Timeline note: Set shortly after Monsters Inc's epilogue.

Note on my upcoming multichapter stories: Variance has been pushed back in the pipeline, but Fragments will most likely take off in December. For more info, see my profile.

Sulley really needed to install a Door Station in his office.

Like, really. Mike was getting antsy waiting for him when he went to see Boo. Leaving an active door unsupervised was way too much of a risk, so he had to cut the power each time and then check every few minutes if Sulley was ready to come back.

He shivered a little, drawing the blanket from the simulated child's bed closer around himself. The early morning's chill really got to him, even though he should be familiar with it by now; he had lost count of Sulley's visits to Boo ages ago. Faintly, he wondered, if they could leave the power to the Door Station running in this unused room, why they could not spare a little for the heating, too. But to be fair, he had never asked Sulley about that - it was difficult enough as it was to hide the power leak from the rest of the company. No need to add to the diverted energy.

And, well, that was probably exactly why Sulley had made no plans to actually install a Door Station in his office. How would he explain that?

Mike shot a nervous look back at the door. Of course, the way they were handling the trips right now was no less of a risk. Maybe even more of one. Should Boo's parents ever discover Sulley and then he could not get back here in time… according to Sulley, they were rather paranoid about Boo's safety.

With a sigh, Mike wondered how that could have worked out when she had spent more than a day in their world. Or maybe it was because she had spent more than a day in their world.

Hm, maybe it was a good idea to check on Sulley again. Shrugging off the blanket, Mike made his way over to the Door Station for what felt like the millionth time to press the appropriate button, and sure enough, he only had to wait for a moment before the door opened.

He tensed up a bit, prepared to shove the kid back into her room before she could wander around in here again… Or if it was her parents, to scare them off, for what it was worth in his case…

But it was just Sulley, and he gave a little wave back into the room before closing the door behind himself. "Hey, Mikey!"

Mike could hear her merry laughter through the wood for a few seconds before he quickly cut the power again and then turned to frown at his friend. "You're late."

Instead of perfectly appropriate chagrin, Sulley's answer to the reprimand was a playful nudge. "Sorry, she just wouldn't let go of me whenever I turned to leave." He was clutching a few sheets of paper, so Mike deduced they must have been coloring again. Boo had never really grown out of that hobby. Maybe she would be an artist one day.

"Yeah, well, don't mind the little guy freezing his horns off for you," he grumbled, crossing his arms as Sulley removed the door from the clamp and then carefully hid it using the blanket that Mike had left behind.

"I still think this isn't necessary," Sulley said lightly, straightening up again to lead the way to the exit. "I mean, no one is here at this time of day, the room is off limits, and you're wasting your time."

Mike rolled his eye as he locked the door. "Sul, you do not leave an active door unsupervised. How many times have I told you that by now? Remember what happened last time R-… someone left a door running and then left the room?" Someone. Not Randall. Thinking of "someone" was easier to deal with.

Sulley did not seem to have caught the slip of tongue. "That only got out of hand because I was careless enough to just barge in there in the first place," he argued as they made their way through the company's endless hallways.

"Well, exactly," Mike agreed. "And we have no guarantee that wouldn't happen this time as well. And for the record, Boo could have opened the door by herself at that time even if you had not gone in there. And by the way," he added with a smug smile and stopped in his tracks, "you've walked past your own office again."

"Ah, dammit," Sulley muttered, but chuckled. "I'll never get used to this being mine." Going back the last few feet, he opened the door to let Mike in before following and locking it from the inside.

As soon as Mike heard the click, he felt the tension leave him entirely. And all of a sudden, his face split into a smile. "How is she?" Now that they could be sure they would not be overheard, he really wanted news on Boo.

Sulley chuckled, which Mike took as a sign that he had anticipated the question, and went to place the sheets of paper on his desk before sinking down in his chair. "Fine as always," he reported. "In fact, she was giggling so loudly that her parents entered the room at one point."

Mike tensed up immediately, but his friend's light-hearted tone made it pretty clear that nothing had happened. "Did they see you?" he could not stop himself from asking anyway.

Sulley shook his head. "Nah. I made a mad dive for the closet, though. I was hoping you'd be checking on me at that point, but there were only her clothes and stuff."

Mike forced himself to relax, and then also came over to the desk to sit in the visitor chair. "You're lucky I didn't check on you after you had entered her closet," he muttered. He was not actually sure what would have happened. Would Sulley have been trapped? Could he have opened the door from the inside anyway and completely crashed the portal system? Mike made a mental note to read up on that.

"Anyway," Sulley continued, "we had fun coloring and she keeps asking a lot of questions."

Mike chuckled. "So I take it what she says actually makes sense now?"

Sulley seemed to ponder that for a moment as he looked through what he had brought with him, and the sheets of paper did indeed turn out to be pictures. "Well, most of the time. But probably just to those who know her. But, you know…" He looked up at that point and smirked. "Why don't you just come with me some time?"

