SPLAT!
Micky flinched as the sports section of his newspaper was inundated by a blob of flying cereal. Wet, mushy cereal.
The projectile was followed by hysterical giggles coming from a 7 year old blonde haired girl.
"Holly, couldn't you have aimed that somewhere else?" Micky protested, smirking at his daughter, who looked up innocently from her breakfast at the other end of the table. "Like the Dear Abby section?"
"It wasn't me, Daddy!" Holly piped up. "Drop Dead Fred did it!"
Micky rolled his eyes, but smiled. "I've inherited the imaginary friend from hell..." he muttered before addressing his daughter. "Tell Fred to aim for Mrs. Drosselmeyer's house next time." Holly just laughed.
"Think you're funny, don't you, Micky fart-pants?" taunted Fred's voice, heard only by Holly, from behind the girl. He scooped up a handful of cereal and popped it into his mouth, crunching loudly. Micky wadded up the ruined newspaper and chucked it into the trash can. "Come on, HE'S no fun!" Fred gestured for Holly to follow him, and she leaped up from the table.
"Where you going?" Micky called to his daughter. She ignored him and ran out of the room. Mick shook his head, and cleaned up the table...
Elizabeth sat nervously in the interviewer's office, trying to think of what to say to "Tell me a little about yourself." She hated these questions, and her opinion of her potential boss wasn't much higher. I wish I could just disappear...she thought mentally.
And she did.
"Elizabeth?" Mr. Conner started with suprise, staring at the empty chair. Elizabeth stared back at him with just as much puzzlement, and a little shock.
"Uh, I'm right here, Sir..." she said sheepishly, shifting in her chair.
"Where?" he said, his voice starting to grow irritated. "Miss, if this is some kind of joke you play on every potential employer, I suggest you try it with someone with a better sense of humor."
"But, Sir, I'm not doing anything!" Elizabeth almost whimpered.
They were both totally perplexed.
"You may be excused, Elizabeth...wherever you are."
A protest formed on her lips, but she instead turned and walked away. This was one of the few times in her life that she wished Fred were here...
Fred, meanwhile, was leading Holly on a scavenger hunt around the yard.
"Hey, Bratrat! Let's find some tools!" Fred called to Holly cheerily as they ran toward the tool shed.
Before she could answer, Fred had disappeared into the ramshackle, weed-grown aluminum shack. The sound of flying paint cans, old spades and rusty nails crashed through the air as Fred "sorted" through the junk. Holly stood clear until he came to a stopping point.
"Gotta give ol' Fartpants credit for something, kid." he said to Holly from a crouched position on the dirty cement floor. "He knows what to hang onto. And Fred knows a good piece o' junk when he sees one! Here we go..." he stopped in midsentence to slowly hold up a rusty shovel like it was the Holy Grail. "We'll need this to dig out our buried treasure!" Holly laughed. "Now we'll need a map..." Fred pretended to dig behind an old tilted workbench and pull out a crinkly piece of paper. "This is our pirate code! If we follow this trail, it'll lead us right to the buried treasure!" Holly looked on with excitement.
"What's the treasure?"
"It's a surprise."
Fred picked up the map and read from it. "Look, here's our instructions. It says take two steps forward, four steps back, then stand on your head!" Holly followed Fred as he carried out the moves, in his usual exaggerated Fred-fashion. Holly backed up too far and stepped into Ms. Drosselmeyer's Four Seasons flower garden. Her Siamese accomplice, Shanghi, hissed at her (and the still invisible Fred) from behind one of her prized JFK roses. This drew the attention of Ms. Drosselmeyer herself as she fairly threw down her pruning shears and stomped within yelling distance of the little girl.
"Young lady! What are you doing in my flower garden? Your father is going to pay for this!" She picked up the mangled tulips as though they were children of her own. "Your generation has no respect for its elders!"
While she was yelling, Fred was mooning her. "Oh, piss off, Ms. Droopymiser! Grow a moonflower in your garden, ya' old witch!" He made spitting noises and wiggled his butt for emphasis, but remained invisible to Holly. All the commotion drew Mickey outside to investigate, and while he was trying to console both his daughter and his anally retentive neighbor, Fred's own hiney materialized...along with the rest of him. Mickey covered his daughter's eyes and jumped back from the crazy redhead. Ms. Drosselmeyer gasped.
