Family Reunion

"Aaaand... how many unbroken inventions is that this week?" Penfold asked as he walked over to Squawkencluck.

"Six," she sighed, not sounding happy at all. The two shared a look before turning their heads towards the laboratory door. Danger Mouse was skulking through the threshold. This was the eighth time he'd come to the lab that week and, like Squawkencluck had said, the sixth time he hadn't broken a single thing during his visit. Normally, this would've delighted Squawkencluck more than anything else would've (except perhaps some extra funding for her studies). But once she realized that part of Danger Mouse's increased sense of caution was coming from a bout of depression, her relief turned back into worry. And she was not alone in this worry. All of London was worrying with her.

Even villains like Greenback were worried, because of late, Danger Mouse had not been his usual self. He no longer seemed to want to do anything even remotely daring or dangerous. He had no mood for competition or combat, even though those two things used to be the light of his life. Friend and foe alike had since noticed Danger Mouse's sharp change in character and they were all worried for him.

"Vat is ze point if Danger Mouse no longer vishes to fight me?!" Greenback asked of his loyal henchman, Stiletto.

"Well, Baroni, we can always take this chance to take over London, now that we know that Danger Mouse won't fight back anymore!" the blackbird tried to suggest, but Greenback looked personally offended by the very idea.

"Now vere is your sense of honor?!" he demanded, despite not having any himself.

And all the other villains of the city were in a similar state of worry and confusion that Danger Mouse was no longer up to his usual antics. But it was Danger Mouse's friends who figured out the reason for this bout of depression first. It was actually Penfold who made the discovery.

"I was cleaning up the Chief's lounge since he hasn't been in the mood to clean since... ever," the hamster began.

"When has he ever cleaned anything in his life?" Squawkencluck interrupted with a snort, crossing her wings and shaking her head knowingly.

"But I found this on the floor, almost hidden underneath his bed. I think this may be the source of at least some of our problems," what Penfold held in his hand was a crumpled up letter.

"From someone named Fifi?" Squawkencluck narrowed her eyes as she took the little note from Penfold's hand. The name sounded familiar to both of them, but neither of them could quite remember...

The pair spent the rest of the day scouring the Agency, asking every other agent if they might recognize the name, but they received negative answers all around. Except from Colonel K.

"The name does sound familiar," he began slowly, scratching his bushy facial hair.

"Oh good! So we aren't mad then!" Squawkencluck cried in relief. Over the course of the day, she'd begun to question her sanity more and more when no one else seemed to recognize the name "Fifi".

"Well, I wouldn't say that," K remarked, giving Squawkencluck an unreadable look. But before she could register what he'd said, he returned to his previous train of thought. "That's a name I remember Danger Mouse mentioning to me before, but not very often. From what I can recall, she was someone very important to him..."

He didn't need to say more in order for the hen and hamster to understand.

"So is there any way we can figure out what's going on?" Squawkencluck asked.

"Hmmm, well, there is one person you might ask," K said, reaching behind his desk to grab a file. It was for Ian, the (ex) ultimate Danger fan. Even though he wasn't on the best of terms with the agency at the moment, things were getting better and some of the agents were able to carry on a conversation with him without him going crazy over Danger Mouse.