There's Gotta be a Logical Explanation

Sylvia sighs and reaches out a hand to her closest friend, shivering slightly when she slips into her nightmare. Finding herself in the Jones family home. “Nance? Nancy.”

Hearing a soft whimper, her head turns and she sighs softly. Nancy had a lofted bed that she hung curtains off of to hide her computer and workspace from the world from. Usually, she kept them pulled back... unless she needed to cry.

Walking over, she pulls back the curtains, seeing Nancy curled up under her desk. “Hey. Hey, little one. What is it, what happened?”

Nancy sobs, peaking up from where her head was curled up against her knees and launching over, hugging her. “Dad and-- and Mama Daphne said-- said I wasn’t any good, that I was letting them down and letting my mom down and-- and-- and--”

Sylvia sighs and gently runs her fingers through Nancy’s hair, shaking her head. “Hey, hey, that’s not true, okay?”

“B-b-but, but--”

“Shh, no. No buts, Nancy Kate Jones. You’re one of the best in the business. People request you by name and for good reason. You know your stuff and you know what you’re doing. You know that, and I know that. And your dad and Daphne know that, too.”

“But they said, they said--”

“You’re dreaming, little one,” Sylvia brushes some of her hair back up, wiping her tears gently. “You’re just having a nightmare. There’s another evil takeover in Auradon, whoever started it cast a sleeping curse over everyone that’s been trapping them in their nightmares. It’s just a bad dream, and I’m here to help you wake up.”

Nancy sniffles, lip quivering. “How?”

“You just need to face your fears, little one. You’re just scared your dad and Daphne don’t think you’re enough but you know they do, they think you’re more than enough, and they’re so proud of you, aren’t they?”

Nancy sniffles, trembling against her, her lip quivering.

“Your dad helped you build those shelves you keep all your trophies from your cases on, right?”

Nancy sniffles and nods.

“He wouldn’t do that if he wasn’t proud of your accomplishments, little one. It’s okay, Nance, we all know how good you are.”

Nancy sniffles, but nods slowly...

And in a blink she’s in the library as Nancy sits up, rubbing her neck... turning to Sylvia and hugging her tightly with a sniffle. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me yet. We gotta find the others. Where would Sammy be?”

And that’s how they find themselves heading for Sammy’s room, and Sylvia tries the door. “It’s locked.”

“Not for long,” Nancy answers, getting into her bag and grabbing her lockpicking set.

In a moment, the two are in, finding Sammy asleep with part of her closet on her bed. Coordinating that week’s outfits, of course. Sylvia sighs, walking over and brushing Sammy’s hair from her face...

Finding herself... once again in Sammy’s room, but without the closet spread on her bed. Turning to Sammy’s makeshift vanity, Sylvia suppresses a laugh. Of course it’s something like this. “Hey, bug.”

Sammy whips around, tears rolling down her face and trying to cover her head. “No, no, don’t look at me, it’s awful!”

“Sammy,” Sylvia can’t help the chuckle that escapes her. “It’s not that bad.”

“It is!” Sammy whines. “Nothing is working on it!! Sylvia, it’s awful. I can’t do it!”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re just having a nightmare.” Walking over, Sylvia picks up a hair brush from Sammy’s vanity and pulls up a chair, brushing it for the sake of keeping her hands busy more than for the sake of trying to fix anything. “Someone cast a sleeping curse over Auradon. It’s just a bad dream, bug, not a real bad hair day. I promise.”

Sammy sniffles, peaking at her in the mirror. “...yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sylvia chuckles softly. “Your hair is fine. It’s just a bad dream. Everyone’s been trapped in their worst nightmares, from what I’ve seen. The only way to wake up has been to face them, or internalize that things aren’t as bad as they seem or you’ve imagined.”

“...how many of these have you seen?”

“A few. I woke up my friends Sam and Melinda, and Lillian of all people, then I got Nancy and we came to find you.”

“...this is just embarrassing for me, isn’t it?”

“A little,” Sylvia chuckles. “It’s okay, bug. I kinda had it figured your nightmare might be something along these lines.”

Reaching out, she boops Sammy’s nose, making her laugh weakly. Smiling, Sylvia sighs, getting the mess of red hair to lay flat at least. “So. Facing your nightmare.”

“...wait,” Sammy pouts, picking up a hat off her vanity and pulling it on, which only barely covers the damage. She frowns in the mirror... but sighs, nodding, grabbing her bag and forcing herself out the door...

