The PJ Masks, Greg, Connor, Amaya, Catboy, Gekko, Owlette, Luna Girl, Night Ninja, Romeo, etc are all © Romuald and Disney Junior. The only part of this work that I claim ownership of is the story itself. Again, none of these characters are mine.

Before we start this story... I just want to say my goal with this story is to capture more of Connor, Amaya, and Greg's day-to-day life. This first chapter is more dramatic than most of the rest. If you read the first chapter and have trouble sticking with the story, give the second chapter a chance. Thanks for reading, I sincerely hope you enjoy the story. Please, feel free to leave a review.

It's worth noting that I typically like to denote short breaks in the story with a series of 3 asterisks. This site doesn't seem to like that, so I'm having to resort to using horizontal lines. After the first horizontal line in this chapter, all the rest denote short breaks in the story.

It was springtime and a beautiful day out, but that wasn't stopping eight-year-old Greg from pouting as he walked determinedly in the mid-afternoon sun. With his backpack on his back, he approached a tall tower resembling a totem pole; the top was pink, the middle was blue, and the bottom was green. It was the PJ Masks' HQ! Over the years, the three heroes have started spending more time at HQ during the day.

Greg walked up to a door on the side of the tower and slapped his hand down on a palm-pad next to the door. A second later, there was a beep, and the door opened. "Welcome," a computer voice said. Greg walked inside, and then up a flight of stairs, coming out to the central room of HQ: Catboy's HQ room. It was the biggest of the three. There was a treehouse with a shelf filled with books that all three of the heroes picked out, as well as three spots with a pillow and sleeping bag for each of the PJ masks, in case any of them decide to take a nap at HQ. There was a small area to the side of the room where there was a couch, game console, and television. Sometimes after school, Greg, Amaya, and Connor will come to HQ and hang out. Sometimes, it was just two of them or even only one of them, if somebody wanted alone time or to study.

Today, Greg needed some alone time. His face showed signs of fatigue and confusion, and, to some degree, helplessness. A blue light flashed and the holographic picture player popped up. He quickly hit a few buttons, and a green light leading to the green elevator tube illuminated. He trudged over to it, his eyes welling up with tears as he walked, and stepped inside. He was whisked down to a lower floor, coming out in his own HQ room.

Compared to Catboy's room, Gekko's HQ room looked quite Spartan. Nevertheless, to Greg, it was a friendly place. A pond connects to the river surrounding HQ here; there were a few lily pads and several reeds growing in the water. Flowing water trickled gently through the pond with a quiet sound. The Gekko-mobile sat partially submerged in the water, in its usual resting place. There was a monitor on the wall next to the elevators; it was currently showing a video feed of the city's skyline.

Greg tossed his backpack down to the ground and screamed angrily as he walked over to the edge of the pond. "Why am I so BAD at this?" The noises echoed intensely in the cavernous room. "I'm not even that bad at it! It just drains me so much! GAH!" Finally, tears began to flow from his eyes. He sobbed heavily and stomped over toward the Gekko-mobile.

He turned toward a recessed spot in the wall on the area of land next to the Gekko-mobile's resting spot in the water. There was a log there, with vines and ferns growing on and out of it. It was the perfect spot to sit and listen to the water move; it was one of his favorite places in the entire world.

With tears still streaming from his eyes, Greg pulled off his green sweatshirt, leaving only his white tank top that he usually wears under it. He plopped down on the log, which was flat on top and comfortable to sit on. He curled up in a ball and sobbed for several minutes. He didn't care if Connor or Amaya found him. He has never been a decent good public speaker, and their teacher had decided to spend the whole week letting the children read passages aloud. They're supposed to give speeches tomorrow! Greg has been steadily becoming more and more of a nervous wreck all week.

"I can't handle another day of this," Greg mumbled as his sobs calm down. It was only Thursday… He still had to give a speech tomorrow. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he sat up briefly, picking up his sweatshirt. He folded it up and laid his head down on it tiredly. Despondent, he crossed his arms and slowly fell asleep.

About 30 minutes later, Connor and Amaya entered HQ the same way Greg did. As they came into Connor's HQ room, Connor laughed. "Yeah, but Cameron's part of the story today was funny, and you know it! He just had to read the part about the goofy brown-haired kid."

Amaya nodded. "Well, you never know. When he said some 'goofy brown haired kid,' He could have been talking about you!" They both laughed as the holographic picture player came up.

