"Eights?"

Josh yawned, flicking his single eight card to land by his feet on the hospital bed. This was… really boring. Not that he wasn't thankful to Mike for trying to keep him occupied, but after around the twelfth game, Go Fish tended to lose its appeal. Especially when your opponent was handing you every game.

When Chris had told him that Mike was "practically worshiping the ground he walked on," Josh had thought he was exaggerating. Chris wasn't. Honestly, Mike was kind of freaking Josh out with how nice he was being – checking on him, slipping him food from the vending machines, trying keep him entertained and letting him win all the games they played… It was weird. Oh, not to mention Mike kept sneaking out of his own hospital room to do all this.

The only thing that made this less awkward-slash-weird-slash-downright-creepy was that Jess' condition was such that she couldn't have visitors at the moment. Because of that, Josh was able to at least partially chalk Mike's odd behavior up to him just trying to find something to do while he waited. Other than worrying, that was.

Mike plucked up the card and tucked it in the middle of his others. "Kings?"

"Go Fish." Josh waited until Mike was looking down at his cards to send an eye-roll in his therapist's direction. Mike had to know he didn't have that card by now.

Dr. Hill's lips twitched upwards into an amused smile before his eyes dropped back to his book –the book he'd been on the same page of for over half an hour. Josh guessed he found Mike throwing game after game amusing. Josh had too… the first three games. Now it was just getting ridiculous.

One more day. One more day, and he'd get to go… where, exactly? Home? The crazy house? He hadn't actually been told. It might just be a hotel, seeing as how the weather had gotten worse and was preventing any flights in or out of the area. Thus why nearly everyone was still at the hospital.

"Knock, knock!" A light tap on the door to his room accompanied the words, and Josh brightened instantly when he spotted Chris and Sam in the hallway.

"Bro! Sammy!" Josh spread his arms welcomingly. "Enter my lavish abode!"

Chris hobbled in on his crutches first. "Hey, guys… and, uh, Dr. Hill. How's it going?"

Josh inwardly chuckled at Chris' awkward fidgeting around his therapist. In the short time since Chris had met the man, he'd tip-toed around him like he was a ticking time bomb. Mike had been pretty civil, though, even toning down his usual sailor mouth.

"Oh, you know…" Josh gestured to the cards. "Passing the time."

"Well, I betchya we can pass it better with this! Look what Chris' parents brought up!" Sam smiled brightly as she moved out from behind Chris, holding up a blue and orange box that Josh recognized well.

Josh groaned. "Oh, hell…"

The grin that stretched across Chris' face broke all records in the category of disturbing.

"What? You used to love Catan! We played it all the time!" Sam's face fell, and Josh felt guilty. But… she didn't know. She'd only ever played with him and Beth and Hannah. Never Chris. She'd never experienced the horror.

Chris was a nerd. There was no denying it. It fact, Josh and the rest of their friends took no small amount of pleasure in reminding him of that by having absolutely no mercy whenever their group did anything related to physical activity. That was probably why Chris returned the favor whenever it came to other games. Baseball, football, basketball… his attempts were sad. But board games? It was a bloodbath – especially when it came to Settlers of Catan.

Josh had realized rather quickly that he'd unleashed a hellish beast upon Chris' family and friends after he'd gifted Chris with the game for his fourteenth birthday, but by then it was too late. Chris slaughtered everyone at Catan – save for Beth and Josh, who could at least hold their own against his tyrannical playing style.

Sam was right. Josh used to want to play it with her and Hannah and Beth all the time. Why? Because he got fed up with getting slaughtered by Chris. So, he'd gotten his own copy to practice with, and the girls were the closest people he could drag into a game. Sam and Hannah weren't around as much, but eventually Beth had caught on and offered to assist him. Surely together they could beat Chris? Nope. Not even close. Not even Ashley could stop the beast when they'd brought her in as their secret weapon. Chris had no mercy. Not even on her. Not when it came to Catan. He'd figured out exactly what their plan was, and he would have none of it.