"I'm calling the police!" she shrieked and ran into the house. As if to echo that threat, Shanghi latched onto Fred's butt and dug in. Fred howled and flung the cat away.
"That's your last life, you little demon spawn! Piss off!" Fred waved his hands at the hissing cat, who reluctantly retreated into the shadows of a docile cherub garden statue.
Mickey was no less freaked out. "Holly! In the house!" he said sharply to his daughter.
"You can see him, Daddy!" she was jumping up and down as Fred looked around in utter confusion, his posterior now covered properly.
"See who? Get in the house!" he repeated more forcefully. Holly ran, but not without looking back. Mickey turned angrily on Fred. "Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing in MY yard?"
Fred froze, all sarcasm gone for the moment as he desperately tried to work his invisibility. Where was his magic? Why couldn't he disappear? In the same split second he'd realized something was terribly wrong, Fred ran. He took off without so much as a grunt at the enraged father's question. Seconds later, police sirens split through the air, shattering the lawnmower humming, bird chirping peace of the neighborhood.
Fred, you've really got yourself in a mess this time...
Just as the police car flew by, a still invisible Elizabeth was approaching Mickey's house. At the same time, Fred was running toward her.
SMACK!!!
Fred didn't even have time to yell as he was knocked unconscious, and Elizabeth nearly so. She bent over him in shock and happy surprise, wondering what he was doing here.
"Fred! Wake up! The cops are coming!" Fred didn't respond, and laid on the sidewalk like a limp rag doll. Elizabeth had to jump away as the cops screeched to a halt and arrested him.
"Man, where'd he get his clothes, the Emerald City?" joked one cop to the other. "Let's take him down to the station and question him after he wakes up. Damn perverts..."
Oh Fred, what's happening??? Elizabeth thought as they dragged him into the back seat. She snuck in behind him and laid his head on her lap. This invisibility was starting to become useful after all...
Holly whined. "I wanna go with Fred!" she looked up helplessly at Mickey, who'd been trying to quiet her for the past half hour.
"You can't honey!" he explained for the millionth time. "Whoever that guy was, he wasn't your friend!"
"But it was Drop Dead Fred! He needs me!"
"Oh, how can I make you understand?" Mickey pleaded. "It's not safe for you over there."
"Fred would protect me!" she insisted, pouting.
Mickey put his hand to his forehead. "Tell ya what, let's go to Kids R Us. They just got some talking Pikachus in..."
"But I wanna go to jail with Fred!"
Mickey groaned. "Okay, get in the car. I just thought of something..."
Holly squealed and ran.
Fred threw the jailer a smirk as the bars closed around him. "You should eat some more of those doughnuts, it's good brain food." he joked as the cop shot him a dirty look.
"I wouldn't be so smug if I was you." he said, taking the keys dramatically and shoving them in his khaki pocket. "Mooning little old ladies isn't exactly what I'd call an intellectual pursuit."
Elizabeth's eyes went wide as saucers as she stood against the wall watching, and she had to stifle a giggle.
"Don't even THINK about doing anything funny." he added as he sauntered out. When Liz felt it was safe, she snuck up to Fred.
"Fred!" she whispered fiercly, her face next to the bars as he plopped down on the cot. "It's Elizabeth! Snotface!" she added reluctantly.
Fred hopped up into a battle stance. "Oh my God! I'm hearing things!" he said to the air, looking all around. As he was moving around Liz grabbed his arm.
"Fred, listen! I can get you out of here! I don't know what's happened to us, but we have to work around it."
The talking had alerted the cop and he stalked into the room. Elizabeth jumped back to her place against the wall.
"What's all the racket in here? Tryin' to make trouble? If you don't shut up, I'll make plenty of trouble for ya, punk..."
He was interrupted by a secretary bringing in a bouquet of flowers from the deputy's wife.
Gladiolas.
He softened somewhat at the distraction, and placed the flowers at the head of his desk nearby. "Oh, not the gladiolas!" Fred hissed on instinct. The deputy thought he was talking to him.
"What's the matter, you don't like flowers? Well that's too bad, cuz they're gonna stay right here..."
A sudden gushing sneeze cut him short. Fred cringed as Elizabeth not only sneezed, but flew all over the office, bouncing off things until she smacked into the deputy. He fell forward and the keys spilled out. Liz grabbed them and ran out of sight near Fred's cage.
