Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Drop Dead Fred nor do I make any money from any of this. Dammit.

Fred gazed at Lizzy as she hugged her 7 year-old self. He felt his heart break, as he knew his time with Lizzy had come to an end. His little Snotface would be gone from his life, and he would finally move on to another child who was in need of an imaginary best friend. Fred realized at this very moment, he would never hold Lizzy's hand when she needed emotional support. He would never be able to hold her close when the Mega Beast became verbally abusive. He would never see her face light up whenever she was truly happy.

He blinked back tears when he told her he couldn't come with her and she had to go back alone. He decided in that split second that he would do something daring. Usually when it came time for an imaginary friend to leave, all the child would have to do is to say his name while in the confines of Fred's imagination. However, Fred couldn't pass up this last chance to do something he had wanted to do since he sunk her best friend's boat.

He walked to the center of the room and met Lizzy in the middle."Kiss me, and say 'Drop Dead Fred'," he said softly. Fred reached for her lips, savoring and dreading the idea that he had finally reached the pinnacle of his relationship with Elizabeth. His heart fluttered and his stomach quivered when her warm, soft lips met his. He wanted her more than anything he had ever wanted in his entire existence.

"Drop...Dead...Fred." Lizzy whispered. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. Fred mirrored her actions and held her just as tightly as if trying to use her body to bandage his bleeding heart. He felt his existence begin to drain away into Lizzy's being, and before completely vanishing he melded himself into her soul. He would forever be a part of her, and he made absolutely sure she would never forget him.

When he opened his eyes he found himself once again in Limbo. He had heard the term 'limbo' when he was in the real world, however no one outside of the 'real world' knew that there was an actual place called Limbo. This was where all Imaginary Friends came between duties. He moved along the cobblestone road leading to large building that overshadowed the entire city. He passed numerous buildings and structures, all of which were disproportionate to one another. If the inhabitants of Limbo were anything, they were certainly creative. Each building was colored in obscenely bright greens, yellows, pinks, and oranges. Doorways were angled or curved, none were a perfect rectangle shape.

The inhabitants were just as colorful and odd as the dwellings they slept in. The residents of Limbo seemed to get dressed in perpetual darkness as none of the outfits they wore matched in any way. Some dressed in random costumes with the clothing turned inside out or backwards. Colors clashesd, shoes mismatched, and there wasn't a matching sock in sight. Fred felt a little nostalgic as he walked through the city while a small bit of trepidation began to creep into his mind.

He would get his new instructions from Calypso, the being in charge of Limbo and all Imaginary Friends, or 'IFs', dispersed throughout the real world. While Calypso himself was not scary, the idea of his long absence would most certainly be be brought up. Depending on Calypso's mood, his next charge could be either fun to play with or be dreadfully boring.

Fred slowly made his way up the steps to the front door of the large, looming building which housed the leader of Limbo and all of the 'administrative' IFs. The nervousness of him possibly being in trouble began to make him sweat. It wasn't his fault that he was taped inside a jack-in-the-box for all those extra years! Calypso would understand...he hoped. Maybe if he did, he could ask for a vacation. He needed time to clear his head of Lizzy, because he would already have a hard enough time to make sure his mind didn't wander as it was now. He already missed her terribly and he didn't know if he could handle another child with Lizzy on his mind. He would be thinking of how Lizzy's eyes sparkled with mischef whenever they were both up to no good, the way her hair felt like silk through his fingers...whether it was attached to her head or not...

Gah! He shook his head in an attempt to literally shake the thoughts of Lizzy from his mind. He let out a huge sigh as he started to ascend the stone stairs.

"Fred! Where in the hell have you been?" a voice shouted from the door at the top of the stairs. Fred's intense thoughts of 'his' Lizzy began to wane at the sound of the voice.

"Rowdy Ruddy Roddy? Is that you mate?" Fred hadn't seen Roddy in years, in fact, the last time he saw Roddy was when he left to go be with his Snotface...dammit, he couldn't go five bloody minutes without thinking about her!

"Heya Fred! Long time no trouble mate! Man where have you been? It's been BORING without you around!" Roddy shouted.

"Well...it's a long story my friend," Fred said, "My last assignment was...um...complicated."

"Well you'd better get in here. Calypso has been waiting. I figure he's got some questions for you," Roddy replied.

"Damn," Fred's nervousness started to show, "How much trouble am I in?"

"HA! You in trouble? NEVER! Calypso is just highly curious, it's not like you to be gone so long."

