Author's Note: Hmm, I'm not so sure how I feel about this chapter...but I decided to put it up anyway! I know it's been forever, but life likes to keep me away from writing, so poo.

Disclaimer: I do not own DPS.

Charlie sat awkwardly, a clump of yellow play-doh plopped on the table before him. He glanced across at Dodge and Todd, then over at a boy called Hopkins that he'd been introduced to a few hours ago.

Dodge was repeatedly picking up her ball of play-doh, slamming it back down onto the table top in boredom. Hopkins, a boy who Dodge said suffered from frotteurism, was forming numerous phallic objects, and Todd merely made things in the vague shape of food, shoving them into his mouth and gobbling them down with great pleasure.

Charlie's one brow rose higher the longer he watched and he finally cleared his throat to speak. "Todd? Maybe you shouldn't do that…" he suggested passively.

Todd paused halfway through shoving a play-doh muffin into his mouth, blinking slowing and replying with: "I am the walrus."

Barely looking up from her own play-doh, Dodge remarked, "Don't forget the Egg Man, Todd."

"I am the Egg Man," Todd obediently stated with a nod, gulping down the muffin and licking his lips, letting out a satisfied ah.

Charlie sat for a few minutes before the last straw—Hopkins offering Todd one of his phallic-shaped creations to eat—sent him scooting back from the table and wandering over to where two boys were playing chess. He plopped down on one of the provided beanbag chairs and watched for a moment.

The one with the glasses and curly, ginger hair would move one of his chess pieces after much deliberation; and the other boy, a tall, gangly brunette, would immediately move the exact same piece on his side of the board in the exact same way as his companion. Charlie furrowed his brow. "Um…excuse me, but what are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

The darker haired boy's eyes flit up to Charlie's for a moment before gluing themselves back to he chess board, afraid of missing the ginger's next move. "I'm playing chess, of course," he replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Charlie scoffed. "You're just copying his moves," he pointed out, gesturing at the board.

The boy with the glasses, still concentrating on where to move his rook, explained, "It's called echopraxia; Gerard here is not only coping with dependant personality disorder, but he also has the unfortunate disorder of fixating on one person and doing exactly as they do."

Charlie glanced between the two. "Dependant personality disorder?" he repeated. "And how about you?"

After making a particularly nasty move that eliminated Gerard's queen, the bespectacled boy leaned back in his bean bag chair and laced his fingers together. "It means he constantly has to be with me…" Licking his lips, the boy watched as Gerard struggled with what to do next, since his chess pieces were significantly depleted in numbers and he couldn't copy his friend's last move. "I'm Steven Meeks. I have bibliomania…and I'm kind of OCD." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh…" Charlie breathed out in understanding before offering his hand to shake. "I'm Charlie Dalton," he introduced himself. "I…don't know what I have," he answered honestly. "Although I hope it has a cool name." He grinned, trying to break the ice. If he was going to be forced to stay in this facility, he may as well make friends…or at least try.

Steven raised an eyebrow at Charlie's outstretched hand. "We've met quite a few times, Charlie," he said with a small smile of his own, clasping his hand and shaking it. "And everyone knows what happens to you…"

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Oh," he mumbled again, running a hand through his hair and reddening slightly.

"Isn't he just adorable when he blushes?" a voice off to the side gushed.

All three boys glanced up, Gerard and Steven letting out identical groans. Before Charlie knew what was happening, the girl that had previously called him adorable had plopped down on his lap, latching her arms around his neck and holding him close. "Hello, darling," she greeted him, nuzzling against his neck.

Charlie's eyes widened and he sat stock still before staring over at Steven and Gerard, silently begging for an explanation or help of some kind. Steven sighed, shaking his head. "Charlie…this is Mal Glory. She, uh…" He glanced over at Gerard for help.

"She's insane," Gerard supplied, causing Steven to shake his head yet again.

Mal furrowed her brows. "I am not insane! Why does everyone keep saying that?" she asked in frustration, huffing and holding onto Charlie tighter. "You don't think I'm insane, do you baby?" she asked, pouting her bottom lip and fluttering her lashes.

Charlie gaped. "I…what are you doing? I don't know you…"

Mal's smile drooped slightly. "Yes you do…our love is undeniable!"

Charlie was beginning to panic; he had no clue how to get this girl away from him. He licked his lips. "Is that so…?" he asked hesitantly.

The girl nodded vigorously and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her back pocket. "I know our love is forbidden, but that doesn't mean you have to pretend it doesn't exist!" she cried, shoving the paper at him.

Charlie sputtered for a moment before reaching up and ripping the paper away from his face, skimming over the provocative words scribbled in crayon. At the bottom was a signature that read his name. He shook his head. "This isn't even my handwriting," he stated, dropping the fake love letter to the floor.

The girl stood up, staring down at Charlie with a forlorn look on her face, her hands clutched into fists at her sides. "You love me!" she yelled down at him.

Charlie gaped at her outburst and was about to retaliate with some not-so-clever way of telling her to fuck off, when he heard his name being called. Ginny rushed up to him, raising an eyebrow at Mal, who was hysterically blubbering about Charlie's undying love for her. Sighing, Ginny placed both hands on her hips. "Mallory, would you please go over and help Hopkins with the play-doh?" she asked in as calm and clipped a voice as possible. "Charlie is not, nor will he ever be, your boyfriend." Pursing her lips, Ginny latched onto Charlie's arm and quickly dragged him out of the recreational room. "You've got visitors," she informed him as they headed down the hall that lead to patient's rooms. "And remember," she said, coming to a halt outside of Charlie's door, "Don't punch Richard!"