"What the hell was THAT?" the enraged deputy demanded, looking all around. "Are you a magician or something?" Fred shrugged innocently. "Show's over, flyboy..."
A sudden smashing sound cut him off yet again as Liz snuck up behind him with a beer bottle and broke it over his head. He collapsed instantly.
"Good show, Snotface!" Fred beamed. "Now I KNOW it's you!"
Elizabeth didn't answer as she shuffled over with the keys, unlocked the door, and snuck out with him. "Stay here until I can create a distraction." she whispered to him, and ran into the main office. She materialized a rat that flew across the floor. Fred laughed silently as screams erupted from the staff and they desperately tried to kill the rodent. "Now!" he heard Elizabeth command in a loud whisper. Fred wasted no time. Elizabeth helped him run until they were several blocks clear of the station.
"Wow!" Fred said as they caught their breath. "That was perfect Snotface, just perfect! But why are you invisible?"
"I was just about to ask you why everybody can see you." she responded in just as perplexed a voice.
Fred thought a moment. "Let's retrace our steps. What was the first thing you did this morning?"
"I got up, got dressed, ate, same as usual."
"And?"
"Then I went to a job interview...that's when it happened..." she trailed off.
Fred realized something. "What time was that?"
"10:30."
Fred stopped in his tracks. "That's the exact same time I mooned the old bitch across the street! Wait a minute, I've got something..."
Elizabeth interrupted him. "What was the first thing YOU did this morning?"
"Roughed up the old man a bit with Holly, then we ate breakfast together, then went on a treasure hunt..."
"Wait!" Elizabeth interrupted again. "What did you say? The second thing..."
"Ate breakfast?" Fred said it in a 'so-what?' voice. Then it dawned on him.
"Oh my God...!" he smacked his forehead. "I ate the kid's food! That explains everything..."
"What, a sugar rush?" Elizabeth said half seriously.
"No, Snotface, a power warp! They warned me about that. The effects are temporary, but disasterous. It's like a drug to us imaginary friends. It has to wear off. It could last all day..." He walked beside her in silence. "I've got to hide somewhere. I'm a fugitive now." he finally said.
"You could stay at my place." Elizabeth offered. "Come on!" She fairly dragged him into her car. Meanwhile, the cops were putting up Wanted posters just out of sight...
"Make yourself at home." Elizabeth smiled, though Fred couldn't see it . Fred smirked.
"Looks like I'm stuck in Girlsville." he said, flopping down on a pile of pillows on the bed.
Lizzy couldn't resist her next sentence. "You don't know what girlsville is. Try being stuck in the middle of office gossip every day."
Fred ignored her. Something on the TV had caught his immediate attention.
"Police everywhere are searching for the runaway prisoner who was taken into custody this morning." an announcer said as some cops searched the grounds behind him. Suddenly, Mickey and his daughter Holly appeared as the newsman caught them for questioning. "Sir! We heard your daughter here knows the suspect. Can we ask her a few questions?"
Holly broke in before her dad could answer. "His name is Drop Dead Fred and he's NOT a pervert!!!" the little girl practically shrieked into the microphone.
Fred smacked his forehead. Liz just shook her head. "I can't believe you actually mooned that old lady. " she said quietly.
"I can't believe this newsman's tie!" Fred ignored her again. "Look at this! It's like a bunch of deformed yellow monkeys with hemorrhoids!"
"What are you going to do about Holly?" Liz asked him from across the room, where she was putting some clothes away. Fred turned away from the TV to answer.
"Bratrat? I can't let her see me until she can't see me, understand? I'm a dangerous criminal on the run. Besides, it's kind of nice getting a break from this imaginary friend business."
"When were you not dangerous, Fred?" Elizabeth laughed as she unconsciously stuffed some socks into a drawer.
Fred suddenly looked very serious, putting on his best poker face. "You haven't seen how dangerous I can be, Lizzy." he said just as ominously. He started moving toward her, mock growling. Lizzy laughed and threw a stuffed animal at him. Fred grabbed it and bit off it's head before proceeding to tear it to pieces. Liz was laughing her head off and backing away. Before Fred could grab her, she disappeared.
