#((uh... yeah.))

It’s a dream; or, rather, a nightmare. There is the weight of the cape on his shoulders, his skin feeling damp under his fitting jersey, his hair whipping around his head and into his face as he looks up at this- this beast. This abomination. Something mortal eyes were never meant to see. Something that was never meant to rise again.

Something that will haunt Leon forever.

It stares at Leon, glowing bright, venom oozing from its maw. The sky above is a swirl of black and red clouds. The air shifts from hot to cold, over and over and over. There is yelling, screaming coming from the Hammerlocke streets. Just like that day. It all feels just like that day.

“Lee!” Hop? No, why is Hop here, he shouldn’t be here, he’ll get hurt—

“Stay back—!” Leon shouts, and he grabs the empty Ball and gives it his strongest throw, putting all his weight in it. The beast, Eternatus, disappears inside of it in a beam of white light. The moment the Ball hits the ground, it explodes open again.

This time, Charizard isn’t fast enough to shield Hop or his friend.

This time, that acid spray hits all of them.

This time, Hop is hurt; this time, when Leon lies there barely-conscious from the agony, he sees Hop’s limp, battered form lying a few feet away. Weakly, his hand slides across the ground and he tries to call his little brother’s name. It just comes out as a weak croak. Tears are spilling over. He’s dead. He’s dead he’s dead he’s dead it’s all his fault—

Leon wakes up. His shirt is soaked through with sweat, his pillowcase and sheets damp. He feels feverish, hot and cold, a little dizzy. The pain in his injury is unbearable, causing him to gasp and curl in on himself, teeth digging into his bottom lip so hard it nearly draws blood. It hurts. So unlike any pain he’s ever felt before. He just barely manages to drag himself out of bed to stumble into the bathroom so he can empty the contents of his stomach into the toilet. He rinses his mouth out (it feels so dry), swallows a few of the pills the doctor prescribed, then weakly drags himself back into bed and curls back up.

There are still tears soaking his cheeks. The image of his baby brother, broken and bloody, still lingers in his mind. It was just a dream. Just a dream. Just a dream.

Leon mumbles for Rotom to wake up. The phone lights up, and floats over from where it was charging before. It doesn’t say anything. Leon just mumbles, “Call Hop.” He swallows. “Video, please.”

“You sure?”

“Please.”

“Roger, zzt!”

Even when the call starts, Leon doesn’t move from where he’s curled up, and in the dark it’s still hard to see his face barely illuminated by the phone screen. What time is it? He blearily looks at the corner of his screen, barely making out the time there. Nearly three in the morning. Ugh, Hop doesn’t like being woken up, he gets all grouchy. They’re alike in that way. If he sees it’s Leon, though, maybe he won’t be as upset.

It takes a few rings before the sleepy face of his brother fills the screen. There is the glow of a single lamp at Hop’s bedside. The boy rubs his eyes. “Lee, ‘s so late, why—” He trails off the moment he sees Leon’s face, pale and covered in tears. “Lee? Are you okay?”

Leon inhales. “Never been better,” he manages to joke, but his heart isn’t really in it. Hop doesn’t look impressed. “Sorry, little brother, I just—”

A shaky hand pushes his sweaty hair out of his face. “Needed. To make sure you were okay.”

“’Course I’m okay. I’m at home. Lee, do you...” Hop squints, his lips pulled into a tight frown. “D’you need anything? You don’t look good. Do you need an ambula—”

“No. No. It’s nothing I can’t handle. Just wanted to know you were safe.”

He doesn’t want to tell Hop he had a nightmare about him dying. Hop doesn’t need to hear that.

“Don’t worry so much,” Hop finally says after a moment of silence. “If you need help though, you can always ask. You don’t have to carry all that weight alone. Okay?”

Leon doesn’t respond, but his eyes flicker away. Hop has gotten so big, grown so smart. Leon is so, so proud of him, even if he can’t really find the proper words to express that. He’s right, Leon doesn’t have to do this all on his own, doesn’t have to deal with this all on his own. It’s okay to ask for help, but he spent so long doing everything himself. So long...

“All right,” he finally says. “Sorry for waking you. Get your rest.”

Hop yawns. “Yeah, yeah. Hey, come visit again soon. Nani keeps asking about you.”

That earns a weak laugh from Leon. “I’ll do my best. ‘Night, Hop.” I love you, little brother.

The boy hums and smiles sleepily. “G’night, Lee.”

The call ends. Leon stares at the now-dark screen. The image of his little brother’s body returns with a vengeance. The tears begin to spill over again, and he curls back in on himself as the sobs are ripped painfully from his throat.

If this is going to be common, he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to deal with it.

It might get to be too much for him and his mind to handle.

He might—