It got to the point where Josh did all right because he knew Chris' playing style so well, and Beth did well because she didn't care who she had to throw under the bus. But they'd never beaten him.

Eventually, the two of them had been forced to accept defeat, and Josh bought Chris the Star Trek version for Christmas because Chris was a frakking nerd– oh, wait, wrong sci-fi show. Whatever. The point was this: trying to win Catan against Chris was like trying to beat down a diamond wall with one's fist – it was hopeless, futile, painful, and exhausting.

But, yeah, it was a fun game. As long as Chris wasn't playing. Which he would be. Oh well. Getting slaughtered by Chris was a least a little more entertaining than game thirteen of Go Fish, right?

"Oh, he does like it." Chris' grin was still present. "He's just being a sore loser ahead of time."

Ohhh, he did not. "Oh, yeah? Game on, Cochise!" Why? Why was he doing this to himself again?

Chris let out a fake evil laugh. "I'll grab that table from the other room." He leaned over and clapped Josh on the shoulder before hobbling toward the door.

Josh raised his eyebrows. "Um, bro, maybe you should let someone who isn't half-crippled handle that?"

"I'll get it," Mike offered, shooting out his chair.

"No, you will not," Sam scolded, gesturing to the bandages on his chest that were pretty much on display since he hadn't buttoned his shirt. "I will get it."

Mike held his hands up in surrender and sat back down. "Yes, ma'am."

Sam deposited the game on the bed and jogged back into the hallway. Boo. Show off. The rest of them could barely walk.

Mike turned the box to face him. "A Star Trek game?"

"Nah, just a Star Trek version of a game." Josh pushed himself back in the bed, sitting up straighter. "You've never played Catan?"

"Nope."

"Oh, well, you're in for a treat! It's a bast!" Chris grabbed the box. "Here, we can start teaching you the rules."

Oh, boy. Poor Mike. He had no idea what he was in for. If Dr. Hill was amused before, he was certainly going to be now. Although…

Josh glanced over at his therapist. "Hey Chris… you got the expansion pack, right?"

Chris gave him a deadpan look. "Bro, you bought this for me. Yeah, it has the expansion pack."

Josh smirked at Dr. Hill. "Well? You gonna let Mike be all alone in his newbieness?"

Dr. Hill placed a bookmark in his book and set it back into the bag by his chair, chuckling as he did so. "I wouldn't be opposed to taking part in a game."

Chris looked a bit taken aback, but quickly masked his shock. "Right, yeah. The more the merrier!"

Half an hour – and a lot of explanations – later, they had the table and board set up, their Outposts planted, a confused-looking Mike, and a very cocky-looking Chris. Josh didn't hold much hope for beating Chris, but at he did at least have a good starting setup.

"So… I start with two Victory Points already, right? Because of my Outposts? And I need ten to win?" Mike asked.

"Yep." Josh leaned awkwardly on his left arm since the table was to that side of his bed. Catan was going to be kind of hard with one hand – especially since the arm attached to that hand had an IV attached to it – but he'd manage. "Outposts are one Victory Point each, and Starbases are two–"

"And Starbases are upgraded Outposts," Mike completed, nodding. "And you have to build at least two ships between each Outpost. Okay. Yeah. Think I got it. Cool."

"Motto Bene!" Chris said.

Jost rolled his eyes. Thank you, Ezio.

Chris started laying out the Support Cards. "Now… we all get to pick a card out of these–"

"Whoa." Sam leaned forward in her chair. "What are those?"

Ah, right. Sam had only played normal Catan. "Support Cards. They're only in the Star Trek version, as far as I know. They give you a special ability that you can either use once and then trade for another, or use twice and then you have to trade in for another."

After they all had their Support Cards – mahaha, he actually snagged the one he wanted before Chris could get it – Chris tossed the red and blue dice to Mike. "Well, newbie, you get first roll."

"Oh? Thanks man."

