Chapter Text
Bugs opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was the ceiling of his home. Then he felt the cold ground. It didn’t take him long to notice Lola was not holding him anymore. He straightened up and looked around. He was in his hole, everything was just like how he had left it. Nothing looked different. And no one was around.
Bugs got on his feet, blinking. He didn’t remember falling asleep here. But why was he here? Why was he alone, again? Perhaps his plan had worked. “I am Tune, I can survive anything.” he had told LeBron, and he had hoped he was right when he had decided to sacrifice himself. Maybe that was why he was in his hole? His friends had brought him here after he had closed his eyes so he could rest, maybe? But if this was not the case, it could only mean...
Was it all a dream?
It couldn’t be. There was no way all of this was a dream. No, impossible. He had brought back his friends- family. They had won the game. They had beaten the Goon Squad and that AI guy. They were together again. They were together and everything was fine .
He… He couldn’t lose them again.
Bugs suddenly felt his right hand sting. He stopped pacing back and forth and looked at it, only to see it glitch.
Bugs froze on his spot, his eyes fixed on his hand. It was glitching. He was glitching. It was all real and the glitching was not over. But why? What did this even mean? Was he still getting deleted? Was he going to get deleted here, all alone? Was he about to disappear on his own in this hole? He started feeling sick with the thoughts and sat on his couch trying to calm down. This couldn't be happening, he was just overthinking. Yeah, he was not going to disappear... alone… on his own… “Definitely not going to get slowly deleted, nope, I just gotta get up and find my family and everything is going to be fine.” he told himself. However, the glitching had not stopped and was not helping to calm him down. Not to mention it had gotten worse during his thought process. “Stop glitching-”
“Do you think he’s really there?” Bugs’ ears rose as he heard the familiar voice from outside. Dot? “Shouldn’t we check the basketball court first?”
“Bugs’ hole is in our way. It is worth looking at it.” Yakko’s voice joined his sister’s.
The Warners. They’re looking for me, Bugs thought. Of course, they would. They were among the audience and had watched the whole game. They had seen him glitching, but had not seen the outcome. They probably were worried for him. After all, they were a part of his family too, even though they lived in another world. He was their mentor- mainly Yakko’s- for a long time as well.
Bugs felt his hand glitch again. Not now! He got up from the couch, he could hide for a bit until his hand stopped glitching. And he would’ve hidden from them, if his left leg hadn’t glitched too, causing him to fall with a loud thud .
“Did you hear that?” Wakko asked. Then Bugs heard them running.
Welp, they had heard him. Bugs frowned as he turned to lie on his back. This way he was able to see the three figures blocking the sunlight.
"Bugs?" Yakko called and without waiting for an answer he jumped down the hole. His siblings followed him, appearing behind him in milliseconds.
Bugs waved at them with his left hand, hiding his right hand behind his back. He smiled as if everything was okay and normal. The Warners didn’t seem to think so as they looked at him confused. Bugs couldn’t blame them, he was laying on the ground trying to calm down after all. And when he was about to tell them why he was like that-
"Dadoo!" The three kids at once yelled with joy and relief. He had to admit, he was not expecting the sudden hug. They jumped on him and wrapped their arms around him. He could hear their tails hitting the floor as they wagged happily. And Bugs couldn’t help but genuinely smile. He hugged them back, not caring about hiding his hand anymore. Right now all that mattered was this hug to him.
"You're okay!" Wakko exclaimed as he hugged him tighter.
"Don’t ever scare us like that! Do you hear me? Or else!" Dot scolded him, but Bugs knew she was more relieved than angry.
“Promise I won’t, but first I need to survive your tight hug!” Bugs fakely couched as if he was out of breath.
Yakko was unusually quiet until they broke the hug. Bugs knew his quietness usually meant something bothered his mind. It could be the relief of finding out he was fine on this occasion though. Or perhaps he had seen Bugs’ hand glitch. Bugs was sure the younger siblings had not noticed it yet, but Yakko on the other hand was more observant. It wouldn’t surprise him if Yakko found out about his tiny problem already.
"What happened? You looked pretty bad after the game." Yakko finally talked. "And to be honest, I can't say you look much better."
"Thanks for the compliment, Doc." Bugs replied sarcastically. Then he straightened himself up as the kids sat down on the floor. "It was the winning move. Took all the energy out of me, and I had to rest a bit."