Sylvia blinks and smiles, finishing brushing Sammy’s hair back from her face as the girl wakes up, mumbling, rubbing her eyes.

“Tell no one,” she warns, and Sylvia nods with a laugh, smiling.

“C’mon, bug. We’ve got some friends to find.”

In the garage, if it weren’t for the sleeping curse, Sylvia would have a hard time believing anyone was asleep. Lily had been blasting rock music and was sound asleep in front of her toolbox-- probably grabbing something when the curse hit.

Sylvia walks over and kneels down gently, reaching up and grabbing her shoulder...

She’s... in a park? Sylvia turns and finds Lily sitting blankly on the swings. Going over, she drops into the swing beside her. “Hiya.”

Lily looks up and looks at her, and that’s how Sylvia sees that the girl has definitely been crying, though she isn’t now, and just looks... angry, which is normal. “Mind telling me what’s going on? Where are we, peanut?”

There’s a pause as Lily eyeballs her before sighing. “Park near my house. No one really uses it at this hour.”

“Why are we here?” Sylvia cocks her head.

“My stepmother kicked me out of the house,” Lily looks away from her and chucks the pebble she’d picked up at the dirt. “I don’t know what’s going on. She just went off on me about how terrible and ungrateful I am and threw me out. Said I’ll never see my dad again.”

Sylvia nods. “Well, peanut, the good news is, this is a nightmare. It’s not real. You’re in a sleeping curse. The bad news is, I’m not sure which part you’re actually afraid of, because the way to wake up is to face your fears.”

Lily looks at her, raising an eyebrow. Sylvia nods. Lily sighs and shrugs. “Well, isn’t it obvious? It’s about Audrey being evil, how’m I supposed to face that?”

“Well, yes and no,” Sylvia shakes her head. “I know you pretty well, Lily, and I... don’t think you’re actually scared of Audrey being evil. I think you’d find that easier, because then hating her makes sense.”

“What else would it be?” Lily snarks.

“You’re afraid of losing your dad,” Sylvia answers simply. “He’s your entire life, anybody who knows you knows that. You’re... peanut, you wanna be scared of your stepmother being evil, but that’s not what bothers you about her. You just wanna know she’s not gonna take your dad from you.”

Lily sniffles, tearing up again. “Shut up-- no! No, it’s just her being evil, it’s just my stepmother being a real monster, it’s--”

“Aw, Lily,” Sylvia reaches out, pulling their swings together just to hug her. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Lily sniffles, burrowing into her. “I just don’t know where I’d be without him, I don’t know what I’d do, I-- I--”

“Shh, I know, I know. But listen to me. You know no one’s going to take him from you, right? Not even her. She’s been in your life for, what, 15 years now? Peanut, you have every right to choose not to like her, but I just need you to know she’s never gonna take him from you. Your dad wouldn’t let her. You’re as much his world as he is yours. He’ll never ever leave you. Okay? He’ll leave her before he leaves you.”

Lily sniffles, nodding, crying harder...

And Sylvia blinks, registering the loud rock music again and wincing, smiling as Lily wakes up, though.

Sammy skids over and hugs her best friend, and Lily sniffles, clearing her throat, laughing. “You don’t wanna do that, I was working before I passed out, I’m probably greasy.”

“I don’t care,” Sammy says, hugging her.

Sylvia smiles softly, and then addresses Lily. “Can you keep these two safe? I gotta find the others.

“Aye, I can do that,” Lily nods, motioning Nancy over. “Keep in touch, let us know if you’re in danger.”

“Will do,” Sylvia smiles and hurries out of the garage.

Sylvia finds Grayson in the cafeteria. Probably looking for a snack to get through his studying, knowing him. She sighs as she reaches out to him...

And is surprised to find herself in what she assumes must be his family home, heading for-- “WHAT are you DOING?”

Grayson yelps, looking back from the old portal to the ghost zone and blinking. “Sylvia? How did you find me?”

“You’re asleep, pumpkin, you’re having a nightmare, you’re still on campus at Auradon Pr-- no, you don’t get to distract me right now, what are you about to do?” Sylvia grabs his arm and pulls him away.

“Nightmare?” He bites his lip. “...promise?”

“I promise,” Sylvia squeezes his hands. “Did you see the sky go dark before whatever happened to you happened?”

He nods. She nods. “Someone cast a sleeping curse over Auradon. I opened my eyes and found myself at the kitchen counter of my family home like Auradon didn’t exist. You’re just having a nightmare, pumpkin, but I ask again, what the hell were you doing?”

