Silver opened his eyes with a groan. The light was too bright and it hurt his eyes. He sat up, hoping to move out of the sun but all it did was make him feel lightheaded. This wasn't good, he was sick. He can't be sick, there's too much going on at the moment. Getting out of bed he decided that he was going to ignore it. He had too much stuff to do. He stood up and wavered on the spot, eyes blurring for a moment. Blinking rapidly his eyes cleared and he slowly walked away from his bed. He had stuff to do at his guild. He had paperwork to complete. Well, he had other stuff to do on his list, but paperwork sounded safer.

He slowly got dressed, pausing whenever he felt dizzy. He knew that he would have to pretend that he was fine once he left his house, so he wanted a few moments where he could show weakness. Passing on breakfast as he wasn't feeling hungry he headed out the door. Storm blinking over to the sewers entrance he headed down to his guildhall. Entering he saw that there was no one there, as always. Heading to his office to start on the paperwork, he paused for a moment thinking he heard something. Not hearing it anymore he continued walking. Once he reached his office, he sat down and started on his paperwork. He sighed, massaging his head hoping it would lessen the headache he has. It didn't. He leaned forward and rested his head on the table wondering if he could get away with sleep for a few hours. Sitting back up straight he decided that he couldn't, someone could come and catch him being vulnerable.

He returned to doing his work. He continued completing his paperwork until it was time for the meeting the guild leaders had called. It wasn't anything official, it was just to make sure they all had the same information and were on the same page with everything that is going on. He hoped that he could hide how under the weather he was, he should be able to act like he was fine. After all they still don't know his name or what he looks like. Silver wondered if they would notice that he was sick. "Probably not, since they don't really care about me."

Silver storm blinked into the Dragon Cave, where it had been decided that the meetings were going to be held here as it was very secure. Landing on a ledge above the others, he saw that everyone was there. Silver took a breath to try and clear his headache, sitting on the edge of the ledge he wondered how long it would take them to notice him.

"Where is Silver? He should have been here five minutes ago." Bri exclaimed, pacing. Silver winced, he had to take a few breaks otherwise he would have fainted.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon." Brandon responded, watching Bri walk in circles.

Deciding that this was the perfect time to intervene Silver called out, "I've been here the entire time."

Hearing Silver out of nowhere their heads snapped up and they spotted Silver on the edge of the ledge.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Bri retorted, glaring up at him.

Ritchie and Michael exchanged exasperated looks before Michael sighed, "Honestly, we should have expected that. He's done it before with Ritchie and I. I'm not surprised."

"I'm surprised that none of you sensed me." Silver admitted, leaning forward slightly.

"I'm not." Ritchie replied from where he was sitting down, "Get down here Silver."

While Silver would much rather stay where he was, he knew that staying on the ledge meant that it would make the meeting longer and therefore making the risk of them discovering that he was sick higher. Sighing, he made it seem like it was such a hassle, "Ugh, fine. I was comfy up there though."

"I don't care." Michael sassed, rolling his eyes at Silver whinging. Climbing down the ledge, Sliver landed on the ground quieter than he normally would. He also saw a shadow of something out of the corner of his eyes. Silver hoped the meeting would be quick, he was getting worse.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

The guild leaders watched as Silver climbed down and landed almost silently on his feet. They were surprised that he could be that quiet. They watched as Silver turned around and came closer, taking a seat across from Ritchie.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Silver took a seat in front of Ritchie as Silver had decided that Brandon and Michael had the highest chance of noticing that he was sick. Ignoring the shadows out of the corners of his eyes, Silver asked, "What's on the agenda today?"

Bri took a seat at the table and began to talk. Silver swung his chair back and listened. They had a discussion on what they were going to do about the Midnight and about the upcoming Grand Magic Games. Silver piped up every now and then making cheerful and sometimes sarcastic comments. He could feel his headache worsening as time went on, he body felt so tired and like it would refuse to move, the shadows out of the corner of his eyes were appearing more often and he felt cold, meaning he most likely had a fever and a high one too with how long it had been left untreated.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

The guild leaders thought the meeting was a success and everyone now had the same information. Each leader had their own jobs they had to get done. None of their investigations crossed over into another's guilds investigation, it was more efficient and this way they could get multiple things done at the same time. The meeting was beginning to finish up about two, two and a half hours later. Bri stood up and announced that the meeting was finished before sitting back down and asking if there was any gossip circulating the guilds.

