Fighting Flatlines (War Over Mobius Saga: Rebel Route #2)

Hope and Fear

"Gadget! Don't leave me!" Gears screamed, tears pouring down his face as he began to shake his twin, pausing after a few seconds.

He had seen their mother, and that could only mean...

"Rookie! Nadia needs you! The Resistance needs you! If you die, you're a jerk!" Knuckles snapped, banging his fist on the table beside the bed.

Gadget shook his head. "Wha? Gears? What are you doing here?" Gadget mumbled, highly confused by his surroundings, wondering why everyone was so upset with him.

Gears didn't say anything in response, he just tightly hugged his brother.

The red wolf had not fully waken up from the sedative, and he mumbled with utter confusion. "Where am I? What's that thing on my head? Where's my headset?"

Kimberly touched Gadget's shoulder. "You're at the base, you have a mental monitor on your head, and your headset is right there on the table." She motioned to the headset, making sure Gadget knew exactly where it was.

Gadget groaned, head aching from everything that he had gone through recently. "My head...."

"It's going to hurt for a while, Gadget, you've got a lot of medicine in you."

"Why?" He asked, holding the sides of his head in his paws.

"It happened to the entire Resistance, rookie, you're not the only one experiencing this." Knuckles assured, jumping into the conversation.

"You didn't answer my question...."

"You have two different mental illnesses, Gadget, both are from the Battle of the 80% and its effects." Kimberly told him, glancing at Knuckles. When he glanced back, she gestured to Nadia with her eyes.

"And they are?" Gears asked, becoming annoyed with the conversation beginning to drag out.

"Patience, Gears, we have to tell him things one at a time."

"What are they?" Gadget mumbled, awake enough to decide that it was probably a good time to ask..

Knuckles looked at Kimberly, she turned to look at a screen, displaying the wolf's diagnosis.

"PTSD and Depression." Kimberly read expressionlessly.

"Who's a what's a?" Gadget groaned, laying down and trying to smother his headache with the pillow.

"Oh, the first one is called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, it's why you've been seeing the Battle of the 80% in your head over and over."

"Can you make it stop?" Gadget whimpered.

Doctor Kimberly looked solemnly and shook her head. "I can't, therapy is the only thing that might help you."

Gadget moved his paw to cover his eyes, whimpers becoming louder.

Kimberly touched his left shoulder; he twitched, quickly spinning around and growling at her. She quickly took multiple steps back, startled by his sudden burst of aggression. She waited for him to lay back down before she said anything else. "Look who's here...." She pointed towards Nadia, he instantly perked up.

"Nadia! Is she alright?!" He yelled, sitting up straight and loudly whacking his head against the bed's headrest.

Every conscious person in the room cringed, all knowing full well how much that must've hurt.

He groaned loudly from both the impact, and his still present headache, pressing his head where he had hit it.

"Is this really happening to the whole Resistance?" Gears asked, stunned.

Knuckles nodded somberly.

"They're losing their willpower; we're losing our fighting force. If we lose the war...." Knuckles didn't have to say.

They knew.

Even Gears knew.

Gadget, even though he was still holding his head, looked down somberly, a few tears rolling down the thick fur on his face.

Gears hugged him, and held the IV stand, lifting it up slightly. "Come on." He quickly forced a small smile.

Gadget stood as Gears led him over to Nadia, the others in deep confusion.

Gears set the stand next to Nadia, Gadget bent down to see her, crawling closer to the she-wolf.

She didn't look any better than when she arrived, what if she never did? What if she was dying faster than healing, and it was only a matter of time before she expired?

He placed a paw on her back and gently pulled her closer.

"Infinite's gone, Nadia, we're gonna take down the Empire and free Mobius!" He told her, hoping to evoke a response from her.

She didn't respond.

He sighed and nuzzled her. "Please wake up...." he whispered in her bandaged ear.

"Please?"