Skeletons in the Closet

Summary: It's been a year, and not a day goes by without Sulley thinking about – and feeling guilt over – the fate of Randall. But when Sulley finds a familiar, yet battered and bloodied figure entering through a child's door at the factory one night, it doesn't take long for his life to turn upside down as he is forced to confront his guilt … Whumpage. Rated T for safety.

A/N: I've been overcome by a compulsion to write my first piece of fanfiction for Monsters, Inc. because it's been playing on TV for the last few weeks. I first watched M.I. when I was little, and it was one of my favourite movies – Randall was not my favourite character, until now. ;)

I really hope that you'll like this fanfic of mine, so no flames, please.

Disclaimer: Monsters, Inc. belongs to Pixar. The closest I'll ever come to owning this brilliant movie is my fanfic contribution and a decade-old McDonald's Happy Meal toy of Mr Waternoose – which I think we gave away, unfortunately. :(

Chapter 1: Intro

Five minutes past six, and it was relatively quiet since the bell rang, signalling the end of the working day at Monsters, Inc.

Five minutes ago, the corridor outside Sulley's office was filled with the footsteps of monsters, who were talking at the top of their voices and laughing heartily as they walked towards the locker rooms to collect their belongings and then proceed to go on home.

Now, a large majority of the employees had left the building, taking the noise with them, and Sulley sighed in relief at the thought.

At last … a little peace and quiet, and now some time to actually think.

Sulley sat back in his office chair, loosening his tie with another relieved sigh. As he did this, the CEO allowed himself to look around the interior of Mr Waternoose's – no, wait, it doesn't belong to Mr Waternoose anymore, Sulley – his tastefully furnished office. The overall style of the office had been revamped since Sulley had taken over from Mr Waternoose and became the CEO of Monsters, Inc., and in general, the office was simple yet smart, the way Sulley liked it. However, the longer Sulley gazed around the office, the more he was reminded of the disgraced former CEO. It was amazing to think that Mr Waternoose ruled over the company with an iron fist from the comfort of this room. Sulley could recall many a recurring visit to Mr Waternoose's office to be congratulated by the boss himself over the younger monster's remarkable scaring abilities …

Sulley closed his eyes. It had been a year since Mr Waternoose was arrested by the Child Detection Agency; a year since he, James P. Sullivan, became CEO of Monsters, Inc. in the midst of an energy crisis; a year since he realised that children's laughter proved to be ten times more powerful than their screams, thus solving the energy crisis. A whole year and still Sulley could not wrap his head around the idea – the reality of the fact – that he was now sitting in Mr Waternoose's office, head of a reputable company, all because of laughter.

To Sulley, it seemed so – to pardon the pun – laughable.

However, he knew that it would have never been possible if he and Michael "Mike" Wazowski, his best friend since university and his former working partner when he was the top scarer, hadn't gotten involved with "Boo", the precious little human girl …

The big monster smiled as he fondly remembered the toddler who stole his heart. Who knew Sulley would become attached to the little girl, despite the commotion she caused in Monstropolis? She was cute, fearless, naïve, and let's not forget her adorable laugh (though Mike was quick to argue that it wasn't "adorable" at all) – Sulley grew to love Boo as if she was his daughter.

That's why he couldn't – just couldn't – let Mr Waternoose carry out the evil plan to extract her screams to solve the energy crisis. Sulley couldn't let Boo be the first of thousands of children to be kidnapped for Mr Waternoose's gain. How ironic it sounded, that a big burly monster like him, James P. Sullivan, who scared children for a living, would risk his friendship with best friend, his career and his life in order to protect the little human girl.

It was worth it, thought Sulley to himself as he took a clipboard out of his desk-drawer, two pages clipped onto it. Boo got home safely, Mr Waternoose is behind bars and now the company is back on top again after the energy crisis. Boo's laughter made me realise how powerful children's laughter is compared to their screams.

Sulley looked down at the clipboard, another smile gracing his lips as he gazed upon the drawing that Boo made on the night she entered his life: a cute caricature of him, a big, spotted, blue blob with horns, holding the hand of a small girl in pink – Boo herself.

Such a tiny child, she was, yet she was seen as a threat to monster-kind … who else but Sulley and, though initially unwilling, Mike, was going to save Boo from harm?

Harm, in the form of Randall …

Sulley could feel a pang in his heart the moment he thought of him.

Randall Boggs …

It was all because of him; everything that happened …

Randall Boggs …

The plot to remove children's screams, the horrific Scream Extractor …

Randall Boggs …

Sulley meeting Boo and becoming close to her as he tried to get her back home; his protecting and rescuing her; his exposing Mr Waternoose's involvement in the plot to the CDA and having him arrested; his discovering the capabilities of laugher …

Randall Boggs …

Bringing about the end to the energy crisis; bringing Monsters, Inc. back on top; sitting behind the desk in the CEO's office at the factory …

Nothing over the last year would ever have happened if it weren't for Randall Boggs.