"You can't hide from me, Snotface!" Fred announced dramatically as he crawled on the floor. He peeked under the bed. "Are you under...here?" he said, flipping the bedspread really fast. Liz watched from her position hovering in midair near the ceiling and stifled a giggle. Fred was trying to make her laugh to give her away. He stood up and sniffed obnoxiously, looking all around. "I know you're here, I can smell your cheap hairspray and pantyhose. Oh Snotfaaaace, where arrre yoooou?" he said in a singong voice, then started to tiptoe over to the closet. Liz decided to play a trick on the trickster. She materialized a giant T-rex that crashed through the closet with a roar. Fred screamed, a rare sound to Elizabeth's ears, and ran for his life as it came stomping after him. Liz exhausted from the effort, and the manifestation faded in midstride. Liz went visible and fell onto the bed with a shriek. A still frightened Fred stood plastered to the wall, his eyes wide and his hair standing even more on end, looking like a victim of sudden electrocution. A weak, but highly amused Liz laughed at him from the bed.
"I had you good!" she said, pounding one fist for emphasis. "You looked so funny!"
Fred recovered from his shock to smirk from across the room. "I could have done better than that."
"Hah! You were running for your life!"
"I'll get you!" Fred suddenly jumped onto the bed and got her into a tickle fight. "Say I'm the best!" he said through her shrieks.
"Never!"
"All right then..." Fred proceeded to continue the torture. A sudden loud knock at her front door startled them both.
"I have to answer that." Liz said, prying Fred's hands away. He hovered over her for a few awkward seconds before letting her up. His expression was unreadable, but Liz saw something flash in his eyes, a look she'd seen before. She blushed and pushed past him before anything weird happened, then ran to the door.
"Liz, it's Mickey!" the voice at the other end said. Fred looked shocked, then ran to hide reluctantly in the closet.
Liz took a deep breath, and let her friend in. "Hi, Mickey. What's going on? I saw you on the news."
Mickey followed her into the living room and they both sat down on the couch.
"Remember Drop Dead Fred?"
"Yeah." she said nervously.
"You were right. He really is real. I finally saw him today."
Liz played dumb. "Where?"
"My house. My yard...actually, my neighbor's yard. He mooned Ms. Drosselmeyer and then got arrested. Holly's been scarred for life...heck I'VE been scarred for life. I was wondering if you'd seen him."
Liz looked him straight in the eye. "No." she said innocently. "But if I do, you'll be the first to know. Where's Holly?"
"Babysitter."
"Oh."
Down the hall in Liz's room, Fred was so nervous that he tripped over a box in the closet and fell down with a loud curse from both ends. Liz had to struggle to stifle a profound guffaw and coughed into her hand instead.
"What was that?!" Mik whirled around.
"My cats." Liz lied. "I just got them and keep them in my room so they won't destroy visitors. They're Siamese. Very protective, you know." she looked matter of fact. Mik nodded dumbly.
"Uh huh..." he sounded, not totally convinced. "Can they say, 'oh shit' too?"
"That's the TV. I was watching it when you came over."
That seemed to calm him down somewhat. "Oh, okay." But he still looked suspicious.
Liz quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to go out to eat or something? I feel I should make up for last time."
Mik smiled. "Aww, I had fun last time. But in the future, aim the salad bowl for the waiter's head, okay?"
"Sure, Mickeybuns." Fred cringed in the closet, mimicking her.
Sure, Mickeybuns...Mickey Fartpants... He took Lizzy's old Ken doll, fished a lighter out of his pocket and set it on fire. "You're not even good for roasting marchmellows!" he said fiercely as Ken's plastic form took on a permanent deep tropical tan...along with the rest of the closet. Fred stifled a shriek and frantically beat the flames out before it was destroyed.
From below, both Liz and Micky smelled the smoke. "Did you leave something burning?" Mickey asked predictably. Oh God... Liz thought to herself.
"It's just the heater. Sometimes it smells like that." "It's May, Lizzy." Mickey reminded her.
"I turn it on at night and forget to turn it off sometimes." she covered herself lamely. Mick shook his head.
"Let's just get out of here."
In front of the restaurant, the couple was attacked by a bouquet of microphones and an arsenal of TV cameras. Liz disappeared, leaving Mick desperately looking for her. A tug in his hand led him away from the media assault, and he followed her staggering down the hall toward the lobby. But the manager saw him, not Liz, and thought he was drunk. "Not so fast, pal. We don't allow drunkards in this restaurant." Before Mick could protest, he pushed him outside.
"Liz, where ARE you?" Mick asked the air, looking all around. Liz materialized behind him and made him jump.
"Peek a boo!" she offered shyly.
