Reflective Detective One Shots!

Gone

[Warning: Major Character Death, Mentions of blood and gore!]

"Rodger?"

Glisten wandered through the floor in silence. Why was everything so quiet, why was the world so full under his fingertips? He continued to wander, searching for his lover. Rodger hadn't called back to him when he beckoned, the last machine had nearly been done.

Glisten gasped at the sight before him. Rodger laid on the ground, his eye void of light and life. His chest was torn open, blood leaking into the floor. Glisten choked back a sob as he grabbed Rodger, lifting him up and sprinting to the elevator. He grabbed the valve of the last machine, hearing it pop as he made it to the elevator. They finally went back up, but it never seemed to end. Glisten cradled Rodger close, sobbing into the toon's coat. Why hadn't it been him? Why did Rodger have to die?

As the sound of the elevator arriving home dinged, Glisten felt himself grow further from the sight... It felt far now, like a fading memory...

Glisten shot up in a cold sweat. He gasped, the nightmare felt all too real. Where was he? Looking around, he was in Rodger's office, seated in his chair. Glisten got up, searching for his beloved. Glisten made his way to the bed, speaking before he even realized.

"Rodger, I had the worst dream, you were dead and I couldn't save you-... Oh..."

Glisten finally seemed to realize the bed was empty. He was all alone. Glisten reached for Rodger's magnifying glass on the nightstand, examining it as he remembered.

Rodger was dead. His nightmares taunted him with the memory, how he didn't hear Rodger in danger, how he couldn't save his lover. Glisten teared up, though there was nobody to comfort him now. Looking down, one of Rodger's shirts clung to him. Tears dripped onto the fabric as Glisten cradled Rodger's favorite trinket in his hands.

"Why was it you? I'm sorry, Rodger... I'm sorry I didn't save you. Please come back, I can't do this without you. Please... I'm sorry,"  Glisten mumbled, lost in his pleas.

There was nobody around to hear him. Glisten pleaded to nobody for his lover's return, one that would never come. Glisten eventually curled up on the bed, hugging a pillow tightly. Why wasn't it him? Rodger didn't deserve that fate. Glisten could still feel Rodger's blood on his palms, hear Rodger's voice, see that lifeless gaze... Glisten hid his face in the pillow.

Glisten cried until he could no longer, until his body couldn't support him. Glisten passed back out, knowing that he would be put back into the very same nightmare, the very same memory of Rodger's death. The guilt would never escape him, Rodger was gone, and Glisten blamed himself. A death that was not deserved was given that day... Glisten would never forget it.