Yakko seemed not to be convinced. Wakko and Dot seemed not to be either. "That’s all? A move that wore you out?" Yakko raised his eyebrow.
"Yeah." Bugs took out a carrot from his hammerspace and began eating it. "That’s all, kids."
Dot crossed her arms, "I don’t believe a word of it."
"Same here. Considering we saw you uhhhhh glitching, it’s kind of hard to believe." Yakko added.
And Wakko nodded.
They all were looking at him with eyes demanding answers. And Bugs knew if he didn’t give them the answers, they would get them the hard way.
Bugs sighed in defeat. "Alright kids, I kind of put myself in danger back there. But it’s fine now." Bugs explained as he tried to sound as convincing as possible. But the sudden glitching on his carrot-holding hand proved the exact opposite.
The siblings’ eyes grew bigger witnessing that.
"I don’t know, I think you still might have a problem." Yakko pointed at his hand.
Bugs grabbed his right hand with his left hand, hiding it from them. "Just a side effect. Nothing to worry about, Doc."
"Geez, I can see from whom you get your own problem hiding behavior." Dot said as she turned to Yakko.
Bugs could swear he heard Wakko mumble "Like father like son."
"Ha-ha, very funny." Yakko deadpanned, then turned his attention from his sibs back to Bugs. "And I think you need an actual doc, Doc."
Bugs stared at Yakko, he could get so stubborn and Bugs didn’t have the energy to deal with that. Yet, he was glad to see the kids cared for him. The hare once again couldn’t understand why some people hated them. He sighed once more, trying to relax a bit. "Look kids, I will be honest with you, I... I don’t know what exactly is going on. I am not sure why I woke up here and why I am here. And I’m still having this -" he raised his hand which was still glitching, "-tiny problem, which I'm not sure if it means a good thing or not." He turned his eyes to the ground and added with a whisper: "And... and I’m a little scared how things will turn out."
He closed his eyes, Bugs didn’t want to see the kids sad or worried. He hated seeing them upset and he knew the fact this would hurt them. But if things were going to be bad, he had to prepare them. They deserved to know the truth.
Bugs got distracted from his thoughts when he felt a hand on his hands. He opened his eyes to see Dot smiling gently at him. "You seem to need some help with your ‘tiny problem’."
"And look at that, we’re right here for assistance." Yakko put his arm on Bugs’ shoulder as he smirked. "And we work for free on the first trial!"
"We got hugs and talks!" Wakko jumped on Bugs’ legs. He grabbed a carrot pie from his hammerspace, “And your favorite food too!”
"All the best quality." Dot added with a wink, while Wakko ate the pie in one bite.
"You see, no matter how this ends up, we’ll help you with this." Yakko was now genuinely smiling. "That’s what family’s for. But next time you’ll have to pay."
Bugs looked at the kids, there was a smile on his face. And he was feeling much better now. "You three are truly talented when it comes to making people feel better." He complimented them. "Almost as good as me."
"You know we’re better than you." Yakko smirked.
"Keep believing in that kiddo." Bugs ruffled his hair, much to Yakko’s protest.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" Dot asked.
Bugs already had an idea. "Have you seen the rest of the Tunes?"
Yakko shook his head, "Not yet. We were planning to find them after checking your home."
"It sounds like a plan." Bugs said. He held Wakko and stood up. The kid hugged his waist as he sat on the hare’s arms.
"Then it’s settled." Yakko began walking towards the exit.
"Wait, guys look! Bugs, your hand is not glitching anymore!" Dot pointed out, her face lightened up with her observation.
She was right. Since he had told them what was actually going on, his hand had stopped glitching.
"Faboo! Dadoo’s hand is back to normal!" Wakko threw his fists into the air. "I knew you’d be alright."
"Maybe it really is a side effect." Yakko thought out loud.
"Maybe." Bugs smiled. Perhaps everything will be alright. "Come on kids, time to see the rest of the group. I am sure they are missing me terribly.”
Dot snickered, "Daffy’s probably trying to take your place already."
"I am sure he is." Bugs nodded.
"Let’s surprise him then.” Yakko said.
“He’ll be shocked!” Wakko grinned.
"Unless he is the one who brought me here." Bugs pointed out.
"Shh! You're ruining the fun!" Dot hushed him.
Yeah, everything will be alright.