A/N: I apologize for the excessive wait between chapters, I fell into
an uninspired depression. I might not be posting as frequently as before,
but don't worry, I'm still alive and kicking and scratching. In fact
I have some of my artwork up on mediaminer.org now. (look for
Lejindarybunny) Should I get an elfwood or side7 account too? Also I
forgot to mention Ali, of COURSE you can post this on your site! I'd
love that.

I don't know if any of you used to watch the old Beetlejuice cartoon
but if you're interested, go read my song fic for it, Hemorrhage. And
if you watch Invader Zim go read Cognitive Dissonance.

Chapter VII.

"We must disenthrall ourselves from the past. Otherwise it becomes a
barrier to progress."
-Abraham Lincoln

Snively grinned sloppily, "Good morning to you too, Doctor. I
certainly feel quite well at the moment. Taking in consideration the
circumstances of course." The circumstances which were considerably
odder than any other than he thought them to be, he thought to himself.

The doctor nodded. "Are you hungry?"

"Oh no, I'm, fine really," he brushed a few strand of hair from his
face, a slightly more violent gesture than he'd intended. He wondered
what had become of the rubber band he'd used the day before, it might
just have disappeared with his luck.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist. Unless I am mistaken you are
gravely underweight."

He frowned and considered protesting further. He really wasn't very
hungry at all. He never was. But there was most likely no point in
defying the doctor on this and Snively nodded his grudging assent. It
wasn't as if the man was going to poison him, he hoped. Snively was
reasonably sure that no one had seen through his deception yet. Yet of
course being the key word as soon he would be dealing with people who
had had much more frequent and unpleasant contact with him and were
therefore even more likely to recognize him than Quack was.

"Come with me then." The duck-man turned and Snively followed him
from the room and up a set of stairs.

This must be where he lives, the dark haired man thought to himself
looking around at the dining room that might be described as 'quaint'
or 'homey' or 'prosaic'. There were pictures of the doctor and his wife
and their children, over the window were hung plaid curtains. Quack
motioned for him to sit at the table.

He shrugged and took a seat in one of the wooden chairs as the doctor
left the room, assumabley to get some sort of food. Snively leaned his
chin on his hand and drummed his fingers on the table impatiently. He
didn't really like the doctor very much and being alone with him made
him distinctly uncomfortable. He was a bit worried that Quack would
suddenly recognize him, as he seemed on the verge of doing the night
before, and do something rash like grab a butcher knife or alert that
squirrel king of theirs. He sighed listening to the sounds from the
kitchen. Speaking of remembering things, he had the distinct feeling
that there was something he was forgetting, something important. But
that was ridiculous, he was pretending to be an amnesiac, he wasn't
really.

He looked up as the doctor came back in with a plate and a glass of
orange juice, that he set in front of him.

"Thanks doctor," he said with a gratitude he didn't particularly feel.
He was picking up a piece of toast when someone knocked franticly on
the door. He saw the doctor grin.

"That'll be your friend Mina, I'd wager," Quack said as he went to
open the door.

The young figure that burst through the door as it was answered was
indeed Mina the, Mongoose, wasn't it? She seemed very upset again and
Snively wondered if the girl ever calmed down. He turned a grin on her.

"Hey there Mina, come to rescue me from the hospital food? Kidding,
Doctor, just kidding," he bit into the toast, it was rather burned.

"Have you remembered anything Davin?" the girl asked hopefully.

He gave her an indulgent smile and a shrug.

She collapsed defeatedly into a chair with a great sigh. A trifle
melodramatic, that one, he thought to himself, chewing on the toast. He
swallowed. He preferred her company slightly over the doctor's. At
least she wasn't about to discover him at any moment.

"I thought I told you not to worry about it, Miss Mina? I'm certainly
not but it's a little painful to be constantly reminded of it."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I should have thought," she put a hand to her mouth,
obviously rather horrified at herself for 'upsetting him'.

He smiled again, the muscles of his face definitely getting a work
-out they hadn't had in years. He drankk the orange juice after
finishing the toast and gave the eggs a rather distasteful look.

"Er, doctor, do I have to...?"

Quack sighed and rolled his eyes. "I suppose not if you're full." He
picked up the plate and took it to the kitchen.

"Did you sleep okay, Davin?" Mina asked concernedly.