"No, not really." Ritchie said thoughtfully.

"That's where you're wrong, brother. David and Mario were sent on another quest together." Brandon corrected, smirking at his twin.

"What quest was it?" Ritchie asked intrigued.

"They had to help Mrs. P." Brandon chuckled, "You know how much they love Mrs. P."

"You sent them on that quest! What, did they annoy you that much?" Ritchie laughed.

"I feel like I'm missing something." Silver admitted looking between Brandon and Ritchie.

"Oh right, you don't know her. She's . . . an interesting character. She is an old lady who loves animals and who David fondly calls batshit crazy. Though I will warn you, don't drink the tea." Brandon explained, giving Silver the warning about her tea at the end.

"Oh. She sounds fun, I'd love to meet her!" Silver exclaimed, clapping his hands, thinking of how fun it would be to traumatize some people by introducing them to her.

Bri, Brandon, Ritchie and Michael paled a little bit at the thought of Silver and Mrs. P. interacting. They could cause so much chaos and confusion together. Bri cautiously answered with, "Sure Silver, I'm sure she would like to meet you too."

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Silver decided that he should leave now before he couldn't leave at all. "Well, it's been fun but I need to get going. There's some things I need to do."

"Oh what do you have to do?" Bri asked curiously.

"Paperwork." Silver groans, placing his head on the table for a moment before standing up from the chair, which was a mistake as he blacked out before he could even take a step.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

The guild leaders watched in horror as Silver wobbled before his eyes closed and he fell. Brandon launched himself out of his seat to catch Silver before he hit the ground. With Brandon cradling Silver, the other guild leaders quickly left their seats and surrounded them in worry.

"What happened?" Ritchie panicked, nervously fluttering around Silver.

Michael pulled Silvers bear hat back slightly to check his forehead and noticed that he was hot. "I think he's sick. He's hot to touch indicating that he has a fever."

"But he was fine, there was nothing different about the way he was acting, he acted like he normally does." Bri said confused, replacing Michael's hand with her own. "Oh shit, that's a high temperature. It's a wonder that he could even make sense of anything."

"He never showed that he was sick, there was no sign at all. He had us all fooled." Ritchie muttered darkly, feeling helpless while one of his friends laid down in his brothers arms, out cold.

"We should get him somewhere comfy. Follow me to the village." Bri commanded standing up and leading them further into the cave to show them the abandoned village that she lived in. Brandon picked Silver up and followed Bri with Michael and Ritchie behind him. Showing them a free house Bri directed Brandon to put Silver onto the bed.

"What do we do now?" Ritchie asked from where he was leaning against the wall close to the bed.

"Apart from keeping a cool cloth on his forehead, not a lot. Get some soup ready and find some medication but that's about it." Michael admitted, feeling useless as one of his friends laid unconscious on the bed. Bri came back in with some rags and a cold bowl of water.

"Who wants to keep him cool?" She asked gesturing to the water and rags.

"I will." Michael stepped forward, wanting to feel useful. He took the bowl and rags before he sat down on the edge of the bed. He put the bowl on the bedside table and wet a cloth, folding it he placed it on Silvers head after making sure his hat had been moved out of the way.

"Ritchie, come with me and help me make some soup. Brandon, can you find some medicine for him?" Bri took charge giving everyone something to do.

An hour later Silver woke up.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

Feeling himself waking up, Silver decided he wanted to be back in the darkness, his body ached and he was head pounding. Groaning he opened his eyes slightly, before hissing as light hit them. Silver heard movement before the room got darker. Opening his eyes again, this time he could see, kinda, his eyesight was a bit blurry. When his eyes focused he saw that someone else was in the room with him.

"Hey." Michael whispered after he had waited for Silver to focus on him. "Why didn't you tell us you were sick?"

"Wh-what happened?" Silver asked, trying to remember what happened.

"You passed out when you stood from the table." Brandon replied dryly from where he was sitting on the floor next to the bed.

"Oh. Hm, I should have left earlier then." Silver said thoughtlessly.

"No, you should've told us you were sick." Michael corrected Silver sternly. "We could've postponed the meeting or just had it without you there. You should have been resting."

"It doesn't matter." Silver said as he started to sit up in bed.

"Oh no you don't." Brandon ordered as he stood up and pushed Silver back down onto the bed. "Michael, go tell Bri and Ritchie that he is awake."

