Archive of Our Own ^beta

Not again.

Why had he have to have another panic attack again?

And of course he was filming.

Ugh, he hated this part of himself so much.

Why did he have to suffer with it?

He hated worrying his siblings, so thank god for them not being here.

But if Yakko were to be honest with himself, he's almost certain he'd feel better with them around.

Maybe that's the reason he's panicking. Not like he's used to filming without them.

He had been so spaced out, he didn't notice his chest rising quickly as he heaved every alarmed breath.

An employee before him stared directly into his soul. His gaze almost looked like a glare, which wasn't calming Yakko down at all.

The man rubbed the bridge of his nose in utter frustration, letting out a disappointed sigh.

"Yakko, that's the sixth mess up," He said in an intense but quiet voice. "May I speak to you privately, please?"

Trying not to let the stress loose onto his face, Yakko forced a smile and nodded. "Sure, what's up?"

"Come with me." The man beckoned his hand and started walking towards the hallway on the left.

That can't be good.

Yakko's smile faded into a small frown. He understood he messed up quite a few times on this scene, but this was the only take he had an unreasonable panic attack.

In truth, he had no idea why he felt scared. He presumed since he had been away from Wakko and Dot for so long, it gave him a bad feeling in his stomach.

Turns out the bad feeling had been about him.

Once the duo stopped in the middle of the hallway, the employee's expression morphed into a livid one.

"What on EARTH was up with you back there?" He yelled just quiet enough for the other directors to not hear. "Why were you panicking?"

"Well, I.." Yakko stuttered, feeling ashamed of himself for even letting the fear outside despite it being out of his control. "I.."

"Oh, I know." The man rolled his eyes. "You're a baby who doesn't know what the hell to do when asked to do something."

Yakko stayed silent.

"What is wrong with you?”

He could feel tears threatening to flow down his white cheeks.

"We're going to try this one more time, if you don't do it right... oh, now you're crying?" The man began laughing. "You really are a baby, huh?"

"N-No.." Yakko tried to reply, something he was normally good at, but why was he failing to do so? He was known as the talkative one, hence his name, but he couldn't now?

"You're such a useless bitch..."

Maybe he was useless.

"Elmyra could do her scenes better than you..."

Maybe he was bad at filming.

"If we ever have to wait again because of your stupidity," The man's voice got even lower, becoming a lot more minacious. "I will have no choice but to.. take matters in my own hands."

The man stormed off, but turning the corner his attitude changed for the 'better' as if nothing had ever happened.

Yakko finally let his tears roam free. He stood against the wall, slowly falling down. He wrapped his arms around his knees and hid his face into them. The sob that had been stuck in his throat finally became unstuck, causing him to hiccup over and over again.

"Oh wow, the sassy Yakko Warner cryin' like a little baby." Yakko heard the man say. Since when did he come back? "Come on, you slow-ass bitch. We have to keep filming."

Yakko's only response was another sob, not even trying to get up.

The employee rolled his eyes. "Fine, you asked for it."

Looking up with watery eyes, Yakko could barely see the man's fist come towards him in a flash.

He wished he didn't scream when it came into contact with his eye, it attracted the attention of two other directors who came scurrying to see what happened.

"What's going on here?" The first asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Nothing! Just telling ol' Yakster here to calm down, y'know?" The sinister man replied, ruffling Yakko's fur 'playfully'. "He screamed because he... ran into the doorknob and hit his eye, right Yakko?"

Yakko wanted to say otherwise, but the belligerent look in the employee's eyes practically begged him not to, unless he wanted more injuries.

He gulped, and nodded as to not receive any more punches from his assailant. "That's right."

Both directors exchanged unconvinced glances, then shrugged. "If you say so."

Finally, the duo disappeared behind the wall once more, and the remaining employee glared at Yakko with such force it shot invisible daggers through his eyes.

"If you fucking tell anyone about this, I'll end your pitiful life," The man began quietly, then rose his voice. "Do you hear me?!"

"Loud and clear." Yakko sputtered.

"Good." The man looked at Yakko's teary eyes, the right starting to swell into a black eye. He didn't feel an ounce of sympathy or remorse in the slightest. "Now clean up, and we'll finish this damn thing tomorrow. Leave."

Yakko finally gained the urge to stand up, and began walking across the hallway, hearing nothing but the deafening sound of intense silence.

He'd have to come up with something so he could lie to his siblings. Or, maybe not lie, but, protect them from the truth.

He couldn't think of much, since his siblings were waiting outside the other room, and it was a pretty short trip to get there. He decided to just use the story the employee made up.

Yakko opened the door, covering his injured eye while he could, and received a loud and welcome greeting from Wakko and Dot.

"Yakko!" Both siblings said simultaneously.

"How was filming?" Dot asked, excited to hear all about it.

"Didja get to... hang on," Wakko trailed off, just now noticing the hidden eye. "What's up with your eye?"

Dot looked too. "Oh yeah! What happened?"

"It's nothing, I'm fin-"

"Tell us, Yakko!" Wakko protested. His older brother clearly wasn't fine if he was hiding it.

Dot nodded in agreement. "Yeah! It sure doesn't look like 'nothing'."

"Please don't worry about it, sibs. I'll be-"

Wakko responded by grabbing hold of Yakko's forearm, and prying it off of his face. He couldn't stifle a gasp at seeing his black eye.

Dot covered her mouth in shock. staring at the bruise. How could this happen?

"How could this happen?!" Dot inquired, speaking her mind. "What on earth happened?!"

"I just.. ran into a doorknob." Yakko replied, scratching the scruff of his neck. "It's no big deal. It'll get better."

"Does not look like it," Wakko replied focusing his vision on the damage. "It looks just like someone punched you. What happened?”

Dot pulled out her mallet, ready to strike it at the wall. "WHO DID THIS?!"

"Look, it was my fault, okay? I was-"

"Your fault?!" Wakko yelled looking offended. "How the heck does being punched equal your fault?"

"I was panicking for no reason, okay?"

Silence plagued the room. Wakko and Dot glanced at each other, each having irate faces.

"So you're telling me.." Dot started, putting the tips of her fingers to her forehead. "That someone punched you because you were having a panic attack?"

"I kept messing up the scene." intervened Yakko, albeit sheepishly.

"That doesn't matter! What matters is that someone punched you because of something out of your control, and you didn't tell us the truth!"

"Exactly!" Wakko added. "You've always taken care of us, why is it any different if we do so for you?"

"'Cause that's my job. I'm the oldest." Yakko almost mumbled.

"I still see no difference."

"Wakko," Dot said after sighing. "Care to join me in beating this mother- jerk up?"

"Absolutely."

Both siblings grabbed their enormous mallets, and had to beg Yakko for who they were going to teach a valuable lesson for today.

Even if they left the building, they'd travel every single piece of grass in means of fighting this cruel asshole. For their brother.

He'd done the same for them, why couldn't they?

Even if it 'wasn't their job' in Yakko's perspective, it really was, they were meant to look out for each other.

Obviously.

Yakko was alone again, with Wakko and Dot off to look for the idiot who chose to mess with the WARNER SIBLINGS, for crying out loud.

He heard a loud crash, then another, then another. He figured he should just sit and relax while those two took care of it.

He had the best siblings ever.