Grayson sniffles and rubs his eyes, pulling uncomfortably at the suit his grandparents had made him to explore the ghost zone. “I... I thought my ghost side was... gone. I couldn’t go ghost and-- and you guys all left me, and my dad gave up on me and stopped spending time with me and my grandparents didn’t care about me anymore and--”

He sniffles, motioning to the ghost zone. “I thought if I stepped through I might... might end up like dad. More half-dead than quarter-dead but... but then everyone would... would come back...”

Sylvia sighs and hugs him tightly. “Aw, pumpkin. You know we don’t care about that, right? Not us, not the Clue Crew. You’re ours, we don’t care at all about that, you’re still our friend and a great detective even without being part-ghost.”

“...yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sylvia smiles at him. “And your parents don’t care. They don’t. You have to remember how much of a miracle it is that someone who’s half-dead could even conceive. There’s no way they would love you any less if you lost your ghost powers. Your mom’s not part-ghost, did she have any trouble helping your dad?”

He shakes his head. She nods with a smile. “Exactly. No one cares about the ghost aspect. We love you, pumpkin, as you are.”

He nods, hugging her tightly...

...and blinks slowly reaching back to the back of his head as he sits up. Sylvia pulls back and smiles. “You okay?”

“I think I hit my head,” he admits... before turning to his shadowy form and back again, smiling. “But I’m okay.”

Sylvia nods, helping him up. “Still gotta find Heather and Oliver.”

“I think I know where Heather is,” he says, and she nods, motioning for him to lead the way.

And, he’s right, they find Heather asleep by her locker with the door open. Thank god WOOHP hadn’t gone looking for her. Sylvia sighs and kneels down, gently brushing Heather’s hand out of her face...

...blinking in confusion as she looks around the unfamiliar bedroom. Hearing rustling in the closet, she steps over to it but it opens quickly before she has the chance to open it herself, finding Heather in a frenzy as she slings a bag over her shoulder. “Sylvia? Nevermind, we gotta go, like, now--” the blonde grabs her arm and drags her to the window.

“Heather, what’s going on?”

“What’s going on is I lost my clearance, and we gotta go before WOOHP catches up with me to erase my memories, Sylvia, please, c’mon!” Heather opens her window and half climbs out it.

Sylvia sighs as she follows after her. “Oh, baby, you’re okay--”

“Not for long!”

“No, I mean-- this isn’t real. Heather, you’re having a nightmare. Someone cast a sleeping curse over Auradon--”

“Explain on the run!” Heather grabs her arm and pulls her out the window, running over to her car. Sylvia sighs and follows after her.

As they’re heading down the road, Heather holds up a hand. “Okay, so like, you say this isn’t real?”

“About as real as me waking up at the kitchen counter at home and finding Auradon didn’t exist, yeah. You’re asleep, baby, this isn’t real.”

“Okay, but like-- but like, what if, like, you’re wrong? I can’t, I totally just, this is my life, I can’t just, like, let it go.”

“Heather, baby, I promise. I found you asleep in front of your locker with Grayson, and when I grabbed your arm, I found myself in your dream. You’re asleep, you really are,” she sighs. “You have to face your fears to wake up. So you’re afraid of losing your clearance, losing your memories of your spy work?”

“Yeah...” She sniffles. “I love being a spy, I love how things are, I know that’s stupid but it’s just-- it’s like, really fun and I just, like, if I’m not that then I’m just...”

“Another dumb blonde,” Sylvia realizes, and Heather nods, sniffling, crying. “Baby, pull over. I don’t wanna find out if we can get hurt in dreams like this.”

Heather sniffles but nods and complies, pulling off to the side of the road and sobbing. “Sylvia, I’m scared. I don’t wanna just be some ditz from Beverly Hills like everyone thinks. I’m so much more but like, if this happens...”

Sylvia sighs, reaching over and playing with her hair. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I know, you’re scared, but you know something? You are so much smarter than you realize, even without the spy stuff. You know what? That’s just like Sammy. She’s not a detective, she’s not some kickass badass fighter. She’s just a diva, and we love her, and we love you. You are more than a spy, Heather, you always have been, I promise.”

Heather sniffles, shaking her head. “But-- but-- but, I’m not, I’m--”

Sylvia sighs, rubbing her arm. “Shh, you are, you always have been. You haven’t always been a spy, but you’ve always been Heather, and you are loved just as Heather. You can still be so much even if you weren’t a spy. I know you could be, because I know you, Heather. I know you.”