After examining the room, Connor saw that the green elevator's door was closed; that means that it was either on the floor above or below them. "Greg must already be here. Makes sense, knowing the week he's had. I'm gonna go see if he wants to play the video game, wanna come?"

Amaya shook her head. "Nah, I'm gonna go ahead and start on the homework. You go on."

Connor nodded and tapped a few buttons on the picture player, causing a light leading to the blue elevator to light up. Connor left his backpack sitting there and walked over to the elevator. He stepped inside, and a moment later stepped out into Gekko's HQ room. The first thing he saw was Greg's backpack sitting upside down against the nearby wall. "Uh oh…" Connor mumbled. He walked towards the recess in the wall and found Greg, laid across the big flat-topped log, using his sweatshirt as a pillow. Connor looked closely and determined the other boy was asleep. He gazed at his friend thoughtfully. Then, he stepped back toward his elevator tube. "I've gotta show this to Amaya…" He ran back.

Amaya had climbed into the treehouse and had just gotten her book out of her backpack. She was going to lay down and study on her sleeping bag, but just as she laid down, she heard one of the elevator tubes activate, and then footsteps echoed through the room.

"Amaya! Amaya!" Connor yelled urgently.

Concerned, Amaya stood up and went to the edge of the treehouse's railing. "What's wrong, Connor?" She shouted back.

Connor spotted Amaya and climbed up to the treehouse. As he climbed, he explained, "It's Greg! He's sleeping in his quiet spot…" He finished climbing and looked at his friend, concerned.

Amaya eyed Connor curiously. "So? We've seen him nap there a few times. Besides, he's had a stressful week, he probably just wanted to go down there and calm down." She walked over to Connor, who appeared somewhat disturbed.

Connor sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I know he's had a rough week with all this public speaking the teacher has been having us do…" He looked at Amaya. "Besides, it's kinda cold in his HQ room today… And he's using his sweatshirt as a pillow. He could catch a cold! We should wake him up."

Amaya patted Connor on the shoulder. "Slow down, Connor; we should let him sleep. I know, I'm worried about him too, but, if we bug him about it now, it'll just make him feel worse."

Connor sighed. "I guess you're right. You're pretty good at stuff like this." He scratched his head. "Well, we should at least cover him up, so he doesn't get cold…"

Amaya nodded. "That's a good idea. Let's grab one of the blankets from under his sleeping bag and go cover him up."

Connor nodded too and did as Amaya said, taking the lime-green blanket that was beneath Greg's sleeping bag. They began making their way to the elevator tubes…

Amaya and Connor stepped out of the elevators and looked at each other. Amaya led the way, and eventually, they got to Greg's resting place. Amaya motioned at Connor, who took the green blanket and placed it over Greg. Connor looked at Amaya uncertainly.

Amaya walked over to Greg and looked at his face for a moment. Greg's face showed signs that he recently cried; the area around his eyes was puffy and red, and he had an unsettled look on his face. Amaya touched Greg's hair gently, and then she backed away slowly. She motioned for Connor to follow, and they moved to the far side of the room. Amaya spoke softly. "He looks like he cried before he went to sleep… Maybe he came down here and let out all that frustration."

Connor nodded solemnly. "Yeah, hopefully. I wish we could help him out…" Connor gazed back at Greg, a caring look on his face.

Amaya nodded. "Me too, but it's best we give him space. If he wants to talk about it, he'll give us a clue." Pause, and Amaya looked at Greg, too. "Honestly, he'll probably talk to you about it before he tells me about it, which is okay. Just watch out for any weird behavior from him, because he probably won't want to talk about it directly."

Connor sighed sadly; he knew better than to question Amaya on these matters. She was usually right. "Yeah, I will."

Amaya noticed Connor's sad look. "Hey, he'll be okay. Just give it time." She hugged Connor lightly.

Connor hugged back, and they broke the hug after a few seconds. Connor took a breath and quietly walked back over to Greg. Amaya watched as Connor put his hand out and touched Greg's face softly. After a moment of examining Greg's face, Connor withdrew, and then he walked back over to the elevator. Amaya followed, patting him on the shoulder. "You're a good friend, Connor," she whispered.

Connor smiled. "You are too, Amaya. You always know what to do with this kind of stuff."

As they parted ways to go back to their elevator tubes, Amaya smiled. "It's a girl thing, buddy." Pause. "But really, this time next week he'll be a cool chameleon again. We have to let him deal with it in his own way."

Connor nodded and snickered quietly at Amaya's usage of 'cool chameleon' as they stepped onto their elevators, leaving Greg to finish his nap peacefully.