There is a building just outside of Burbank, L.A. Well, to be pedantic, there are many, but this particular one was special. It lay just outside the town, through the bridge that led to Toon Town. No one was really sure how or why it came about any more, but it was generally accepted that it had been there since the 50s. The building, that is. Toon Town's development is an entirely different story. But regardless; the building sat, square and wide, with clean grey-brown brick and a garden quad in the middle. The gleaming brass plaque outside identified it simply as the "Valiant and Rabbit Recuperative Home for Disenfranchised Toons".

One of the many spacious, clean and bright TV rooms that the brochure occupied was attached to the ward for Toons that had run from the mid eighties to the mid nineties. It made more sense to group them that way, as most of them were ageless, or at least permanently stuck at one physical age. The 90s ward was unusually quiet, the only sounds being the modest easy jazz that was pumped in over the speakers, the rattling of plastic dice as Pepper Ann, Doug Funny and Darkwing Duck played Yahtzee by the windows, and the rustle of a newspaper. Beneath the newspaper, a furry white toe tapped aimlessly in time to the music. The owner of the toe glanced up from his newspaper, raising eyebrows at the clock. The bright light that poured in through the windows bounced off of his white facial mask, making his black fur seem all the darker. His tail twitched impatiently as he listened for something before going back to his newspaper. It was quiet today, Yakko noted. He wondered how long it would last.

As if by some divine power, no sooner had Yakko thought it than a door down the corridor slammed open, and a yellow tornado bowled down towards him.

"Well ex-cah-you-se me!" The voice covered several octaves (and possibly a few parallel dimensions) in an annoyingly vibrant sing-song lilt. "It's not my fault if you have daddy issues." The yellow hurricane screeched to a halt, revealing a man in a brilliant yellow suit with a chiselled green face. Yakko was not fazed.

"Daddy issues?" the second voice, while restricted to a normal conversational range, was much angrier. "The A-man doesn't have issues, man!" So saying, Ace Ventura, resplendent in Hawaiian shirted glory, stormed through the open door and followed after his green faced cousin. "You know, you really should take that mask off. I think it's suffocating your brain. Here, let me help!" And, as Ace tackled The Mask to the ground, the 90s ward of the V.R.R.D.T returned to its usual hectic pace. The meeting of the "Movie Adaptations Character Support Group" had, once again, not so much finished as exploded. This was what Yakko deemed "the average Wednesday" and, true to form, the easy jazz was replaced by a lively Calypso, questioned by no one as a bawdy laugh cut through the air.

"Oh come on, Babes! That was funny!" The ghoul of a toon cackled, drifting several feet off the ground, not bothering to even look as though he were walking. His companion, a much smaller teenage girl, did not seem impressed. She was petite and skinny, with large, dark eyes, and was clad head to toe in red and black.

"I don't think it was, BJ. You really should be more honest in those sessions. You could at least try."

"Shows what you know." He sneered, green teeth poking through his upturned lip. "I always try. In fact, you could say... I'm the most trying person there!" He laughed again, before drifting up to the ceiling light and examining it for bugs.

"Morning, Lydia." Yakko didn't look up as Lydia sank down onto the couch next to him, rolling her eyes at her decomposed friend.

"Hey Yaks. Have you finished the word jumble yet?"

"Not even started." Yakko let the newspaper drop slightly, grinning at her. "You were out sooner than expec... Oop!" Yakko twisted around in his seat, noticing a weary-looking nurse attempting to sneak past him. He grinned. "Hell-Oh, nurse!" The nurse sighed and slumped, before walking past him, head drooping.

"Hello, Yakko. You know, it's been over two months now, and it's still not funny."

"You should talk to nurse Romano, she's been here twelve years and she thinks it's hilarious!" Yakko shot a wink at Lydia, settling back into his seat. "Ah, the one perk of agelessness."

"People can't bring themselves to beat you up?"

"Of course."

Lydia giggled, before glaring up at Beetlejuice, who had started circling the ceiling light, hoping to catch a spider that had hidden in the fixture.

"BJ, you could at least say hello."

"Huh? Oh, hey, Yakko."

"Hey, Beej. How was Group Therapy?"

"Enlightening." Beetlejuice grinned, before being pun-tastically electrocuted by the ceiling light, causing everyone to duck for cover. There was a silent pause.

"Huh..." Yakko looked around, noting the confusion on everyone's faces. Every Wednesday at nine, He and his sibs woke up, wandered into the cafeteria, and had breakfast with everyone. At ten, the Movie adaptations were called for Group, and the others were left to amuse themselves in the TV room. At ten thirty, or thereabouts, Group reaches fever-pitch and is abandoned by everyone; then, a few minutes later, Beetlejuice would invariably make some horrible pun and cause chaos. This was routine. But the routine would always continue when The Tick bounded in, screaming "Spoon", and determined that Beetlejuice was a threat to the city, beating him to a pulp before being dragged into the Nurses' station and given some tranquilisers. It happened every week, like clockwork. Why wasn't it happening now?

Lydia looked at Yakko, biting her lip. Something was wrong. They both knew it. Yakko cleared his throat, calling over to the nurse who was supervising Dot and Tails (they were being detained for combining forces and trying to steal peoples' personal files).

"Hey... where's Tick?"

"He moved out last night, dear." The nurse, a plump, well-meaning woman, was clearly uncomfortable with having to tell them all in this way. "He... that is to say, the doctors... well, honey, there was no way he could be reformed. He needed more... intense counselling."

