I pushed myself upright, fist wrapping around the knife I kept under the pillow as I looked toward the door. Scott snorted, rolling over before resuming to snore lightly. My eyes adjusted to the dark, settling on Tat's silhouette. I let go of the knife, relaxing a bit.

"What's up, kiddo?" I heard him sniffle and the sound of his stuffed animal shifting. "C'mere." He walked around the bed to climb on the bed in front of me. I pulled him into my lap, stroking his hair as he sniffled.

"Papi?" His voice cracked as he shifted to look up at me.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hurt someone?" My heart skipped a beat when he asked that, having a feeling I knew what was going on.

"No, kiddo. Where'd you hear that?" He shrugged, holding his plush tight.

"I had a bad dream where you did."

"No, Tat. It was your Dad's ex. He got arrested for it and everything." That lie had become too easy to believe. Too easy to tell. He sniffled again, and I pulled him to my chest, combing my fingers through his hair. "C'mon. Let's go downstairs so we don't wake Dad, yeah?" He nodded into my chest, and I set him in front of me as I got up. I picked him up, settling him onto my hip before walking to the kitchen. I set him on a stool at the counter before grabbing a couple cups and pouring some milk for the two of us.

"Drink up. We'll watch some tv before you go back to bed, alright?" He nodded, sipping his milk.

"Papi?" I hummed, looking at him. "Can I sleep with you and Dad?"

"Sure, kiddo."
---
I rolled over, cracking my eyes open, blinking as the sun came through the blinds. Scott smiled softly when he realized I was awake before gesturing at Tate.

"Nightmare," I murmured. He nodded in understanding before sitting up, groaning as his back popped. "Getting old, babe?" He rolled his eyes, shoving me off the bed.

"You're older than I am," he retorted when I sat up. I chuckled.

"You're right." I crawled back onto the bed, leaning across the bed to kiss him.

"Morning," he mumbled when he sat back.

"Morning," I hummed back. He got up, pulling out his uniform. I groaned.

"You got work today?" He looked at me.

"So do you." I paused.

"Wait, I do?" He nodded.

"God, hon. Thought you knew that." I got up, pressing a kiss to his cheek as I grabbed my uniform.

"I dunno. It's Saturday, so usually one of us is off." He shrugged.

"Scheduling didn't work out. I needed to put both of us on the schedule." He paused. "We've gotta get Tat up. Can't leave him home alone." I nodded, gently shaking Tat awake. He whined, blinking awake.

"C'mon, kiddo. You've gotta go to work with us." He bounced out of bed, beelining for his room. I chuckled, pulling my shirt on and working at the buttons.
---
Scott wasn't kidding when he said we both needed to be on duty. Fritz and Mike were both out sick, Jeremy was on night shift, and Dan was in the back, fixing BonBon up. We split up the building, making rounds to keep an eye on both parties, along with stragglers. With Tat with us, we tried to make sure he was alright.

So, when a scream rang through the pizzeria, my blood ran cold. I bolted for Kids Cove, scared of what I'd find.

Worse case scenarios ran through my mind, but none could prepare me for the scene I'd come across. Parents had all pulled their kids away from Mangle, where a mess of blood, bone, and brain tissue were strewn about. I froze as I saw the body laying by Mangle, head still in their jaw. I felt Dan brush past, reaching for Mangle's shutoff. They flipped it, and Mangle's jaw slackened, letting go of Tat's head. I heard retching from behind me, and knew Scott had seen it too.

Of the two of us, neither could find the mindset to take care of what happened. Dan looked at the parents, teeth bared.

"Someone fucking call an ambulance! Don't stand there all slack-jawed and do something useful! Get all these kids out of here!" Their voice was muted as I stared at Tat, laying limp in the mess of gore. I felt parents pushing their kids past me, out into the main dining space.

Dan snapped their fingers in my face. Their voice was softer as they spoke to me. "Get Scott out of here. Go sit in the office for a bit. I'll take care of the paramedics and mess. And Mangs." I nodded faintly, turning Scott from the scene, walking him to the office.