With that, Ginny turned the knob and shoved Charlie into his designated room. He tripped to a halt, his jaw dropping at the scene before him.

Knox and Cameron were sitting in the corner room, talking to one another with worried looks on their faces. Cameron was fidgeting slightly, although he also had his annoying determined look on his face, making Charlie scowl. Knox was staring ff to the side where Chet Danbury was smugly leaning against the wall, his arms crossed, grinning down at Chris, who was decked out in her nurse's uniform. On the bed sat Mr. Keating, who immediately stood once Charlie and Ginny entered the room.

"Charlie," Keating greeted him with a smile.

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Captain?" he asked with uncertainty.

Keating's smile was marred for a moment before he recovered and looked as chipper as ever. "You know you can just call me Dad…"

Charlie's eyes bugged out of his skull. He would never, ever be able to call Keating 'dad'. No matter how much of a father figure the man was. "Right…" he replied uncertainly, glancing over at the others that were gathered in his room.

Knox and Cameron continued to sit, although they were sort of hovering in their seats, as though undecided whether or not they should stand or whether they should wait. Keating signaled to the boys, calling Chet's name and giving him a stern look.

Chet rolled his eyes at Chris before walking in the direction of his younger half-brother. Clapping him on the back, Chet grinned. "Let's hope you stay normal this time," he cheerfully stated.

Charlie raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but reach up and remove Chet's hand from his shoulder. "Yeah…" he agreed half-heartedly, licking his lips and smirking over at Knox. "How's it going Knoxious?" he asked cordially before pursing his lips and glancing at Cameron. "Dick," he greeted with a curt nod.

Cameron nodded back, one of the saddest looks plastered onto his face, and Charlie felt an inkling of guilt before shaking his head and concentrating on Keating once again. "So…what's going on?" he asked for clarification.

Mr. Keating smiled. "Well, we usually all come and visit you once you've woken up. We don't always know how much time we'll get with you, so we rush over as soon as we can," he explained, leading Charlie over to a chair and sitting down beside him. "How was...your slumber?"

Charlie glanced around, feeling awkward with all the different people surrounding him in the room. Charlie shrugged. "Oh…you know…horrible…" He couldn't understand why his subconscious wanted him to Welton Academy and the suicide of Neil over and over again, but it wasn't controllable, so he supposed he was just going to have to deal with it.

"It's good to have you back, Charlie," Cameron piped up, receiving a tiny glare from Charlie. He just couldn't help but hate the boy for turning Keating in. Except that this was the real world, Charlie reminded himself, and Cameron hadn't turned anyone in.

"It's, um…it's nice to see you…again," Charlie said awkwardly, clearing his throat. "Do you…do you know why I dislike you so much in my dreams?" he asked, wondering if there was any reason behind it.

Cameron flushed red. "Oh, well, um…" he stumbled over his words before Chet jumped in to rescue him. Or throw him to the sharks.

"Dick here decided to rat you out for minor hallucinations," he explained, clapping his hand on Cameron's back in an annoying way that made Cameron shrink away and cringe. "He told dear old dad here that you'd started muttering about the fifties and whatnot, and that you'd tell stories about things you'd never done and you probably never will do since you're going to be stuck in the loony bin so long—ow!" He furrowed his brows at Ginny, who had swatted him on the side of the head.

"What Chet means," she continued for him. "Is that Richard informed your father that you were starting to act like a different person at times…you'd claim to be the son of a banker, and you'd say that your name was Nuwanda, and you'd talk about meeting in the woods to read poetry…" She sighed. "It was really because of Richard's love for you that you're now getting the treatment you need."

Charlie blinked as he stared between the two of them. He really didn't know what kind of treatment he was getting, since playing with play-doh didn't seem to do much. "And…Knox?" he asked, wondering if Knox had had anything to do with his incarceration.

Chet snorted. "Knox fell head over heels for Chris," he blurted, grinning down at Chris and wiggling his eyebrows.

Knox paled and he stared at Chet in horror. "I did not!" he defended himself, but by the look on his face it was quite obvious.

Ginny was glaring at Chet, although Charlie couldn't tell why. Maybe she was just a sourpuss all the time. She glanced at her watch before huffing. "I'm sorry to break this up, but Doctor Sanders wants to meet with Charlie…you can wait if you'd like, or come back at another time. It was lovely seeing you again Chet…and Mr. Keating." She glanced at Knox and Cameron, blinking, opening her mouth as though to say something, but thought better of it, and then motioned for Charlie to follow her. "Come along, Charles," she said. "I'm sure Doctor Sanders will be thrilled to talk to you again."

Charlie stood, following Ginny out the door and tilting his head to the side. "Doctor Sanders?" he questioned.

Ginny groaned. She apparently really hated being patient with him. "Your therapist."

"I have a therapist?"

"Mutt is one of the best around," Ginny informed him, stopping at a door before knocking and opening it.

"The guy's name is Mutt?" Charlie snorted, glancing inside and staring in shock at someone who looked scarily close to an older version of Knox.