And what did Sulley do in return?

He threw the lizard-like monster through a door and trapped him in the human world forever.

Sulley bit his lip, trying to push the unwanted memory out of his mind, but the memory persisted, and when it entered his head, the monster was forced to remember that event clearly …

Inside the factory's Door Vault, holding the reluctant Randall tightly to prevent the lizard from escaping, Sulley readied himself to throw the monster through an open door that Mike chose. Mike himself stood by the side of the door, enthusiastic and cheering Sulley on. Boo was a few feet away, a keen smile on her face. The enthusiasm was infectious, and Sulley couldn't help but adopt a smile of his own at that moment. After all that he went through for the last two days, he was ready to give it to Randall in return for his actions, and he felt a rush of thrill run through him as Randall tried in vain to squirm out of his captor's hold …

Sulley began to swing the lizard back and forth, building in momentum, much to the delight of Mike and Boo, who egged him on.

Randall could only beg, crying as he was swung, "No, no, please, no …!"

Sulley loosened his grip as he swung the lizard forward, finally letting him go.

The last thing he saw of the reptilian monster was a flash of purple as Randall sailed through the door, screaming helplessly, the last action of the second-best scarer at Monsters, Inc. Before Sulley could look anymore, Mike closed the door on the lizard with finality, exclaiming triumphantly before Sulley could trap Randall in the human world and before Mike could throw the door over the rails:

"He is OUT OF HERE!"

Sulley rubbed his forehead wearily, shaking his head when the memory came to an end.

Is it wrong of me to feel guilty for banishing Randall like that?

Is it wrong of me to ask myself this everyday?

Day after day, it was hard to suppress the thoughts of the reptilian monster. Randall Boggs was committing a very evil crime for kidnapping Boo for her screams, that was true, but surely a fair trial and imprisonment would have been apt enough punishment for the lizard instead of banishment? At the time, Sulley felt no remorse in throwing Randall through the door and destroying the door, but now …

Guilt.

The blue monster felt complete and utter guilt in having played a hand in Randall's fate. He thought himself cruel and callous to have banished Randall from the monster world – Sulley understood what banishment was like – albeit for only a few hours – and he almost felt like Mr Waternoose when the former CEO banished Sulley and Mike to the Himalayas.

And there was no way that Sulley wanted to be compared to Mr Waternoose.

The fact that it had been a year since the CEO last saw his former rival made Sulley wonder: Is he alright?

Randall was not like Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman. He would be the type who would not rest easily in being trapped in the human world. He would have no trouble blending in with his surroundings, given his ability to camouflage himself, but Sulley knew Randall possessed determinism, a characteristic that would enable the reptilian monster to survive in the human world and try to make his way back to Monstropolis.

But the question that was constantly on Sulley's mind was: Where in the world is Randall Boggs?

Unlike Mr Waternoose when he banished Sulley and Mike to the Himalayas, Sulley did not know where he banished the lizard, and so Randall's fate was unknown to him, only increasing his guilt further.

Sulley could not bring himself to think that the lizard might no longer be alive …

No, he's alive. He has to be. He won't die, he won't let himself die …

Sighing shakily once more, the blue monster looked back down at the clipboard in his hands, the picture of him and Boo coming to view. Gently, he took hold of the page from the bottom-left corner and lifted the page up, so that his cerulean-eyes fell on the second paper hidden underneath

It was another drawing, compliments of Boo – only this time, it was not one of him or of the little girl.

The crude figure in the drawing was none other than Randall Boggs, a sort-of side-profile of the purple reptilian monster. Sulley salvaged the drawing after he and Mike returned Boo home. It was lying in their apartment, forgotten for a while until Sulley came upon it after he found the picture of him and Boo.

It was all that was left of Randall in all of Monstropolis …

Knock-knock!

"Sulley! You in there, pal?"

Sulley quickly hid the clipboard in the desk-drawer the moment he heard the knock on the office door. Hurriedly, he pulled a document that was lying on his desk towards him – an invoice which he read over that afternoon, regarding a consignment of children's doors that just came in that day.

"Sulley?! I know you're in there, so you can't ignore meeee!" sang a familiar voice on the other side of the door.

"It's kind of hard to ignore you, Mikey, no matter how tiny you are!" called out Sulley good-naturedly, pushing his guilt and all thoughts of Randall aside. "Come in, I was just busy looking over this invoice."

A lie, little though it was, but a lie nonetheless. Where Mike Wazowski was concerned, Randall Boggs meant nothing to him, whether the lizard was dead or not.

A/N: Whew! First chapter done. Hope you liked it – I had to watch "Monsters, Inc." a few times and go through the Pixar wiki to get this chapter written. My biggest challenge will have to be writing Sulley and Mike's dialogues in the next chapter. There'll certainly be a lot to talk about in the next chapter, I can promise you that … ;)

I hope to get the cover-art done soon for this fanfic, and – if the response is good – to write the second chapter.

Reviews are welcome!

*~AI07~* ;)