Chapter Text
The last thing you remember before the light vanished was a face. His face... was it it a he? was etched with fear, and panic, and concern. You reached up a hand, trying to smile, trying to soothe him even as his mouth moved. He was trying to talk to you, but the blood rushing in your ears was deafening.
Whatever words he said went unheard, and it made him all the more distressed when your hand fell away from his stubbled chin. He shook you in his arms - when did he pick you up to carry you? - and your eyes drifted shut. You were so tired, just a few moments more of sleep, please...
"Don't close your eyes!"
You force them open again, smiling weakly. "Sorry..." You murmur, trying to raise your hand but too tired to do so. "Just too sleepy."
"I know! I know, but you have to keep your eyes open. Come on! Hey, lemme see those gorgeous eyes," he shook you again, your head falling back. Everything was greying out, darkness eating at the edges of your vision and rapidly shrinking your world into a small circle of awareness.
"Hey, don't do this! Hey!"
You lost your battle with sleep, and the world rolled you under into the welcoming darkness.
======
"There was significant head trauma."
Head... trauma? What head trauma?
"We were able to stabilize her but until she regains consciousness, there's no telling what damage was done."
You had been sleeping just a few moments before, a dream of feathers and red-amber eyes, safe and comfortable and warm... now it was cold. The air didn't smell right, sterilized and the soft whirr and click of an air filter working in a corner somewhere. Everything was sore, your head aching as you started sitting up.
"Don't--" You felt someone put a hand on your shoulder, trying to gently if firmly push you back to the bed.
Your eyes open, and you realize with a jolt you're not in your room. You don't even know where you are; surrounded by four dour-looking men and a fifth in a labcoat. A doctor? Was this.. a hospital? The fourth man, tattoo'd, muscled and the closest one to you, was the one trying to push you back.
"Don't touch me!" You hiss at him, jerking away from his hand and feeling a stabbing pain in your head. Your reached up, holding your head in your hands as that insistant grip was back on your arms trying to pull your hands away from your face.
"What's wrong--"
"Let me go!" You lashed your hand out, yanking away from him and nearly falling out of the bed. If the doctor hadn't come to your side, you probably would have. He steadied you, speaking quietly as he held a pen up before your eyes.
"I need you to follow this with your eyes. Watch me." You turned to the doctor, watching as the tattoo'd man hesitantly pulled his hand back and stared at the side of your face. He had a look of consternation, eyes narrowed as if he didn't understand why you reacted as you did.
"Good." The doctor said as your eyes tracked the pen. "Do you know what day it is?"
You looked away, brows drawn together. What day was it, anyway? After a moment, your expression changed, replaced by fear as you looked up at the doctor. "I don't... I don't know."
"Do you know where you are?"
"A... a hospital, I think?"
"Yes, that's right. But where is this hospital?" The doctor's words were gentle, even as his face fell. He was doing his best not to scare you, but now that the little worm of doubt was there, all you could feel was a cold wave of dread.
"I don't know," you finally answered. You couldn't look at the doctor anymore, or the men gathered around your bed.
"What seems to be wrong with her, doctor?" The bespectacled blonde asked, coming to stand beside your physician. "Is it, temporary?"
The doctor ignored him a moment more, focused completely on you as his face was set with a grim expression. "One more question. Do you feel up to it?" He had a hand on your shoulder, drawing your attention to him even as you began to panic.
"Yes?" You could feel your heart pounding, your mind racing to pull up memories that just... weren't there. It was blank. You knew places, you knew things, but whenever you tried to remember details about yourself...
It was just a void, leaving you empty.
"Do you remember your name?"
And there it was, like a lightning strike of pain. Nothing was there, no name, no memories. Just a blank slate. You stared up at the doctor, tears welling up at the corner of your eyes as panic set in. "No. No, I don't."
"What is this?" The tattoo'd man who had been sitting silently beside you before, watching and scowling was suddenly standing. The chair had been knocked back when he stood so abruptly, leaning over the bed with his knuckles pressed into the mattress. "You said she was stable!"