Rather lost in his own thoughts he nearly forgot to answer to the
name. "Hmm? Oh! Yes, yes." He nodded. "Just fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Why would I lie?" he shrugged. Only because he'd had a horrible
nightmare that he was just on the verge of remembering.

She sighed.

"Tch, honestly Miss Mina, you can't be this upset over me. Is there
something wrong?" It was probably best to have someone firmly on the
side of 'hey, this isn't a bad guy' in case he was found out, and the
girl seemed just about the perfect candidate.

She forced a smile. "Oh no, nothing's wrong at all."

His lips twitched in a smirk. "You are, my dear, a very bad liar."

Her face fell. "Is it that obvious?"

"Painfully," he nodded, not really bothering to control the tone of
his voice.

She looked over her shoulder to the kitchen, where Quack was washing
dishes. "Do you, um, promise not to tell anybody?"

"And who on Mobius would I tell? You have my word Miss Mina, that our
conversation will go no further."

She smiled rather more genuinely, but then frowned again as she began
speaking. "Well, it's just... you'll think I'm silly."

He raised an eyebrow. Yes, you're right I probably will, he thought
to himself, but there's no reason to tell you that. "I most certainly
won't."

She bit her lip. "Okay...but I warned you."

"Consider me dually warned," he quipped.

"...There's this boy, who I like. And he's really brave and handsome
and cool, but well, he likes somebody else and I don't even have a
chance." She sniffed.

Snively sighed mentally. Wonderful, just what he was NOT equipped to
deal with, teenage romance troubles. Well, he'd try his best he
supposed. "I'm sure that's not true. Why do you think he would he like
this other girl more?"

She looked down at the floor. "Well, they've been friends for a really
long time, and she's a lot prettier and smarter than me, and, and she's
the princess!"

"Oh god, not her," Snively rolled his eyes.

Mina's gaze snapped up. "You, know who she is?" she blinked.

SHIT! He'd slipped up. Quick, fixitfixitfixit! He blinked. "Huh, I
guess I do," he grinned. "Kinda tall, chipmunk girl, bossy as anything?"

Mina giggled and nodded. "Yup, that's her! You remembered something
Davin, that's wonderful! Do you remember anything else?"

He shook his head. "Nope, I think it was because you mentioned her. So
maybe I'll remember things as I encounter them?"

She nodded. "I hope so. Gee, I wonder how you know the princess?" she
mused thoughtfully.

He shrugged. "Beats me, but hopefully she's not my ex," he grinned
charmingly.

She laughed again. "I don't think that's very likely. But hey, maybe
she'd know who you are! We could ask her...um, if we could get in to
talk to her...which we can't. Darn."

Actually, not darn, the less people who know me I have to deal with
the better. "That's alright, I'm sure It'll all come back to me in time.
But, I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"I shouldn't be burdening you with my problems."

"Nonsense, I asked you. Tell me, does this boy have a name?" He had
to confess at this point he was just the tiniest bit curious.

She blushed and muttered something.

"You'll have to speak up my dear, I'm afraid I couldn't hear you."

"...his name's Sonic."

Snively managed NOT to have a coughing fit, or otherwise give away
any indication that this was another name he knew. "...Sonic? Is that
really a name or are you pulling my leg?"

The girl looked thoughtful. "You know, I'm not sure that IS his real
name, now that I think of it. I guess it must be a nick-name."

"Hmmmmmm," he'd wondered about that himself, if the hedgehog's parents
had been quite that ...'witty'.

"So you don't remember him, do you?"

"I'm afraid not," he didn't want her running to get Sonic to see if
the hedgehog knew who he was.

"Well, actually," she smiled, "We might run into him today. His uncle
is the man Doctor Quack is taking you to for the tests."

"Ah." That was right. And even if Sonic wasn't there dear old sir
Charles had just as good if not a better shot of recognizing him. He'd
just have to hope that luck was on his side.

The doctor came back into the room. "Ready to go? I take it you're
coming with us Mina?"

She nodded. "Oh, doctor! Davin remembered something!"

"Did he now?"

"He knows who the princess is, but he doesn't know how he knows."

"Is that so?"

'Davin' nodded. "Yes, we were just talking and she brought up the
princess and I knew who she was talking about."

"Well then that is good news to start that day with. Come on then,
Sir Charles lab isn't very far.

To be continued...

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