Oh, that sneaky little bastard. Josh hit Chris with an 'I know what you're doing' glare. Honestly, that was just rude, acting nice and letting Mike go first. The odds of being able to do something on the first roll of this game were nil, and now Mike would have to wait for everyone else to go before he'd get a chance to actually do anything. Chris was sabotaging one of the newbies at the starting gate.

Of course, after Mike, Sam, and Chris himself had rolled, Chris already had the Resources to build a ship. By the time the dice got around to Mike again, he was nodding knowingly. "I see what you did there. I see how it is. Chris, you suck."

Josh snorted. That was really tame for Mike. He wondered if Dr. Hill's presence would be enough to keep Mike's language down when they really got into the game and Chris started what Beth had dubbed his Kobayashi Maru Tactic – a.k.a. when Chris started obliterating his competition.

"Trust nothing he does," Josh warned. "It's all a trap."

Mike rolled, and the dice clattered across the table to settle on a three and a four. The evil seven.

"Duh-dun, Duuh-dun!" Josh sang the Jaws theme.

Mike's brow furrowed. "Okay. So, anyone with over seven cards has to ditch half?"

"Normally, yeah, but none of us have over seven cards yet." Sam pointed to the Klingon ship in the middle of the board. "So, you just get to move the Robber."

"The Klingon Wessel," Chris corrected.

"What the hel–eck is a Wessel?" Mike barely changed his words to more therapist-friendly ones in time. Josh snickered behind his cards. Like Dr. Hill hadn't heard it all – especially with Josh speaking to him regularly.

Chris gestured to the ship again, speaking in a bad, fake-Russian accent,"Theez is ze Klingon Wessel."

"It's a reference to one of the movies," Sam said, amused. "In the version of Catan I've played, that piece is a guy, but here you get that ship."

Mike grabbed the piece. "Which I move onto someone else's planet to keep them from getting Resources? And then take one of their cards?"

"Uh-huh."

"Done." Mike smacked the ship down on one of Chris' planets and snapped his fingers. "Give."

Chris narrowed his eyes as he held up his cards, letting Mike pick one, but making sure he couldn't peak and see what they were.

Oohhhhh, snap. That was Chris' 'you just put yourself at the top of my hitlist' look. Mike was now Chris' main target. Good. Maybe he'd leave Josh alone long enough he could do something.

Three rounds later, Josh was happily sitting in the lead with four Victory Points while Mike had three and Chris and rest were still at two. Things were going well. Too well. Chris was way too quiet. Mike was about to get murderized.

Another round. Mike had nine cards. Too many. That was going to–

Chris dropped a card that he'd gotten from the Development pile – a card that accomplished the same thing as rolling a seven. There it was. Josh cringed, shaking his head in sympathy.

"Sh–riiiiiiimp on platter!" Mike yelled.

Josh and Sam burst out laughing, and Chris grinned evilly. "Lose the cards, Munroe."

"You have more than seven too!" Mike shot back. And he was right. Chris had like… eleven.

Chris pulled his Role Card off the table and held it in Mike's face. "Captain Kirk, bro. Immunity. Lose 'em, Munroe!"

Mike growled and reluctantly tossed four of his cards.

"Oh, and I'll be taking one of those." Chris dropped the Wessel on Mike's highest-rolled planet.

Mike gaped at him. "Who are you?"

"Not the Christopher you think you know. Trust me," Josh supplied, looking at his own cards. "Catan makes him turn evil."

Mike held up his remaining cards to Chris. "I'm starting to get that, yeah."

Chris took one of his cards, smirking at the result before he placed it in front of Sam – the elected banker for the game – and pulled several other cards out to drop on top of it. "I am building a Starbase." He dropped more in a different pile. "Two ships." Another pile. "And an Outpost."

All twelve of his cards. Two Victory points. One turn.

"What?" Sam demanded.

Josh groaned loudly. There went his lead.