"Where'd you go?"
"Uh,I got kinda lost..." she offered.
"Well, it looks like a night on the town is out." Mick shrugged. "Come on, the only safe place to be right now anyway is my house." He shot her a funny look as they got into the car.
Fred, meanwhile, was bored, and ticking off the hours until 7 AM tomorrow morning when he'd be back to his old, shapeshifting, zany self. He wandered down to the living room, risking a sudden appearence by Liz or Mick, but he didn't care. But he wasn't alone. A very familiar person sat sprawled on the couch, drinking beer. Fred stopped in his tracks.
"Go to hell Herman???" he gasped, his eyes wide. "What the bloody hell are YOU doing here???" Herman rose, covered his face in his cape for a moment, then opened it with a dramatic flourish.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Herman said just as dramatically. "Imaginary friend's dance! Booga-wooga! Booga-wooga!"
They exchanged the butt wiggling ritual like a pair of demented bees, then flopped down on the couch. "I heard it through the grapevine you were in trouble." Herman said, sipping his beer. "Looks like you could use a little company."
Fred rolled his eyes. "God, you don't know HOW bad it's been! I've lost all my powers except for the force of my personality, and it won't wear off till tomorrow! Look at me! I'm hiding in Snotface's house! I've been reduced to a priss!" He got up to pace around the room. "Look at all these knickknacks and cutesy stuff! Bah!" He mock barfed, Fred style. "Artificial flowers....bluuuuuuuuh! Exotic fish! Bluuu-uuuuhhhh!" Herman joined him in the fake barf fest. He saw a standing picture of Mickey on the fireplace and picked it up.
"Who's the dweeb, man?"
Fred made a noise of disgust. "That's Mickey Fartpants, Snotface's boyfriend." he said the last word in a mocking, singsong childish way. Her man took two fingers and burned holes through the eyes. They cracked up laughing.
"I feel better already!" Fred sang, dancing around. "If I only had my powers, this would be just like old times! Let's see what else we can find to destroy..." Herman gladly followed.
"By the way, Fred, I can only be here till you get your powers back. I got a new assignment to go to. Some child genius who plays the violin...jeez, how do they PICK these kids?"
They went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. "Let's see what Snotface eats." Fred rubbed his hands with delightful glee. The shelves were filled with enough vegetables to feed a farmful of rabbits. Gourmet wine, salad dressing, homemade breads and even nail polish lined the sides. "Good God, she's got her own restaurant in here, Herman! All healthy stuff! It's disgusting! Where's the pizza? Where's the leftovers?" Fred rummaged some more and found something hopeful. "Herman! Pop Tarts! Maybe there's hope for us after all!" He threw the box to the other behind him.
"Here!" Herman said to Fred, tossing him another beer. "Wash it down with some of this..." Fred gave the thumbs up sign and caught it deftly.
"Come on, I wanna show you something..." Fred gestured for Herman to follow him upstairs. "Wait till you see Snotface's room..."
"Ooooooooo..." Herman mimicked scary music and tiptoed behind him.
Fred swung the door open and mock screamed. So did Herman. "Oh, I can't stay in here, Fred! This is too scary! I think I'm gonna faint! Everything's gettin' dark...quick, put on this gas mask..." Herman materialized one for himself and Fred. "All that perfume'll kill ya, Fred!" Fred nodded and put the mask over his face. They looked at each other, breathed like Darth Vader, and Herman made two lightsabers appear. "Defend yourself, Jedi!" he suddenly announced ominously,and took a swing at Fred. The ensuing mock battle tore up more of the room than they did each other. With their sabers retreated, they pushed back their masks and said in unison, "Now that's more like it!" They stood back and admired their "handiwork". The drapes looked like paper chain cutouts, the bed was slashed beyond recognition, stuffing and springs poking out of it like some surreal art landscape. The walls bore their saber graphiti in criss crossing marks of black. Fred suddenly felt guilty. "You know, Snotface isn't gonna be too happy with the way we redecorated her room. I hope you can put this all back."
Herman waved him off. "Don't worry, that's what magic's for! But let's leave it this way for awhile. I like it."
"Agreed."
Fred stepped toward the door with Herman following when his foot suddenly slipped on something. It was a magazine. He picked it up in one smooth fast motion and gasped. "Oh my God, Herman, look at this! It's a boytoy magazine!"