Heather sniffles, sobbing leaning over to hug her...

And Sylvia smiles down at the girl as she wakes up in front of her locker, sitting up, blinking and rubbing her eyes. “Like, ow.”

“Yeah, figures,” Sylvia chuckles, helping her up.

“Ohmygod, like, Sammy--”

“Actually, she’s okay. I woke Sammy, Nancy, and Lily, and they’re in the garage. We’re gonna get Oliver and head to join them and come up with something, okay?” Sylvia smiles.

Heather sighs and nods as Grayson helps her up, taking deep breaths. “Okay. So, like, let’s do this.”

Oliver is shockingly difficult to find, but when they manage to locate them, Sylvia chuckles softly, seeing they’d fallen asleep replaying a certain song. Of course. Walking over, she gently sets a hand on their shoulder.

Oh. Oh this is... yeah, she’d call this one a nightmare. “What in the hell?”

Someone grabs her arm and pulls her down. Sylvia squeaks and looks over at... “Oliver? Jinkies, sunshine, you scared me. What’s going on?”

“You should be scared,” is all he mutters, looking up and watching the sky. “I don’t know what happened, but someone altered history again, and someone went against my grandpa’s wishes.”

“What do you mean?” Sylvia sighs. Easier to resolve a fear if she strikes at the core of it, unfortunately.

“It’s complicated--? Come on,” and Oliver pulls her along quickly to an alleyway. “So, my grandfather, in one version of the timeline, created a robotic bowler hat that was supposed to help someone get ready in the mornings, but, the original variant became... sentient, and evil. DOR15 was supposed to be shut down and locked up as another failure, but... wasn’t off, and escaped. She planned to destroy my grandfather for abandoning her, humanity for existing and my family just to make my grandpa suffer, but... when he was a kid, my dad went back in time, found my grandpa as a kid, brought him back to fix things, and... eventually, my grandpa as a kid, vowed to never invent the hat and fixed the timeline entirely. DOR15′s evil plans never came to be, which meant my family was spared from her mind control based wrath. Except. Somehow. The timeline was altered again. And this is the result.”

He pulls her into a very abandoned looking building. Probably condemned, if she had to guess. “How did you escape? Are you okay?”

“Well... that’s just it,” Sylvia sighs. “This isn’t real. You’re asleep, you’re having a nightmare. Auradon’s under a sleeping curse, sunshine, I promise this isn’t real.”

Oliver blinks, looking at her, then at the door, shaking his head. “I don’t believe you.”

“Hey, sunshine, it’s me,” Sylvia takes his hand. “It’s me. I promise. You’re just asleep. Everything’s fine-- well, evil takeover, sleeping curse, everyone’s trapped in their nightmares-- but everything’s fine. This isn’t real.” She shakes her head softly as she says that, smiling at him.

They bite their lip and look at the door again. Reaching up, Sylvia turns their head away. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You just want your family to be okay, right? I know, I know. But I promise you it’s just a nightmare. It’s not real, your family is fine. You’re safe. You’re safe.”

They sniffle and hug her tightly. Sylvia smiles, hugging them back, rubbing their back. “Come on, realistically, who’s ever gonna look at your grandpa’s story and try to make that hat again? Who’s ever gonna take that story and go, ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine, I can do it and this won’t happen’? Nobody, sunshine, nobody is gonna do that, is gonna do this. I promise. I promise.”

Oliver sighs, nodding slowly, smiling weakly...

...Sylvia chuckles when they jolt awake. “Morning. Well, afternoon. If you can even believe that. C’mon, we’d better get back to the garage. Nancy, Sammy, and Lily are already there. We’ll work something out from th--”

“Eretria,” he interrupts, looking around between the three and shaking his head anxiously. “No, no, I gotta-- I gotta wake Eretria first. I’ll meet you, okay? The garage? I’ll meet you. Go on back, I’ll be there, just go.” He gets his stuff together quickly.

“Oliver--” Sylvia starts.

“Go! I’ll join you, it’ll be fine,” they smile at their friends before heading out abruptly.

Sylvia sighs, flinging a hand at the door, shaking her head. Heather rubs her shoulders. “He’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, it’s Oliver,” Grayson agrees. “They’ll probably come back with snacks and half a dozen unfinished plans they borrowed from their sister. C’mon, we should meet up with the girls.”

Sylvia sighs and nods, worried.