*Avoids glares* I know. I know. I'm more or less halfway done with it, I swear. In the meantime, I offer you this. As the summary says, it takes place immediately after Mickey's House of Villains. I'm not particularly happy with how this turned out, but I wanted to establish the idea, and this was the only thing I could think of.

Disclaimer: I don't own Disney, and considering some of the things I write, that's probably a good thing.

Mickey Mouse had no children to call his own, but he was as much a parent as those who did.

He stared at the door with a weary sigh. He didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to do this, but Donald had long since given up and Goofy… well, he didn't trust Goofy not to be tricked somehow, trusting and naïve as the dog was. Besides, Mickey was certain that he was the one the villains were angry with, and he couldn't chance anything else happening.

In the lobby, he could see (and hear) Donald yelling at Maleficent and Grimhilde, but neither villainess appeared to be paying attention at all. Fierce gold eyes met soft brown, and Maleficent's narrowed in silent accusation. Mickey tried his hardest not to look intimidated. Summoning his courage, the toon mouse pushed the door open and went inside, the iconic blue sorcerer hat still tucked under one arm.

Hey, you can never be too careful, right?

When Mickey entered the little room, Jafar, Hook, Cruella, and Ursula ceased their whispering and turned to look at him, eyes narrowed. Cruella raised a haughty brow and took a long drag on her cigarette, sending green smoke wafting around the room.

"Are you here to yell too?" she asked bitterly. "It's all the duck did."

"Well, hopefully it won't come to that," Mickey remarked patiently. "But given the circumstances, I think Donald was justified in flying off the handle a bit."

"Then what's his excuse for every other day?" Ursula quipped, prompting a tirade of snickers from the villains.

Mickey frowned. "Don't cheese me off, guys," he warned, pulling up a chair and surveying the glaring villains with an odd calmness. "This is serious. You broke House of Mouse rule number two, and what's more you could have violated the Accord with one wrong move. So do you want to tell me whose idea this was?"

The villains' eyes flickered to one another nervously. After a few moments, Jafar stood up, drawing himself up to his full height and elevating him far beyond Mickey's. Several of the others looked as though they were going to object, but he silenced them with a subtle shake of his head. Mickey understood; he didn't want to drag anyone else down with him.

And who says there's no honor among thieves?

"Okay, now we're getting somewhere." The mouse faced Jafar and gave the sorcerer hat a squeeze. "Care to explain why this happened?"

Jafar said nothing. Mickey looked to the other villains for a hint, but they crossed their arms and pursed their lips in defiance. The toon mouse sighed.

"Aw, gosh, guys. I know you're mad at me, but ya gotta tell me why or I can't do anything."

"It's not you, Mickey," Ursula said suddenly.

Mickey blinked in surprise. "It's not?"

"Well, not you specifically, darling," Cruella added, raising the cigarette to her lips again.

"It's the whole system," Hook remarked with a frown. The words only served to boggle Mickey further.

"Could one of you just tell me what the heck's going on?" he pleaded.

"Very well."

Mickey jumped – he'd almost forgotten about Jafar, quiet as he was.

"The rebirth process… it's hard on us, Mickey. We're essentially forced to start our lives anew here in Toontown. You have the Accord in place, which makes it impossible for us to seek the revenge we desire. Halloween is our night – there are enough shows in the human world attesting to that. Our only purpose is to cause mayhem, and that's what tonight was about. Even that is frowned upon. I ask you, Mickey, if we can't do what we were meant to, what good are we?"

Blah, blah, blah! Every year it's the same thing – all talk and no play! What a bunch of dull villains!

"Gosh," was all Mickey could say in the face of such words. "Do you all feel this way?"

One by one, the other villains nodded, heads lowered slightly as though shamed. Mickey stood up and placed the sorcerer hat on the chair before stepping closer to them.

"Why didn't you ever say anything? I could've helped if you told me you were feeling unappreciated."

Jafar rolled his eyes. "We're villains, Mickey. We do have some standards."

"Now what would be the point of having you be reborn if causing trouble was all you were good for?"

"To serve as foes for your so-called family," Jafar replied automatically, allowing bitterness to creep into his voice.

"No." Mickey's voice was firm. "It was so you could get a second chance. And you squander it on takeover schemes."

Silence, silence, and just for a change of pace, more silence.

"You'll have us banned from the House of Mouse, I suppose?"

"That's what most of the heroes want," Mickey replied. The villains looked at each other, resigned, when the toon mouse suddenly smiled. "But that's not what I'm going to do. You will be punished, but we'll work that out tomorrow. It's been a long night for everyone."

Mickey plucked the sorcerer's hat from the chair and started towards the door, pausing when he realized the others weren't following him. He turned around and was met with expressions ranging from confusion to some vague glimmer of understanding – or perhaps it was hope. A question hung in the eyes of the perplexed, and Mickey didn't hesitate to answer it. Even if some of them already knew, they needed to hear it out loud.

"You're family too."