Michael nodded and left the room, heading towards the kitchen where a mouthwatering smell came from. Entering the room Michael saw that Ritchie was at the stove stirring the soup while Bri was washing the dishes. "Silver's awake."

Ritchie startled slightly while Bri squeaked and spun around, "Michael you scared me!"

Michael chuckled, "Well I just wanted to tell you that Silvers awake, so some soup should be taken in to him."

"He's awake!" Bri cheered slightly before rushing into the hallway towards where Silver was resting.

Michael moved towards the sink and began from where Bri left it. "Let me help you with that." Ritchie said, grabbing a towel to begin drying the dishes.

"Thank you." Michael replied, blushing a little.

=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=

"Silver!" Bri yelled rushing into the room. Silver groaned, hands flying to his head as it pounded.

"Bri!" Brandon scolded her as he gently pulled Silvers hands away from his head.

"Sorry." Bri replied in a softer voice. "Are you hungry Silver?"

"No."

"Well to bad, there's some soup Ritchie and I made for you and you're going to have some of it." Bri bossed heading towards Silver.

"I'll get some." Brandon said before leaving to give them some privacy. Walking into the kitchen he saw that his brother was helping Michael with the dishes. When Ritchie nodded to him in greeting Brandon smirked back at him tilting his head at Michael. Ritchie glared back at his brother before turning back around drying a plate. Brandon grabbed a bowl and a ladle. Slowly he spooned some soup into the bowl before giving the ladle to Michael to clean. Brandon returned to the bedroom and placed the soup onto the bedside table.

Bri thanked him before asking him to get Silver upright. Brandon nodded and moved around the bed. Grabbing Silver from under the armpits and Brandon forced him to sit up against the bedhead.

"Noo . . ." Silver moaned, wanting to lay back down and go to sleep.

"Don't even think about it." Brandon warned, "You're going to have some soup and then some medicine before you can lay back down."

Michael and Ritchie entered the room and saw Silver was sitting up. "Michael, Ritchie, they won't let me go back to sleep." Silver whined as he slumped against the bedhead.

"Eat first and have some medicine and then you can go back to sleep." Brandon repeated.

Bri sat next to Silver and put the bowl into her lap. "Err, how are we going to do this? You have a mask on." Bri questioned as she gestured to the mask covering the bottom half of his face.

"Right." Silver stared blankly at her, "I-I suppose I can take it off." He reached up and gently tugged his mask down, he felt weird without it on.

"You look familiar . . ." Michael tilted his head slightly, "Aha, you're the one that escaped Bri's jail."

"What!?" Bri whipped her head around and examined Silver face.

"Yeah." Silver admitted, shifting.

"Why were you in jail Silver?" Ritchie asked eyes watching Silvers every move.

"I took the fall for the murderer, made him think he got away free so my brother could find him." Silver explained, "However after five years I gave up and left the prison."

"What's your real name?" Brandon asked, focusing on the important part.

"Austin, why?" Silver-no Austin, replied looking confused.

"Because it's your real name, Austin." Michael answered.

Austin flinched slightly at his name, looking at the floor before blatantly changing the subject, "Can I go to sleep now?"

"After you've had something to eat and some medicine." Bri rolled her eyes before grabbing the spoon and blowing on the soup. Raising it she placed it in front of Austin's mouth, "Eat."

Austin looked at her confused slightly before slowly opening his mouth. When he ate the soup Bri would get more and hold it up for him to eat. This continued until Austin refused to eat anymore. Bri relented and grabbed the medicine for him to swallow. Austin pouted as he took the medicine before laying down and curling up, resting his head on Bri's lap. Bri removed his hat and ran her fingered through his hair. Austin was easily lured to sleep with the gentle patting of his hair.

Once Austin was asleep Brandon spoke up, "What if Austin brother was the murder?"

"I think that is what happened. He killed their parents before getting Austin to take the fall to get a clean getaway." Michael agreed, "And if that's not what happened then it's highly likely he's dead."

"Bri, will you be able to handle him by yourself? We have to get back to our guilds." Brandon asked worried.

"I'll be fine. If I do need help I'll give you a call." Bri smiled.

"Alright. We'll check in tomorrow." Michael said

"See you tomorrow." Bri agreed, waving goodbye. Brandon, Ritchie and Michael waved back before leaving to go back to their guilds.

After they left Austin stirred, "Why do you guys care?" He whispered to Bri, curling up tighter against her.

"Because you're our friend. Our family."