Mike was glowering. Sam was gaping. Dr. Hill was… just sitting there like he had been all game. Oh, wow. Poor Dr. Hill. He still hadn't built anything all game. Heck, Josh didn't think he'd gotten any Resource but Water all game. Granted, he could trade those in for other Resources, but only at a four-to-one ratio. That wasn't terribly useful.

Josh grabbed the dice, knowing there was nothing else Chris could possibly do that turn. Now, if he could just roll a six so he could get some Food, he'd be able to build another Outpost of his own.

So, naturally, he got a four. Which gave him more Food. Not remotely helpful. Unless someone else needed Food. "Anyone other than Chris willing to trade for Food?"

"What do you need?" Mike asked immediately.

"Water?"

"Deal."

Josh built his Outpost. Five down, five to go.

Dr. Hill took his turn after him. More Water. He must have had enough now to open his own water park planet. Josh was pretty sure that he had gotten literally no other Resources the entire game. Yet he never asked anyone to trade with him. And he still hadn't built anything. Rough.

Mike rolled and got Oxygen – something else Josh needed.

"Hey, Josh, you got an extra Food still?"

"Yeah."

Mike held up the Oxygen card. "Trade?"

"Done."

From that point on, Josh's game started going almost impossibly well. Why? Because every time he needed a Resource, Mike supplied it with no hesitation. It was pretty obvious from Mike's complete lack of progress that their trades were only beneficial to one side. Mike was trying to hand him the game again, but this time… Josh didn't mind one bit.

"Oh, come on!" Chris protested once he realized what was happening. "Mike, you're shooting yourself in the foot!"

Mike just shrugged. Next round, he traded Josh the Dilithium he needed for another ship.

"Seriously?" Chris yelled as Josh added the ship to his fleet and grabbed the Two Victory Point Bonus for having the longest, uninterrupted train of ships.

A glimmer of long-forgotten hope lit within Josh. He might be able to beat Chris. He might be able… to finally beat Chris.

Josh threw aside all thoughts unrelated to Catan after that. If he wanted to win, he needed to concentrate. Keeping those two points was key if he was going to win – he couldn't let Chris build a longer train of ships and take it.

Somehow, Dr. Hill managed to trade in enough Water to get the Resources he needed for a couple of Development Cards, and that granted him the other Two Victory Point Bonus. Josh still felt bad for him, though, because that only left him with four while Sam had racked up six and Chris and Josh were tied at eight.

"Mike, buddy, tell me you got Oxygen over there!"

Chris looked about ready to explode. "No, Michael, do not give him that!"

"Sure do!" Mike happily exchanged cards again.

Chris let out a demented-sounding half-growl, half-howl. "This is so not even fair!"

"Oh, it's perfectly by the rules, Captain," Sam said sweetly. "Players can trade as much as they want as long as both parties are willing."

"Shut it, Samantha."

Sam cracked up. "Wow. You really get into this game, don't you?"

Josh used the Oxygen to build another Outpost. One more. Just one more was all he needed.

Dr. Hill got more Water. Sam built an Outpost, bringing her up to seven Victory Points. That didn't matter, though. She wasn't a threat at this stage. What was important was that Mike picked up another Oxygen with her roll. Yes. That was all Josh needed to build his last Starbase and–

Damn. That. Stupid. Klingon. Wessel.

Chris had rolled a seven. How? How did he always manage to get one of those so that they helped him?

Chris smugly took one of Josh's cards, using it to make a Starbase.

Nine to nine. Whoever got one more point first would win.

Josh passed the dice to Dr. Hill, his eyes not leaving their staring match with Chris.

Dr. Hill rolled. More Water – big surprise. But he actually looked… pleased. He was smiling. "Samantha, would you be so kind as to hand me two Starbases?"

"Wait, what?" Josh did a double take, and he could see Chris doing the same out of the corner of his eye. "How did you–"

Dr. Hill placed the ten cards needed for two Starbases in front of Sam, who swiped them up and handed him the Starbases back.

"Didn't Chris just role a seven?" Mike pointed out. "Shouldn't you have had to ditch half of those?"

