Teamwork is a skill we lack. (II SUPERHERO AU FIC)

62

'How are they?' He sat and waited a response, tapping his finger to the side of his phone anxiously.

'They fell out of bed, but they're still stable. Did you sleep at all?' She texted back after a few moments.

Fan hesitated in responding, letting the relief wash over him for a moment, but also just... Not knowing how to respond.

'Not really. Didn't sleep well.'

'Are you okay? Your typing is more formal than usual'

Shit. Fan sighed. Nothing would get past her, huh. He supposed he should be happy for that, but he really didn't want to burden her with his silly bad dreams.

'Fine, promise' ... He added a thumbs up just to make sure.

A delayed response from Testtube;

'I'm downstairs if you need to talk about anything, which we probably should, something did happen with them.'

Fan huffed, taking a moment to calm his brain down a bit, his thoughts still racing.

'Okay. Will come down in a bit, just need a moment' Fan hit send before thinking, immediately realizing that definitely made it seem like he wasn't doing well. He let his phone fall onto the bed he sat on, and groaned, flopping back to compose his thoughts before going down to see her. He was still so tired, but there was no use in trying to sleep again. Not at the risk of another nightmare.

So he made his way downstairs to the all familiar medical room, where Testtube sat at the counter, writing something in her work journal. He cleared his throat as he stepped through the already open doorway, feeling a bit bad as Testtube jolted at the noise, turning around to face him.

"Oh hey,"

Fan could tell she was looking him up and down for any read on his emotions, which he felt like he was good enough at hiding, but with how tired he was, it was easy to tell he felt miserable.

But she didn't say anything about that, not yet at least, rather opening the conversation on something else;

"They called out for Lightbulb. Um... When I put them back in bed they woke up briefly and they um... Wanted her." Testtube sighed, leaning back on the counter behind her, as the seat she sat in did not have a back rest.

"That's... not great." Fan frowned, moving over to lean on the counter next to her as he kept his expression as calm as he could.

"If they figure out she might not be coming back I just... Don't know if they'll keep trying to make it out of this." Testtube spoke cautiously, her eyes glued onto Paintbrush as they lay in the bed almost completely motionless, their only movement being the rise and fall of the covers draped over them as they breathed.

"But we can't just force her to come back... Especially when she's... Not in the right spot mentally. This is all just so... Difficult. For no good reason." Testtube let out an annoyed sigh, turning back to her journal.

"So what can we do about it?"

"I... just... Don't hate me... For suggesting this, but..." Testtube's gaze moved back up, as she looked over to the recovery center.

"If things become dire... We need a way to assure we won't... Lose them permanently."

"That would put Lightbulb at risk." Fan put it together in his head rather quickly.

"It would, but--"

"We can't, Testtube."

"Listen, it wouldn't be a forever thing, just until they've recovered--"