Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while. It's been over a year to be exact. =P A lot of things were going on and...ugh. Sorry again guys. I finally updated, hope this chapter will satisfy you a bit. It's not over yet, but will have an interesting conclusion.

"Noodle…hey Noodle".

The guitarist felt someone gently shaking her. Noodle's eyes slowly flickered open, nearly threatening to close at the same time. She almost went back to sleep when her vision focused on blue, spiky hair. Underneath the blue hair was a pair of fractured eyes, gazing at her vacantly as ever. "2D…?" She blinked, feeling a bit dazed. "Where…where am I?"

The singer's mouth started to quiver. "Oh my God…" He whispered. Tears were streaming down his face. "You really are back". Without warning, Noodle was pulled into a hug. The guitarist, barely awake, was caught off guard by the singer's embrace. "2D…"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…" He whispered, giving her shoulder a small peck. "I never should have left you."

"Face ache…"

Noodle nearly jumped. Was that Murdoc's voice?

2D flinched as well and slowly laid Noodle back in her bed. "Sorry…" He said again, trembling on the spot. "I couldn't help myself."

The guitarist raised her eyes up at the singer. He looked so sad and terribly unkempt, like he hadn't groomed himself in weeks…or months. And…she frowned, examining him more closely, why was there scratch marks on his face?

As she was thinking this, her vision began to blur once more. It felt like she was barely waking up from a long nap. "Anyway, good to have you back, love", the voice said. "Glad to see you're finally over this pregnancy deal".

Noodle should have been focusing on who was addressing her, but found herself fascinated in 2D's appearance to even try. His face so beaten, one side of is scratched. His eyes, though vacant, seemed puffy underneath like he had been crying for some time. "Back…?" She whispered, perplexed. Her eyes were on 2D, rather than the voice.

"Hm…" The other person sounded a bit fascinated. "I guess it worked".

A few seconds later, someone appeared right next to 2D, watching the young girl closely with his mismatched eyes. His arms were folded, giving the singer a half nudge. "Murdoc…" Noodle blinked. She felt that foggy sensation again. It felt like she hadn't seen the bassist in a long time, but at the same time was completely un-phased at this. Was this some kind of dream? Didn't she make Murdoc mad somehow? Or did she imagine it?

The green skinned man ran a serpentine tongue over his pointed teeth a bit before answering. "Yes love. It is I, the one and only. You probably feel like you woke up from a coma, I wager".

The guitarist frowned slightly at his strange question, but nodded slowly. "Yes…"

Niccals rubbed his chin. "Don't worry love. It's normal. The doctors gave you a bit of medication after your labor, so you may be feeling like you got hit by a truck or summthin. That will go away in a few days or so. When that wears off, you'll be ready to return to Kong soon".

Noodle frowned. Something didn't feel right. What the heck was Murdoc doing here? At the same time, she felt like it didn't matter. If this was some sort of fabrication, or a dream even, she'd go along with it for now. Either that or it was just the meds talking as the bassist said.

"So…I really did have a baby, right?" She asked, eyeing them warily. "2D…?"

The singer, who had been staring off into space for a minute, quickly jerked awake from her voice. "Hm…? Yes love." He sniffed, smiling at her tenderly. "We named her Stephanie." 'That's right', the guitarist thought back to the labor the other day. At least…she thought it was the other day. It seemed so far away now. 'I remember giving birth. It was…painful.'

"You were so tired afterwards, dear", the singer went on, staring down at the floor. "You went right to sleep not long after we named her".

Noodle blinked. Something about 2D's actions seemed…unusual. The singer was usually spacey and often stared at the floor when talking to people but…

"Anyways love, "Murdoc stepped forwards, nearly knocking the singer off balance. "The Doctors are examining your baby girl as we speak. They're just double checking to see if she has any complications or whatever."

"But…she is okay, right?" Noodle asked.

"Yep", the bassist nodded, eyeing back at 2D. "She's fine."

The blue haired man nodded as well, sniffing softly. Noodle started yawning. "2D…" She thought about what happened earlier when he hugged her. "You…said something about 'never leaving me'. What…did you mean by that?" In spite of her grogginess, she hadn't forgotten how peculiar he acted when she woke up.

The singer flinched and quickly looked over at Murdoc. "I…just missed you". He said, staring at the floor once more. "We had to spend the night at a motel last night. Couldn't bear leaving you…you know?"

"Lovebirds", muttered the bassist, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, you shouldn't press yourself, love. You need your rest and all. We better be going soon for lunch".

"Lunch…?" Noodle blinked again, staring out the window. In spite of the curtains shielding it, she could see a hint of blue sky from the corners. "I've been asleep for that long?"

"Yep", Murdoc said again, fixing her a crooked smile. "That's the power of meds and labor for yeh. Both make yeh tired as hell from what I heard".

2D meanwhile, kept staring at the floor. Noodle, in spite of her grogginess couldn't help but feel that he was deliberately avoiding her gaze. "Besides", Murdoc's voice interrupted her thoughts. "It's probably going to be time to feed Stephanie soon. We wouldn't want to disturb yeh and your daughter."

"Could…2D stay?" She asked. All the time she'd been watching him, it looked like the singer was about to break down and cry. She knew him well enough to know that something was up, but couldn't figure out what.

"I feel like…we haven't seen each other in a long time".

Murdoc scratched his head for a minute. "Fine", He muttered. "He can stay with yeh, but first…I need to borrow him for a minute".

"Okay", Noodle nodded. She didn't care how long it would take, so long as she got to spend time with him. Looking over at the singer, she gave him a small smile. "Please come back soon, 2D".

The singer, who'd been unusually fascinated with the floor, finally looked back up at Noodle. He nodded, slowly returning with a smile of his own. "I will".