Dr. Hill tapped the Captain Kirk Role Card that was on the table in front of him. Ohh, he had nabbed that a couple rounds back, hadn't he?

"But… where'd you get the Oxygen for those?" Sure, Dr. Hill would have had no problem getting the three Waters needed for each Starbase, but he still needed the two Oxygen each. Four Oxygen total. It would have taken sixteen Waters to get that through the normal trade-in.

Not that it really mattered in the long run. That still only gave him six Victory Points.

Dr. Hill pointed one finger to… the one place on the board that allowed a player to trade just two Waters for any Resource. His original Outpost was parked on top of it. "I didn't place all of my Outposts on Water because I didn't know what I was doing – it was a strategy."

Wait… he'd had a two-to-one ratio trade-in for his Water the entire game? How had Josh not noticed that? Oh, right– he was too busy watching Chris' every move and trading with Mike.

"Wow. Nice." Chris nodded appreciatively. "Um, not bad for a first-time game strategy."

Dr. Hill chuckled deeply. "Oh, Christopher… I never said this was my first time playing. You assumed. And yes, it's been a very effective strategy over the years." He lay down his final four cards, leaning back in his chair.

Those… were not Resource cards. They were Development Cards. Each equaling one Victory Point.

Chris' jaw dropped at the same time his cards fell from his hand.

"Son of a bi–scuit," Mike blurted out.

Josh burst out laughing. And then he kept laughing. For a while.

He had wanted to beat Chris, but this? This was even better. Dr. Hill hadn't even had any help all game. Chris had just gotten completely owned.

"You," Josh choked out past the laughter that was still clogging his throat, "Are officially my hero." Tears were leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"You know, I can bring my copy of Catan to our next session, if you'd like?"

"Oh, hell yeah!"

"I will have to ask that you be careful with the Support Cards, though. Some of them are signed."

"What?" Chris squeaked, finally breaking out of his shocked trance. "You got your cards signed by–"

"William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and most of the rest of Original Series cast." Dr. Hill smiled proudly.

His therapist was a nerd. A huge one. How had he not known this?

"Is that a big deal?" Mike whispered to Sam.

"Yeah, that's pretty big to Trekkies."

"Okay, Mike, that's it." Chris cleaned up his dropped cards. "We're having a Trek marathon when we get home."

"What? No! I do not–"

"Oh, come on, Mikey!" Josh interrupted. "It'll be fun!" Even though Josh wasn't a super nerd like Chris, he did like Star Trek.

"…Okay."

Wow. He seriously had Mike on a leash right now. "Sammy, you're joining us. And you too Dr. Hill."

"Michael Munroe!"

Mike grimaced, shoulders slumping as his nurse stood with her hands on her hips in the doorway. She stormed in with the fury of a hurricane. "I have been looking all over for you! You are supposed to be in bed! Resting!"

"But I am resting!" Mike whined. Like, not even just a little whine, but an all-out child-pitching-a-fit whine.

"Wow, Mike. Would you like some cheese and crackers with that whine?" Sam teased.

"Ooooh, nice one, Sammy!" Josh crowed.

The nurse did not find them amusing, and despite Mike having faced down wolves and Wendigos only a couple days prior, he was terrorized into going back to his original room. It was very amusing.

"I still can't believe I got trounced like that because I thought he was a newbie," Chris grumbled as that cleaned up the game.

"What was that about Josh being a sore loser earlier?" Sam asked.

Chris muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

Sam shared another smile with Josh as she put the lid back on the game's box.

Chris' phone gave a buzz on the table, and his frown vanished as he eagerly snatched it up, his whole face glowing.

Josh couldn't imagine who that was from. Ashley must have finally convinced her parents that she was well enough to have access to a phone. Last he'd heard, she and her parents had isolated themselves in the safety of one of the closest hotels until they could leave. "You need to take off?"

"Hm?" Chris glanced up.

Josh gave him a knowing look. "Bro, if that's Ashley, you better not still be in this room."