As soon as we stepped foot into the office, he started sobbing. I rubbed his back, crying too.

Half an hour later, Dan came in. Scott had left, riding the ambulance with Tat. I'd stayed behind to close up, amongst other things. 'Other things' mostly consisted of staring into blank space as I felt numb.

Dan placed a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me close. I sniffled into their shirt, feeling them rub my back.

"I cleaned up," they hummed, "and put Mangs in the back so I can look them over later." I nodded numbly, sobbing softly. They continued rubbing my back, letting me sob. They didn’t try to make things better verbally, which I was glad for.

When I pulled away, wiping my eyes, they awkwardly stood in place. “I’m gonna go check Mangs over, if you wanna stay or go to the hospital.” I nodded, not trusting my voice. They turned, walking to P&S. “Take care of yourself, Dyl,” they called over their shoulder. I sighed, wiping my eyes again before walking to my car.
---
I walked into the emergency room, sitting beside Scott. His eyes were red and puffy, and his cheeks were blotchy from crying. I gently rubbed his back, feeling him lay his head on my shoulder. I rest my cheek against his head, arm slung over his shoulders.

“Do you know anything, babe?” He shook his head, sniffling.

“He’s in trauma now. They’re trying to get him patched as best as they can.” I thumbed his shoulder, pressing my lips to his temple. The most either of us could do was be supportive.
---
A while later, my phone buzzed and I looked at it.

All's good with Mangle. Programming checks out, nothing out of place. Turned them on and they said they don't remember what happened. How's Tat? I sighed, moving my arm do I could text back. Scott shifted his head, chin resting on my shoulder as he read what Dan sent.

Dunno yet. He's in trauma as they work on him. I sent, glancing at Scott. The doors opened from the emergency bays, causing Scott and I to both look up. A doctor, decked in scrubs, called out Tat's name. We both got up, hands clasped together as we followed the doctor to a bay.

"He's on propofol to medically induce a  coma so he doesn't stress what's left of his brain till he's in better condition. He's currently stable, and he's gonna be moved to neuro ICU when a bed opens. We removed what little was left of his frontal lobe, and placed a plate to replace the skull that was badly fractured. We are waiting on a graft, so he's gonna have bandages around his head for a while. Prognosis is guarded, at least until he's in better condition. But you can see him." We nodded, and he pushed the curtain aside, giving us our first look at Tat since he went to trauma.

I squeezed Scott's hand as he gasped softly, stepping into the bay. Tat's head was wrapped in gauze, just like the doctor said, with IVs leading out of his arms and a heart monitor strapped to his chest. Scott rested his hand on Tat's, gently thumbing his skin.

"He's gonna be okay," I hummed. "He's a Baker, after all." Scott nodded.

"He'll be okay," he repeated.
-----
A few stressful weeks later, he was taken off the coma medicine. We were allowed to see him after the staff did some tests to test his memory and motor functions.

"Dad? Papi? I hurt." A sob escaped Scott's mouth as he gently held Tat's hand. I placed a hand on Scott's back, watching Tat.

"Hey, kiddo." He waved shakily.

"Hi, Papi." He had a small patch of bandages on his forehead, covering the area the doctors worked on.

"How do you feel, baby?" Scott asked, gently thumbing his skin.

"It hurts, but not as much as it did when I first woke up. What… What happened? Why does it hurt anyway?" Scott and I shared a look, before Scott looked back at him.

"Mangle bit you, baby. We don't know why, either."

"Oh." He got quiet, looking out the window.

"You hungry, kiddo? The doctor said you might be hungry when they took you off the medicine." He looked back at me before nodding. "Whaddya want?"

-----
This went five different directions before settling on angst/hurt so

I honestly tried to stop myself from doing this, but that lasted all of an hour before I just wrote it anyways

Song: Lifeline by We Three

Love always,
Immortal-trash389