The silence was deathly. The Carey clones stopped fighting, to stare tight-lipped at the nurse. Dot and Tails gazed up at her, shock in their eyes. Pepper Ann, Doug and Darkwing all stopped playing, bowing their heads out of respect, while Pinky and the Brain stopped attempting to pry open one of the windows, to stare. Even Beetlejuice, still a pile of blackened ashes on the floor, shuffled closer to Lydia, silently. Yakko swallowed slightly, realising his mouth had gone very dry.

"He... did they take him to the psych ward?"

"Yes, sweetie." The nurse sighed, standing, and beginning to leave the room. "They tell me he's settled in very well there, for what it's worth. He's made good friends with the CatDog, and Cow and Chicken..." The nurse left quietly, her head bowed. Silence washed over the room, everyone avoiding each other's glance. It was Dot and Tails that began to whimper, easing through the icy silence. They stood, Dot running to Yakko, and Tails hiding behind Sonic, both close to tears. With a quiet, self-conscious "pop", BJ returned to his (ab)normal form and sat down next to Lydia, wrapping a protective arm around her. Then it was the turn of The Mask, hanging his head and removing the wooden Mask, with an appropriately desolate cry and gust of wind, returning to Stanley Ipkiss, who patted Ace's shoulder, awkwardly. No one was surprised. They had expected it to happen for months; The Tick was hardly the sort of toon you could get more work for. But still, it was devastating news. Once a toon was sent to the Psych ward, there was little to no chance they'd ever be discharged. Dot sniffed into Yakko's shoulder. He sighed, and hugged her. It would be hard telling Wakko. Tick had been a close friend of his, and this wouldn't help Wakko's ever-present fear of he, or someone he cared for, being sectioned.

"Poor guy." BJ was the first to speak, the serious tone sounding unnatural.

"He's where he can get help, now." Darkwing nodded, face set in resolution as he gathered up the Yahtzee dice. "It's for the best."

Everyone ignored Darkwing. His constant, unwavering belief that the Authority was almighty and infallible was, at the best of times, irritating. But no one wanted to fight now, so they just ignored him. The hubbub returned though, as awkward conversation began to fill the void, life making its' best to continue as normal. Yakko sighed, giving Dot another hug before setting her down on the floor.

"You ok?" Lydia almost stood with him, but he held up a hand, waving her away.

"I'm fine. I'm gonna go tell Wakko." Yakko left, hands deep in his pockets, frowning in thought.

"Poor Yakko." Lydia sighed, not noticing as Beetlejuice shifted on the couch, effectively pulling her closer to him. "He looks so sad."

"We're all sad, Lyds." BJ stared at the TV, shifting his shoulders awkwardly. "It's what happens. People go away. Life goes on."

"BJ!" Lydia scowled, glancing nervously at Dot, who still looked quite upset. "That's so harsh!"

"Harsh?" he almost yelped the word, moving away from her again. "Babes, I really wish you'd make up your mind. First you tell me to be honest, then you say I'm being harsh."

"Not now, BJ."

"You're tearing me apart!" True to form, he began to tear down the middle, but stopped when he saw Lydia's glare. Dot, however, let out a choked giggle. "See? I was just trying..."

"I know, BJ." Lydia sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "I guess everyone's just a bit emotional."

Aside from Wakko being severely disheartened for the rest of the day, the Wednesday routine continued as normal. Pies were thrown, jokes were cracked, and escape attempts were made. The 90s ward had its' usual therapy sessions, job interviews and physics-defying visual gags, and everyone carried on. After the sun had set, Yakko stood from the board game, leaving the dice-junkies to play into the night.

"You going to bed?" Lydia smiled, as she hung upside-down from the ceiling, suspended there by Beetlejuice.

"Yeah. I'm beat." Yakko yawned, having to double take as he noted the supremely unimpressed expression on BJ's face.

"Sleep well." Lydia, ever the thoughtful friend, gave him another concerned smile. Yakko smiled back, but was once again put off by the sour-faced ghost

"G'night, Lyds. Beej. And you can stop glaring." Yakko stretched nonchalantly, before shooting an evil smirk towards the glowering ghoul. "I'm not going to steal her away from you, if that's what you're worried about." Yakko toon-sped down the corridor to his room, before Beetlejuice could finish reacting incredulously and try to juice him. Lydia just giggled, noting a hint of pink spread across BJ's cheeks. She smiled at him, spinning around in the air so that she was the right way up again.

"Any idea what he meant by that?"

"No." BJ was defiant, but his confidence was undermined by the amount of eye contact he was making with one of the linoleum floor tiles. "Warners. You know I think they're crazy." Lydia raised an eyebrow, but continued drifting down to the floor.

"How long have we been in this home now, Beej?"

"Uh... I don't remember... fifteen years, I guess? Oh man, I'm ancient!" So saying, he crumbled into dust, before reappearing next to Lydia, on the floor.

"Yeah... goodnight, Beetlejuice."

"Aw, babes, don't send me back there!"

"You want to stay, Beetlejuice?"

"You know it! Or, hey, come back with me, we can party all night!"

"But I want to sleep... Beetlejuice."

"Aw, you're no fun." He pouted, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Lydia giggled, knowing he would already be waiting in her mirror. She ran her fingers through her thick, black hair, waving goodnight to the board-game addicts, shutting Pinky and the Brain in their cage for the night, and wishing the nurses a pleasant evening. She had been fifteen now for fifteen years. And she knew, eventually, he'd work up the courage to admit his feelings for her. She was starting to get sick of waiting, though.