Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 Patton couldn’t stand when people cried. Not in the sense that it annoyed him, that was more Logan, but in the sense that it made his own heart hurt. Logan always told him he was overly sympathetic and emotional, but Patton didn’t see that as a bad thing. In fact, he was proud of that bit about him.

 But crying did hurt him and made him want to fix whatever was wrong with whoever was crying. Make them feel better, safe, and most importantly loved. He was kind of regretting those strong urges now. Considering the person he wanted to help not cry was a human.

 The poor guy was face down on his desk, arms folded over and crying his little heart heart. It tore Patton’s insides to hear it. It was so full of sadness and hurt. His need to help took over and he found himself on the desk, right in front of the human.

 With his head down, he still hadn’t seen the borrower yet. A part of Patton wanted to keep it that way, to run and hide and forget. But he couldn’t do that. The human needed someone right now. And so, with a lot of hesitation, Patton placed a hand on the human’s arm.

 “It’s okay…” He said softly. The human gasped and jolted up, causing Patton to be thrown back in surprise. He rubbed his back, groaning a little at the pain from falling over. He looked back at the human, but his face was blocked by a hand coming right for him. There was no time for Patton to even try to stand as the hand wrapped around his small frame.

 He squirmed in the grasp as he felt himself being lifted into the air. His stomach did a little somersault at the speed and his heart skipped a beat when he was brought before the human’s eyes. They were wide and glistening, but the tears seemed to be on hold for the moment.

 “What...What are you?” Patton gulped and took a deep breath. His body shook, but he ignored it.

 “I’m Patton. A borrower and I um, I was just trying to cheer you up.” The human’s eyes widened before quickly narrowing. Patton flinched at both the quick change and the dark look now being directed at him.

 “Right...You’re not real, my mind just made you up as a coping mechanism.” He shook his head. “Should have realized.” He muttered to himself. Patton felt a different strike of fear rush through him at that. The human didn’t think he was real . That should have put the borrower at ease, but it had the opposite effect for a reason Patton didn’t know.

 “No, kiddo I am real! I heard you crying and came to help.” He tried, but the human’s eyes just became darker.

 “I already know I’m messed up, I don’t need this.” The human muttered, tears starting to fall again, but this time they were angry tears. Angry, sad tears. The pressure around his body tightened and Patton let out a choked gasp. He could feel his ribs bending beneath the human’s fingers and Patton knew any more pressure would surely snap them. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a small squeak.

 “Just leave me alone already!” The human yelled and he brought the hand holding Patton down.

 There was a sickening crack.

 The human’s eyes widened and he released the small body onto the table and took his hand away. Patton lay on the table, the scream caught in his throat as he writhed in pain. His sides were burning , and his arm was numb. His vision was blurred and dimming, blackening around the edges. Everything hurt it hurt so bad, why did everything hurt ?

 “No, no, nononononononono. You’re real, oh gosh, no I‘m sorry. Please be okay.” A voice broke out from above, on the verge of panic. It was the last thing Patton heard before everything went black.

Chapter Text

 Patton woke up feeling for all the world like he had fallen off the kitchen counter. No, scratch that. This felt a lot worse . For one, Patton was finding it very difficult to even think straight. His brain was pounding against his skull and each thump made him feel even dizzier. He could barely make himself focus on his other injuries, but he was sure his arm and chest were broken in some way.

 He groaned into the soft surface below him and tried to move. How did he even get hurt? Where was he? He tried lifting himself up with his good hand when a voice broke out above him.

 “Please don’t move, you’re only gonna hurt yourself more.” Patton listened to the voice, well half listened, since his arm gave out and he fell back against the soft surface anyway. Patton tried to place the voice, but his mind wouldn’t let him. Instead, his mind filled with black spots and unconsciousness took over again.

 When Patton woke up again, his head was feeling a lot better. There was still a slight pounding going on, but he could finally think clearly. So he wracked his mind for his memories. It took a few seconds for everything to come back and Patton’s eyes widened. With his good hand he lifted himself into a sitting position.

 He froze when his eyes met the human’s.

 The human was currently sitting on the floor next to the bed, which Patton just realized he was on. They stared at each other for several long moments before the human opened his mouth, but he didn’t get a chance to say anything. The movement knocked Patton out of his stupor and he got to his feet to run. Ignoring the pain flaring up in his ribs and arm.

 Unfortunately, in his panic he didn’t notice he was on the pillow and so when he tried to run all that ended up happening was him tripping over himself. He rolled down the pillow, the pain in his body now searing. There was a loud gasp from the human and when he finally stopped at the bottom, he noticed a hand reaching for him.

 Patton shook, remembering what that hand did to him not long ago and tried to push it away. The human was much stronger than him though and the hand easily ignored his struggles as it scooped him up.

 The borrower closed his eyes. Waiting for the hand to close around him and finish the job. A choked sob escaped his lips and tears flowed freely on his face. He didn’t want to die. Why hadn’t he listened to Logan.

 “N-no no, please don’t...I’m sorry. I didn’t…” A soft voice stuttered from above him and Patton looked up at the human through his tears. There was no malicious intent in those eyes at all, from what Patton could see (and he was pretty good at reading people). Only concern and guilt? And tears, apparently, as Patton saw the large brown eyes start to fill with water.

 The hand had also yet to close around him.