"And she is stable," the doctor replied, picking up your chart and making several notations. "But I also said, there was significant head trauma. She suffered a brain injury, and there is no telling the extent of the damage until the patient wakes." He looked down at you again, and suddenly the pain in your head was too severe to bear.
"You were supposed to fix her!" Tattoos was suddenly striding around the bed, coming towards the doctor as the shorter, more athletic black-haired man and the smaller blonde did their best to hold him back.
"This isn't the time big guy! Its not his fault!"
"Gladio! C'mon, don't do this in front of her!" The blonde pleaded, trying to maneuver him to the door. "Not right now, buddy! She needs you!"
The pounding in your head got worse, glasses and spiky hair managing to get the big tattoo'd guy out the door even as he was shouting at the doctor. The doctor himself was bent over you, shining a light into your eyes and making a few more notes. "I'll send a nurse in to give you something to help you relax. You should rest."
The doctor spoke to the blonde once more before he left, but between the pounding in your head and the fact he was actively keeping his voice low, you missed whatever was said.
For a few blissful seconds you thought you were finally alone, finally able to try and process what was happening, and you let yourself crack. You drew your knees up, hugging them to your chest and burying your face in your arms as the first shaking sob wracked your body.
You didn't know how long you'd been crying when you felt a hand on your shoulder. The unexpected touch made you jump, and you yanked your head up to see who in the hell couldn't give you one moment of peace.
"Hey," Tattoos said, trying to smile... but you could see the hurt in his eyes. The way you'd flinched when he'd touched you, jerking away from his touch. "You... you doin' okay?"
"No," you snarled back, pulling away from him to the other edge of the bed. He was sitting there, right beside you, like you knew him. But... maybe you did you know him, though? Or maybe he was the one that did this to you.
The raw hurt on his face was almost as painful as the pounding in your head, and for a moment you thought you saw something pass behind his eyes. There was a twinge, a moment of regret passed over you as you found the tension suddenly drained from your shoulders.
For a moment it looked like he wanted to reach out and touch you, his hand half up as if to move the hair from your eyes... but he thought better of it, and dropped his hand to the bed. "Sorry... dumb question huh?" He forced a laugh, a deep rolling chuckle that seemed to vibrate in his chest. He sat back in the chair, watching you quietly as you slowly relaxed by inches.
"Who are you?" You finally murmur, letting your legs slide forward. You were hunched over your knees, eyes on him and watching his every move almost suspiciously... a fact he seemed to be aware of as he moved slowly to keep from spooking you. After the first few misfires, he stopped reaching for you, and instead reclined in the chair.
"Gladiolus Amacitia." He says in that low, growling voice of his. You didn't recognize the look on his face, a strange mix of disappointment and sadness, but he continued before you could give it more thought. "We're friends. Good friends."
"Friends?" You ask, leaning forward. Your face is drawn together, trying to will your lost memories back as your eyes trace his face. They linger on his scars, then his eyes. Red amber.
"Yeah. Good friends." He emphasized again, eyes locked onto yours.
"So you know who I was?" Your voice broke without you meaning for it to happen, moving closer to him. He had the answers, you knew he had to, and all he had to do was tell you.
"Who you are," he corrected, reaching for your face again when he saw you coming closer. You immediately drew back, avoiding his touch and watching as his hand dropped back to the mattress. "Sorry." He apologized again, finally dropping his hands to his lap. "I spoke to the doctor." He finally said after a moment, filling the silence.
"Spoke, or shouted?" You answered, drawing back in on yourself. The tension in the room was suddenly uncomfortable... and you just wanted to sleep.
"That's fair." He murmured back, blowing out a long sigh as he just watched you from his seat beside the bed. "... You look tired."
"I am."
"Want me to get the nurse?"
"I want..." You started to say you wanted to be alone, but for some reason the words caught in your throat as you watched him eyeing you from the otherside of the bed. "... I want to sleep." You finally finished, sliding lower into the bed until you were laying down. You rolled over on your side, bunching the thin blankets around you almost like a shield. It was cold in the room, and you just wanted to hide.
You waited to hear him leave, to hear his boots scraping on the floor... but as long as you forced your eyes open, there was nothing but his breathing from the other side of the room.