Herman's eyes bugged out - literally, with an old fashioned model T honking noise. They both looked at each other and went "aaaaaaaaa...!" knowingly. "I could do that..." Fred said with confidence, flexing his muscles. "Who would expect Snotface to keep pornos around the house?" he added, smiling. Herman threw the magazine over his shoulder and stalked out the door.
"I've seen enough." he said. "Let's go trash the living room." He was starting to wobble drunkenly, and so was Fred. Herman snapped his fingers and rock music blared from the living room. A stage materialized. Herman held an electric guitar and sang while Fred did the backups. They danced around like a couple of metalheads at a concert, shrieking, howling, screaming, and yelling. Only about ten percent was actual singing. The living room was transformed into a swirling tempest of techicolor lights and special effects. At the height of their frenzy, Elizabeth and Mickey decided to come home.
Liz covered her face as Mickey gasped, "What the hell's going on in there? I'm calling the cops..."
Liz stopped him with a rough grab of his arm. "No, Mick, don't! I'll handle this! I think we should say goodnight now...I'll call you tomorrow..."
"But..."
"Micky, just go! I know what this is! Goodnight!" she pecked him on the cheek real fast and flew out of the car toward the house. Mick stayed parked anyway, but didn't get out. The boys were so engrossed in their "concert" that they didn't even see Liz when she had entered the house, slamming the door behind her. Only her resounding "FRED!!!!" made the lights go out and the goons stop dancing.
"Fred, what are you DOING?!" she demanded in a shriek, looking helplessly at the trashed living room. She couldn't see Herman, who was hiding behind Fred. Fred looked sheepish.
"We - I got bored." he shrugged.
"Did you have to mess up my house?" Liz gasped. "My curtains!" she rambled as she went around to the damaged furniture. "My couch!" she started hitting Fred's arm.
"Ow! Snotface, stop! I'll help you clean it up! Don't have a cow!"
Liz turned angrily away and put her hands on the couch, sobbing. Instantly, and to her suprize, the slashes cleared up as if they'd never been there. Fred tried to get her attention. "Snotface, look! Your magic worked on the couch!" He shook her shoulder until she looked. Liz cupped her hands over her face and gasped through her tears. "I did that???" she said amazed. A smile came to her face for the first time. "Will it work on the rest of the stuff?"
"Try it."
Liz did. In moments everything was restored.
Fred smirked. "Ya happy now? Everything's back to Girlsville again." He rolled his eyes, but smiled. Herman kicked his butt from behind and Fred went "ow!"
Liz's tiredness returned and she trailed up to her room. "This wears off in the morning, right?"
"It's supposed to." he said, following her. "Uh, you'll have to change your room back, too. I got a little carried away in there."
"Oh no..." Liz thought she was going to be sick when she saw the room. "What were you doing in here, playing Edward Sissorhands on the rampage?"
"Actually it was a lightsaber duel with your stuffed animals..." Fred made up.
"You'll regret that..." Herman growled from behind him. Fred sat on Liz's bed and Herman sat down by him, elbowing him as he made a knowing grunt. Fred elbowed him back warningly. "Piss off..." he whispered to Herman, who reluctantly disappeared.
"What?" Liz said, abashed.
"Not you." Fred said. "Just swatting a fly."
Liz looked down from her window to make sure Mickey had gone, then drew the shade from any other prying eyes. She looked at the clock and was stunned to see it was almost 6 AM. "Oh no. I've been out all night..." She yawned gigantically and collapsed on the bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Fred looked down at her somewhat awkwardly until he conked out in a chair next to the bed.
A couple hours later, a concerned Mickey rushed over to Liz's house, and ran upstairs to find her still sleeping. He didn't however, see Fred, still snoozing away in the chair. Mickey woke up Liz, who startled when she saw Fred still there. She looked nervously from Fred to Mick. "I can explain this!" she sputtered, still half asleep.
"Explain what?" Mick looked puzzled. Fred woke up, saw that his powers were back, and put a finger to his lips for Liz. Her eyes widened when she saw that Mick couldn't see him.
"Uh, my falling asleep so long." she offered lamely. Mick chuckled. "That's okay, we stayed up all night trying to avoid those newsmen. Hey, have you seen Fred?"
"No."
"The police are still looking for him."
Liz smiled. "I don't think they're going to find him. He's pretty good at hiding."
Fred winked, and vanished.
To be continued...