Teamwork is a skill we lack. [II SUPERHERO AU FIC]

21

slight mention / description of having a panic attack. (saying this JIC) 

/

Lightbulb woke up in an... unfamiliar environment, to say the least. Opening her eyes was a bit of a struggle, but when she did, she was staring directly at...

"Omga I totally died didn't I..." Lightbulb quickly sat up, scrambling back a bit in the couch, accidentally tangling herself up in the blanket that had been draped over her as she was now at the end of the couch furthest away from the chair, in which sat Paintbrush, who was just as shocked as her.

"You're awake!" There was a huge sense of... relief in their voice?

"Uh... Oh, I'm not dead-- hey where am I?" She struggled to get the blanket off, throwing it to the ground as soon as she did.

"Um... You're at my base..." Paintbrush looked to the side awkwardly.

"Uhh... How'd I get here?" She looked around, taking in the room she was in.

"I have no idea... You just kinda knocked on my door yesterday, and passed out."

"Oh..." The room they were both in looked like a regular living room, one that was much nicer than the one in her own base... Oh shit! Her own base! Her recovery center!

"I- I don't have a recovery center anymore!" She blurted out, mostly by accident.

"You-- WHAT?" Paintbrush yelled out, now immediately concerned.

"I- Taco told me... she destroyed it..." A sudden horrible feeling washed over her as she thought about Taco, this feeling worsening as she remembered exactly what happened to her.

Paintbrush looked at Lighbtulb, watching as her breathing became shallow, and panicked.

"Hey- hey, take a moment to breathe..."

Lightbulbs eyes darted around the room for a moment, before making eye contact with Paintbrush.

"I- I..." She couldn't get anything out.

"Take your time, you don't need to speak if you don't want to, just focus on staying calm, and focus on breathing." Paintbrush took up a cautious tone, trying to calm her down as best as they could. Her having a panic attack would not be a good start.

Lightbulb took a bit, but she finally managed to control her breathing, it now just became heavy as she collected herself.

"I'm... So sorry..." She looked away, embarrassed.

"Don't be sorry. I understand... I... don't know what you went through, but I'm sure whatever it was it couldn't have been stress free." They took up a sympathetic expression, still looking at her.

She just kept looking away, an expression of guilt creeping onto her face.

Paintbrush stared at her for a moment, finally actually just looking at her, and seeing how much damage she actually had, and... her eyes...

They weren't blue anymore. A dull, lifeless gray remained where they had once seen a bright cyan blue.

"Weren't your eyes blue..?" They didn't mean to actually ask this, it mostly just slipped out, their curiosity getting the best of them. She froze for a moment, processing what they had asked, before carefully responding.

"Y... No?" She gave a phony smile, still unable to make eye-contact again. Paintbrush's expression turned to one of 'I don't believe you', but they decided not to press her on this... It probably wasn't important... Just eye-color, is all. So they shoved it off, to think about later.