Chris looked conflicted.

"Shoo!" Josh pressed.

Chris hesitated for a moment more and then took off out the door, hobbling away on his crutches. "I'll be back tomorrow!"

Tomorrow? Josh glanced at the clock. Oh, it was getting pretty late.

"Thanks for playing with us Dr. Hill." Sam set the Catan box on the sofa.

"It was my pleasure, Samantha." Dr. Hill was checking his own phone. "Ah, Josh, it looks like the weather may be clearing up enough for your parents to finally catch a plane up soon."

Josh's stomach dropped with his mood. His parents. What had they even heard about all this? And no matter what they'd heard, how could he explain anything that had happened to them that night? And if planes could get through, that meant that everyone else would be leaving–

The heart monitor to the right of his bed sped up. Damn that thing, announcing his weakness.

Sam and Dr. Hill devoted their full attention to him in an instant. Dr. Hill calmly rose from his chair, but Sam rushed over and grabbed Josh's left hand firmly in both of hers. "Josh, listen to me…" Her voice was slow and soothing. "You're gonna get through this, okay? Everything will be fine. We'll help you with whatever you need."

Her words would have been more comforting if he hadn't already pieced together that she'd be the first to leave – she was the least injured and had no significant other to keep her here.

Josh rolled his hand so he could grab hers in return. She needed to stay. He needed her to stay. But why would she? After what he'd done, why was she here at all?

He sent Dr. Hill a pleading look. His therapist nodded understandingly and stepped out of the room without a word. Funny – so far, the most helpful thing about Dr. Hill had been him knowing when to leave Josh alone.

"The police…" Josh started, his throat suddenly dry and uncooperative. "They asked all of you questions. Why not me? Why haven't they asked me anything? Why haven't they…" Why haven't they taken me away?

Sam ran her thumb in small circles on his palm. "Dr. Hill can be kind of scary. He's been keeping them off your back while you've been recovering."

That man deserved more than his annual salary for all the crap he put up with for Josh. Why on earth had his hallucinations made Dr. Hill so cruel? He was practically a saint. Well… maybe those police wouldn't agree, but to Josh he was.

"What do they know?" What did you guys tell them went unsaid.

Sam licked her lips. "Everything. But just the broad overview. Not the finer details of your… prank. I think most of us focused more on the Wendigos."

"You told them about those things?" Josh hit her with a look of disbelief. "You're gonna end up with a room next to mine in the crazy house!"

"Josh." Sam tightened her grip on his hand. "You are not going to get dragged away once you get out of here. None of us are going to let that happen."

"Why?" Josh could feel the wetness welling up in his eyes. Not again. "Why do you even care? Why do any of you? I-I terrorized you, traumatized you–"

"Yeah, Josh, you did. And I cannot even begin to understand how you thought any of that was a good idea. And I can guarantee you that I won't be taking any baths with my music on for a long time. But I am not going to abandon you when you need me most, okay? None of us are."

Josh wasn't so sure Ashley and Emily would agree, but Sam's statement was touching nonetheless. Even after seeing him at his absolute worst, she was willing to stick with him.

"Thank you…" he whispered.

"Don't thank me." One of her hands released his to rest on his cheek instead. "Just get better."

Josh leaned into her touch without even meaning to. "I'll try."

"Good."

The silence that fell between them was awkward – especially with her hand still on his face.

Eventually, she cleared her throat and pulled her hand away. "Also, you're teaching me how to play Catan better."

Josh burst into bout of laughter that he was completely unprepared for. It hurt his lingering wounds. So worth it.

…How did this get so angsty? This was supposed to be the light-hearted one! lol

Next in the series: Monsters After Dusk. Finally, some actual Vegan Psycho!

Other UD project: Last time, I gave you all a hint. Now, I give you one that's a little more obvious. Coming Soon(ish): Dawn Awakens.

psp gamer girl. devia ntart. (co) (m) / a r t / J S - 2187 - 581670152