 Patton wiped his tears away, noticing for the first time that his arm was in a sling. He looked down at himself, seeing bandages covering his shirtless torso. Had...had the human done this?

 Patton looked to the human again and saw that he was using his free hand to wipe at his eyes. Most likely to stop the tears from falling. The human was only half successful and Patton felt his heart ache at the sight. Just like it had done so earlier.

 “Hey, please don’t cry kiddo. It’s okay.” Patton said softly and the human jumped, causing Patton to do the same. The human looked at the borrower with something akin to shock.

 “How-how can you say that. I hurt you! You shouldn’t be feeling sorry for me!” Patton shifted around a little, knowing that, if he was anyone else, he would probably agree with the human. He wasn’t anyone else though, he was Patton, and that wasn’t how he rolled.

 “It was an accident right? Besides, if you didn’t feel bad about it, you wouldn’t be crying to begin with.” The human blinked.

 “I mean, yeah, I feel awful about it. I’m so sorry, I, I just I didn’t think you were real and I just sort of…” The human trailed off, trying once again to stop the flow of tears. Patton bit his lip and then stood, stance resolute as he reached up to swipe away a tear. The human froze at the sudden, unexpected contact and looked down to see the tiny person giving him a gentle smile.

 “How about we start over kiddo? Hi, I’m Patton. What’s your name?” The human stared at him for several long seconds before Patton noticed his lip curve up ever so slightly.

 “Virgil.” Patton grinned and they sat in a somewhat comfortable silence as the last of Virgil’s tears were wiped away. Virgil looked at Patton carefully and slowly moved his free hand closer. Patton did his best not to flinch back as one of Virgil’s fingers trailed down his side in a feather like touch. Patton winced slightly as a small spike of pain flared up, but then relaxed.

 “How are you...feeling? Does it hurt?” Virgil spoke softly, at a low volume. It was a stark contrast from his voice before and Patton was thankful for the change. He smiled.

 “It hurts a little.” He said truthfully. “But not to bad. And you did a great job of patching me up!” A light blush covered Virgil’s cheeks under his foundation and he coughed in embarrassment.

 “I was just trying to fix what I did, a doctor would have been better. But, ya know…” Patton nodded, the last thing he wanted was yet another human knowing about him. Even if he had technically brought this upon himself. Logan was gonna tear him a new one, that was for sure.

 “Well, I think you did a great job. I should be all healed in a month or two.” Or longer, Patton really wasn’t sure. He had never broken a rib before, but it couldn’t be too different than a broken arm. Which, he admits, he has broken before. He’ll have to ask Logan when he got back.

 Virgil stayed focused on his injuries, finger still close by. Patton could tell the human still felt guilty about it, but he wasn’t quite sure how to make that go away for him.

 “Do you…” Virgil paused, before continuing. “Do you have somewhere to go back too? Do you need me to help you get back?” Patton hummed in thought, wondering if he should tell Virgil of the whereabouts of his home. The borrower looked up into Virgil’s eyes before smiling. Despite what had happened and his lingering fear, he trusted this human.

 “I live in the walls of this house.” He motioned all over and Virgil’s mouth fell open before he quickly shut it. His eyes, however, remained wide.

 “You live here . For--For how long?” Patton shrugged, trying to think back.

 “Not too long, since spring I think.” Virgil blinked, still in shock.

 “You mean, you’ve been here the whole time and we’ve never noticed?!” Virgil’s voice went a tad louder and Patton winced. Usually he could take loud noises, but being so close was amplifying the sound. Virgil noticed and shrunk down a bit, guilt crashing like a wave once again.

 “Sorry, I just, ugh…” he trailed off and used his free hand to rub his face. He sighed and opened his mouth to continue when a shout from outside the bedroom interrupted him.

 “Virgil! Dinner! Don’t make me come and get you!” A male voice shouted, holding a teasing tone to it. Patton recognized it as Virgil’s father. Virgil himself tensed and looked worryingly at Patton before cupping his hand over him. Patton flinched and shook as he found himself trapped between two hands, but didn’t let his trust for Virgil fly away.

 “I’ll be right down!” Patton tensed at Virgil’s shout, but realized it was muffled by the walls of flesh surrounding him. Patton smiled when not a second later Virgil’s hand uncovered him. Before he could say anything, however, Virgil had placed his hand on the desk. He looked up at the human with confusion.

 “It’s probably best if you went back, um, home.” Patton nodded and climbed off his hand. He looked up at Virgil as he started to move away, heading toward the door.

 “Thank you for trying to make me feel better. I’m sorry, again.” Virgil swallowed something back. “Goodbye.” He said softly and closed the door, leaving Patton alone.

 Patton’s eyebrows furrowed. That goodbye had sounded so final. Did Virgil not think he was going to come back? He hadn’t even figured out why the kiddo was crying in the first place! Patton sighed and as he headed into the walls he made a mental note to come back later on. He was sure that whatever was wrong with Virgil hadn’t been fixed and he was determined to help him out.

 He walked along the familiar path, cleaned and dusted by himself and Logan when they had first moved in as he thought up ways to help Virgil out. He didn’t even notice he had made it home until he heard a voice shout through his thoughts.

 “What on earth happened?!” Patton looked up, startled, before giving a sheepish smile. He raised his arm to wave, before realizing he was trying to raise the one in the sling. He quickly switched hands.

 “Hey Logan...What’s up?”