"Right, so... in I go then I suppose..." Fred said with a sigh. To re-live his story of leaving Lizzy was going to be hard, he would definitely be in rare form for Calypso's amusement.

Fred made his way inside and looked to his right. He was surprised to see Roddy in step with him. "Um, did you think I needed an escort or something?" Fred asked.

"Nah mate, things have changed since you were gone. I'm Cal's assistant now. No need for me to deal with the kiddos anymore. Totally on easy street," Roddy said with a smile, "Besides, I was getting too attached. Makes it hard for leaving eh?"

"Eh..." Fred mumbled. He hoped it would only be a one-on-one session with him and Calypso. Having to tell only one person would be hard enough...

"DROP DEAD FRED! How the hell are ya boy?" Calypso's slighty-twangy voice echoed off of the office walls. Fred immediately saw that he was in no trouble at all, as Calypso rose to come around his desk to give him a bear hug and a clap on the shoulder. The leader of the IFs was quite possibly the most sanely dressed individual in Limbo. His poet's shirt was tucked neatly in his tight blue leather pants. He wore a matching blue eye patch, and to offset the normalcy of the rest of his wardrobe the boots donned were lavender. His white hair flowed down to the middle of his back, and it was tied neatly in a simple low ponytail with a neon green ribbon. Fred's nervousness immediately vanished.

"I'm good Cal, how have things been around here?" Fred replied.

"Oh you know the usual, children needing friends, me sending out the loosest cannons in Limbo to deal with the madness. It's a never-ending loop of ridiculousness." Calypso said while waving his hand in the air. "So how's Elizabeth? I know that awful woman had you in a most uncomfortable position within a jack-in-the-box for quite some time, but aside from all that...how'd everything go? Roddy and I are dying to hear the details!"

"Yes, well...you know...um..." Fred faltered, knowing that Calypso knew more than what he let on. He probably knew he kissed Lizzy, how he purposely made sure a part of him would stay with her wherever she went. Hiding anything from Calypso could prove to be detrimental to the decision of his next assignment, so he decided to tell the truth.

"She's going to be perfectly fine. However, I'm an unmitigated disaster at the moment," Fred sighed, "I think I'm no longer any good to be sent out and help children."

"Hmmm." Calypso sat down in the oversized push chair and took a hard look at Fred. He knew occasionally an IF could stay with a child until they reached their teens, however, no human had ever been best friends with an IF as an adult. The resulting side effects were generally more damaging to the human, not the IF. Regardless, Calypso saw the pained expression on Fred's face and decided there was no need for Fred to tell his story in front of an audience.

"Roddy, be a lamb and see if there's any scotch in the kitchen? I think Fred and I need some alone time...and possibly a drink when we're done."

"Yes sir, two scotches coming right up." Roddy bowed his head and quickly left the room. Fred let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and sat down in the chair opposite Calypso.

"Thank you for that..."

"Not a problem. Now, seems we have much to discuss. And to be completely honest Fred, I've never seen you look so serious and troubled," Calypso replied. "It's downright disturbing. Come on now, let's hear of your adventures concerning 'your' Lizzy".

'Well bugger...' Fred thought, 'I think I'm busted...'

Two hours and one massive headache later, Fred finally got the last of his story out. As if right on cue, Roddy was knocking on the door with two double scotches in each hand.

"Here ya go. Anything else?" Roddy asked as he set the drinks on Calypso's desk.

"Not at the moment Rod," Calypso said as he took one of the glasses. "We'll let you know."

"Right then." Roddy bowed his head as he made his way back out into the corridor closing the door behind him.

Fred picked up the remaining glass on the desk and downed it's entire contents. He looked down into the glass when he was to done to see his reflection staring back at him within the scotch-laced ice cubes. The reflection was warped and misshaped, and he idly thought perhaps that was how he looked from Lizzy's point of view. Warped, misshaped, a bit psychotic, and now broken. He could feel the tears begin to well up again behind his eyelids, and he wished he could be anywhere else than in world than in Calypso's office. Especially if he was gonna start crying like a dammed girl.

"Well Fred, " Calypso finally broke the silence, "I don't think theres a lot of options here. You're going to have to either go back into the real world as someone else's imaginary friend, or stay here and piddle about the office. Now I know how you get when you're bored, so I think being an office worker is not going to be your forte."

"What if I choose neither?" Fred questioned.