"Man…I can't believe that worked", Murdoc was in complete amazement as he stood outside Noodle's room, observing her through the door's window. "She really doesn't remember anything".

"Muds, I feel awful", 2D moaned, massaging his temples like a bad headache came over him. "I can't believe we lied to her".

"We didn't have a choice, dullard", Murdoc growled, frowning over at the singer who stood beside him. "Noodle was going to ask me a lot of questions if I didn't drug her".

"I don't like this one bit", Russel shook his head. He was standing across from them, leaning against the wall. "You expect us to just not only welcome you back with open arms, but to let you drug Noodle and act like Paula and Cassie never happened?"

Niccals scoffed. "Of course not", He muttered. "You people never liked me, so I never expected a welcome back".

"I don't like this either", 2D moaned again, pacing back and forth. "She's going to kill us…She's going to kill us".

"She's not going to kill you dullard", Murdoc rolled his eyes. He yanked the singer by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the door. "Noodle does have her memory back, okay? Just to clarify that. I guess her Childbirth triggered something, bringing everything back."

"Then why are we drugging her?" He sobbed. "I feel like we're messing her up like this."

"You messed her up the moment you knocked her up, face ache", snapped the Bassist, causing 2D to flinch. "Don't think I've forgotten your little disappearing act with her when you two ran off to L.A."

"I'm…I'm sorry", the singer whimpered, wiping his dribbling nose. "We never should have left. I'm sorry…to both of you", he added, looking over at Russel. "It was…irresponsible of us".

The drummer, who had been shaking his head the whole time, looked up at the singer. "It's okay", he sighed. "At least…you're back. Noodle won't be crying in her room anymore over you."

"Still…" he added, frowning at Murdoc. "That doesn't excuse you for leaving us and dumping that kid on our doorstep".

"Oh right…" The bassist, who had been observing Noodle once again, looked back at Russel. "Where is that kid anyway?"

"She's gone". The big guy shook his head once again, folding his arms. "I left her at the waiting room last night for a minute while getting Noodle over to the Doctors. When I came back afterwards, she wasn't there anymore".

2D, who had been sobbing in Murdoc's grip, looked over at Russel. "Annie…? She was here?"

"Yep", Russel said. "But now she's gone once again. I asked around, but nobody's seen her. With the Hospital being a completely busy place, nobody was paying attention to whether a blind girl woke up and left or not".

"Oh well", Murdoc shrugged, acting indifferent. "She wasn't my problem anyway. It was Paula's Damn responsibility to look after her, not mine".

"Shh…" Russel suddenly hushed him. "Look…if we're going to talk about this, we should do it outside. You don't know who might be listening".

"Good point", the bassist said. "Let's take it outside then".

"I can't believe we're doing this", 2D moaned yet again once they were behind the hospital and near the dumpster. It was secluded somewhat, so they'd be away from eyeshot and eves droppers.

"Noodle is going to kill us".

"She is not going to kill us", Murdoc growled, cupping a hand to the singer's mouth. "She's never going to know".

"She will eventually, Muds", Russel said, folding his arms once again. "It didn't take long for her to overcome her amnesia before, not counting the "Ocean Bacon" incident. It's only a matter of time before she puts one and one together".

"She won't". The bassist muttered, letting 2D go with a harsh shove. "The stuff I gave her while you two were watching the door is effective. It's not like I injected her. It was just a small drink I fixed called the "Forget-me-shot".

"Yeah…a drink you just whipped up after a Simpsons episode", the drummer rolled his blank eyes. "I'm not even going to ask where you found Louisiana loboto-moth venom, but she's going to find our sooner or later. What if she runs into Paula?"

"She won't". Murdoc said. "Paula's been arrested at the pub, according to what I heard from Jay".

"And how is it that you know this woman, Jay?" Russel pressed, frowning at him suspiciously. "This girl seemed to know a lot of what's going on from what she told me at the hospital."

"What did she say?" The bassist asked. "Not much", the drummer shook his head. "She took off as quick as she came".

"As it should be", Murdoc grunted indifferently. "All you need to know about her was that I paid her to bring 2D to that hospital and nothing more".

Russel sighed. He knew there was much going on that Murdoc wasn't telling them, but then again this was Murdoc. He often had the knack of not telling them anything. This guy's only concern was the band and making it big.

"Now…if I brewed that Forget-me-shot right", Murdoc rubbed his chin. "Noodle probably forgot about everything up until leaving Kong. She'll remember some things like Cassie, but we can easily explain things away like it was a dream and stuff".

"But what about people who knew her and Cassie like Jay and kids from school?" 2D asked. Up until now, he'd been quiet and mulling in his own guilt. But this was an issue even he had to take into consideration.

"Right…" Murdoc muttered, scratching his head. "I didn't think about that. Well…there's only one option. We're going to have to leave Kong Studios and move somewhere else".

"And how do you propose we do that, genius?" Russel smacked the bassist on the head. "How are we going to afford to leave Kong at a time like this?"

Murdoc, seething at being smacked, rubbed his head with a cocky grin. "You don't know me at all, do you Hobbs".

2D and Russel gave each other sideways glances, both wondering what the green man had up his sleeve.

"There was a reason I was gone for this long, apart from getting my band mates back. I've been searching for a new headquarters you see, and after a long journey, I found the perfect spot where no one can find us".

"Boys", he rubbed his hands together with a devious grin. "We're going to a little place called Plastic Beach".

Well...that was an interesting twist. For some time, I wanted to add Plastic Beach the moment I started this story. It's burned down now according to Murdoc, but I wanted to add it here anyway in honor of their Plastic Abode. =P lol

More will come soon. Probably one more chapter. It will have a happier ending, despite what Murdoc did to Noodle. D: