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His vision was starting to blur, from tears or fear, he couldn't recall. His gloved paws banging, punching, scratching against the glass of the machine he was trapped in. A mad doctor's laughter echoing all around him, taunting him, torturing him. But, what his focus was on wasn't that, but the back of a jackal's masked head as he walked away.
"Zero! Zero, don't leave me like this! Gaia, Please! Help me!"
He cried his name, begging and wailing to help him. But, the jackal said nothing, not even looking back as the machine began to glow. The hum of its activation making his heart drop and fear skyrocket.
"Zero! Zero! Zer-AAAAHHH!" His screams for help immensely turned into shrieks of agonizing pain, his organs and skeleton vibrating and changing against his will when-
"HIDORI!"
****
He woke yell, clutching his chest while breathing heavily. Tears spilled from his black and blue eyes, mixing with the blue lines on his cheeks.
"Where!? What!? Lanolin!"
"I'm here, we're here. It's okay, you're okay..." His girlfriend of several months hugged him, pulling him against her chest as he tried to calm down. Lanolin gently petted his head as a green tenrec sat up behind her, yawning out loud before sleepily looking over to her girlfriend comforting their teammate and friend.
"Dori? What happen?"
"Nightmare."
That must have been all Surge needed to hear, because she bolted out of bed and came back a moment or so later with a glass of water. Hidori tried to reach for it, keyword being try, but his hands wouldn't stop shaking. He choked back a sob, Lanolin grasping the glass for him and helping him drink.
Surge climbed back into bed, grasping the roboticized feline's hand to help calm him down. She sighed before speaking up.
"Was it...him again?"
He gave a small nod, best he could while his head was cradled in Lanolin's arm. This wasn't the first time he had a nightmare about his ex, nor about his internal roboticization. But, for both? It was rare, and painful.
"Why can't I let it go? He's dead. My body is mine to control, not Robotnik's. And I've moved on...But, that day...it still haunts me..."
Surge gave a frustrated groan, she was no therapist and wasn't one for emotional crap unless it involved Lanolin and her brother Kit. But, she felt a sort of kinship with Hidori. They were both turned into cyborgs against their will, both had a shared dislike of Sonic, both wieid electricity in some way. And most of all, while they weren't in love with each other-
'Thank Gaia for that.' She thought to herself.
-they both were very much in love with Lanolin. The sheep was often a rock to keep them both grounded when their minds fuck with them at the worse times.
"It's..It's fine. I should get back to sleep, I have work in the morning." He attempted to pull away, turn over and will himself back to sleep. But, he forgot that Lanolin, while soft, was very strong. She keep him against her, hugging him close without a word.
"Lanny, I'm fine now. You can let me go..." She didn't budge, just silently petting him.
"Lanolin, seriously. Surge, please ask our girlfriend to release me?"
"Hm...Nope!"
'Traitor!' He thought to himself, trying to pull away again, but that just led to her holding him tighter before she fell back in their bed and finally spoke up. "I'll let go, when you let it all out. That's the rule."
Of course. How could he forget that rule? He made that rule! 'If anyone is dealing with problems, they need to speak up and let it all out.'
He tried to hold back to tears, but they threatened to spill again. He looked over to Surge, the tenrec looking back at him with a tired yet empathetic gaze as she snuggled up behind Lanolin, still holding his hand.
"Go on, we're not going anywhere."
Well, that broke the dam. He shut his eyes, burying himself in Lanolin's chest as he let the tears flow, sobbing into her embrace as she comforted him until he fell back asleep half an hour later. The tears stopped, sobbing turned to quiet purring. Surge fell back asleep soon after, her chin on Lanolin's shoulder and her hand still grasping Hidori's.
Lanolin was the last to drift back to dreamland, happy her boyfriend felt safe again, happy her girlfriend helped, happy Kit and Elias wasn't awakened by the noise...Though, not happy that they're probably going to be late for their respective jobs in the morning.
Oh well, worth it.