Calypso regarded him silently. He did have the power to banish Fred from Limbo as he had to do so in the past with other IFs. However, banishment meant turning human, which meant an IF had to immediately adjust to being a human. As the record stood, 769 IFs had been banished since Limbo's beginnings...and all who were banished had met frightfully dreadful ends. Some had committed suicide, some died as homeless persons, others rotted away in jail cells for their outlandish behavior, while the rest languished in padded cells of sanitariums. Calypso knew if he were to turn Fred loose the poor red-head's demise would come swiftly, as all IFs simply could not adjust to the normal rules, physiological and psychological, of the real world.

However, none of those who were banished were suffering from heartache. This made Fred an anomaly, but Calypso could not even begin to think about banishing Fred. He'd done nothing wrong, he hadn't broken any of the sacred laws of being an IF (actually there was only one rule: an IF must never do any physical harm to his or her charge. Everyone and everything else was fair game), and Fred had fully followed through with all of his charges since his time began in Limbo.

Calypso's eyes fell to the stack of files he had on his desk. There were many children in the real world who could certainly use an imaginary friend in their lives. Calypso's eyes pinpointed one particular file...

'Hmm...just maybe...' Calypso thought, 'This will either work fabulously or be a complete and utter disaster...'

"Well?" Fred asked as he looked at Calypso, "What's going to happen if I choose neither?"

"I'm sorry Fred, that's not even an option." Calypso replied. "Quick question though...how would you feel about possibly making Mickey Fartpants life a bit more...interesting?"

"Why in the hell are you even asking me this?!" Fred yelled. "Fartpants makes me want to gag! I can't STAND him! He's such a girl!" Fred jumped up from the chair and started prowling around the room like a vicious animal. "I hate that bastard! Hate him. Hate him. HATE HIM! And to top it off, he wants to have it off with MY Lizzy!"

"So, why don't you make it hard for him to do so?"

Fred stopped and stared at Calypso. "What are you getting at, mate?"

Calypso pulled out the file he was eyeing and flipped it to Fred. "This is what I'm getting at."

Fred opened the file and read out a name. "Natalie Bunce. What an AWFUL name for a girl!" Fred's eyes widened in realization. "Hey! This is Fartpants's brat!"

"So it seems," Calypso said smoothly, "You can take her on as your new charge and still be able to keep an eye on Lizzy."

"But Elizabeth won't be able to see me," Fred frowned. "What's the point if she can't see me or hear me?"

"I'm sure you'll make yourself known, in your own special way of course."

Fred took another look at the file. "How am I going to be able to keep an eye on Natalie and Lizzy at the same time? I certainly can't leave Natalie. She wouldn't have a file if she wasn't in need of a friend."

"Some things you're just going to have to figure out on your own. Now Fred, do you want the job or not?"

Roddy watched Fred as he left Calypso's office and made his way out of the building. He turned back to the office door to see Calypso also watching Fred make his way back to the real world.

"Hey Cal, are you sure about this? This seems kinda cruel...for both Fred and his new charge." Roddy asked.

Calypso smiled. "No, this will give Fred time to think, and prepare himself for his biggest adventure yet." He turned and cocked his head to the side while giving Roddy a long look. "By the way, you know its rude to eavesdrop don't you?"

Roddy gave a snort. "It might be rude, but me and Fred were best mates back in the day. Just don't want to see him get banished is all."

"I promise, I won't banish him from Limbo. However, if he chooses to banish himself that's a completely different story."

Roddy stared at Calypso in shock. "Banish himself? Have you gone MAD? IFs can't banish themselves!"

"How do you know?" Calypso asked.

"Well I...uh...erm..." Roddy stuttered and scratched his head. "I uh...huh...well I never seen it happen before! So there!"

"True, but I think it's possible." Calypso replied.

"You mean to tell me you're fixing to send Fred off, and you've got some master scheme that you aren't even sure is gonna work?"

"Pretty much."

Roddy shook his head. "You're twisted mad. I thought you liked Fred?"

Calypso smiled. "I do, and this will put him where he needs to be."

"What's that mean?"

Calypso just smiled as he went back in his office and shut the door. He made his way over to a window that gave a view of the entire city of Limbo. He searched for the IF with the shocking red hair and loud green jacket. When he couldn't find him, he realized Fred had already made his way back to the real world.

"It means he will be preparing himself to become a human." He whispered to himself. "Fred, you'd better make this work, mate. Best of luck to you...heh...and Mickey too. He's sure going to need it."