squatted down and tried to approach Jeff, but he slapped his hand away.

Tim sighed with pity and reached for his walkie-talkie. A few minutes later, Rouge threw open the door to the office and sat down next to Jeff, pulling him into her arms. She was considered the mother hen of the Slenderman Alliance, and she treated most of the proxies like her children, including Jeff, whom she had taken under her wing when he was only fourteen and had just joined the Alliance.

Jeff wept into Rouge's shoulder, quivering in her arms. He was embarrassed, but he needed comfort. He needed to feel pressure on his body. Rouge gently rocked him back and forth, trying her best to soothe him.

It took a long time to calm Jeff down. Once he had wiped away the last of his tears, Rouge helped him to his feet. Brian hugged him, but it was an embrace that Jeff didn't return. As for Tim, he simply stood aside and watched, arms crossed. He had seen Jeff like this before, but this was something Tim could have prevented. He wished he and Brian had shown Jeff the security tape earlier.

"Woods, I hope you can forgive me." Tim said sincerely. "If Slenderman sent Brian and I that tape, it's a clear sign that your brother Liu has something to do with our current situation."

Jeff nodded and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his hoodie. His eyes were bloodshot from crying.

"Okay," he sniffled. He voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. "W-we need to show this to Ben, too."