Mike gave a sigh. He wanted to. He missed that adorable little thing, he really did. But Sulley knew that was not possible. "Sul, look. We've been through this. We can't leave the door unsupervised. You know that. And besides, I'd just disturb you two, anyway…"

"Wait, what?" Sulley interrupted, frowning now. "Where did you get that idea?"

Mike blinked at him. "Well, you're her Kitty," he pointed out. "And you two are so close. And, I don't know, why do I even have to explain this?" In his opinion, the whole thing was pretty self-explanatory. Boo was Sulley's friend. Mike had just tagged along for the ride. He would just butt in on, well, something of a family meeting.

But Sulley's frown had deepened even as he kept shifting through the drawings. "She asked about you, you know."

Mike smiled a little. "Miiiiike Wazowski," he joked, in that same tone she had always used. It had annoyed him at first, but he had to admit it to himself - it was cute.

Sulley chuckled. "That, too," he confirmed, "but that's not what I mean." And with those words, he finally fished one of the pictures out of the pile and placed it in front of Mike so that he could study it.

Her drawing skills were getting better, Mike had to give her that. This was not just a green blob with arms and legs, he actually recognized himself. Her, too; she was standing on the other side of the image and obviously laughing, though hers was a more sketchy portrait. But that was okay; he supposed a human's body shape was a lot harder to accurately depict than his.

He was not laughing, though. The curve of his mouth was all wrong for that. And then he spotted the smudges of blue color in his eye.

"Why am I crying?" he muttered. It was more a soliloquy than anything else, but Sulley answered anyway.

"Aww, Mikey, just let it all out."

Blinking in confusion, Mike looked up to discover the huge grin on his friend's face. And then, finally, he realized what that had probably sounded like. "In the picture!" he snapped. "I meant in the picture, you blasted, hairy moron!"

"Whatever you say, Mikey!" Sulley quipped, leaning back and folding his arms behind his head.

Mike felt warmth creep up in his cheeks. "Stop smiling at me!" he demanded hotly.

"Sorry," Sulley laughed, "didn't know you'd be offended."

Mike faintly grumbled at him, then turned back to the drawing. "In the picture!" he clarified yet again, calming down despite himself. "Why has she drawn me crying? Am I, I don't know… am I sad not to see her?" He had never claimed to understand kids, so this stumped him a bit.

Sulley gave some kind of half-shrug. "Would she be happy then? Nah, I'd say you've made her laugh by hurting yourself. That is what she has always loved about you."

It took Mike a few seconds to notice the smile on his own face. He had not been aware that there was anything she loved about him, save for chirping his name.

"She misses you," Sulley added quietly.

Mike felt his heart skip a beat. There were not all that many people who would have missed him after not seeing him for a while. He had been completely unaware that Boo was one of them.

He lightly touched the picture, the little representation of a sweet girl he should logically have been afraid of. And he had been, at first. But today, he was no more afraid of her than she was of him. In fact, he had to admit to himself… he had really enjoyed her presence.

"Well, we, um…" he muttered. "Maybe we could… er… switch once, or something… I, I mean…"

"Mike," Sulley cut in, gently. "We can go together. It's gonna be okay. We'll lock the door to the room with the simulator, and we'll hurry with the visit. We'll find a way."

Slowly, Mike raised his gaze to look up at his friend. "It's too risky," he breathed. "We both know that, Sul, we…"

"And I keep telling you," Sulley interrupted, still in that same tone, "that it's gonna be okay. The room is off limits - no one's in there, ever, no one but us. And we won't stay for long. Trust me on this one, Mike. She needs to see you."

Mike was not sure if he should smile or cry at the way Sulley had said that Boo "needed" to see him. Not "wanted" to see him. Needed to. As if not seeing him was hurting her.

"We can… try once," he finally conceded. "And if something goes wrong…"

"It won't!" Sulley insisted firmly, with that brilliant smile, the one that Mike had learned to recognize as a sign that his friend wholeheartedly agreed with whatever decision had just been made. "It's gonna be fine, Mikey!"

With a gulp, Mike forced himself to nod. It would be fine. It had to be. He really wanted to see her, too.

Needed to see her.

"Oh, dammit," Sulley suddenly mumbled, hastily getting out of his chair and grabbing the pictures in front of him. "I forgot about the time, I have a meeting in half an hour!"

Mike had to chuckle at his friend's abrupt mood shift. Whenever Boo was involved, Sulley forgot about everything else.

Maybe he would be that way, too, after his visit to her room?

While Sulley was busy shoving the small stack of paper into a drawer, Mike was about to get up and prepare for the day as well, but halted when Sulley grabbed the picture he had shown him, the one of him and Boo.

And he knew that he was about to embarrass himself, knew that in a few moments, Sulley would smile that gentle smile that let him know he had revealed too much about himself… but he could not stop himself.

"Um, Sul…" he started, but hesitated when Sulley turned around to him, curiosity edged into his features.

"What is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Mike closed his eye and reached out for the picture still clutched in Sulley's hand.

"Can I keep that?"