Sanders Supers [Sanders Sides AU]

Twenty Four

Patton

2 days later...

Patton's arm still ached from where he had been cut. The little sleep that he had gotten was plagued by flashbacks of what Patton had seen. He couldn't remember how long he's been in the hospital. Days? Weeks? Months? The mattress of his hospital bed felt like cardboard to him now. He couldn't get rid of the memories no matter how hard he tried. Sure, Logan sat with him when he slept, but he didn't want to wake him. Besides, Logan needed his sleep, too, and Patton didn't want to bother him.

The doctor, Terrence, had let him move back into his sleeping quarters two days ago on the condition that he come back to the medical ward if he was having any problems. Patton had promised that he would, but he didn't want to bother anybody with his problems.

He sat up, awoken once again by nightmares, pain shooting through his body. Patton winced at the stitches in his shoulder, adjusting whenever he moved. It was a lot less painful now that some time had passed, but he still hurt.

He saw the early morning light coming through his window and just stared for a while, nothing on his mind.

He wondered what his life would be like after this was all over. Would he go back to Florida? Would he keep fighting crime with S.T.A.R?

Patton didn't want to fight anyone, but if it meant it would stop innocent people from getting hurt, he would gladly put himself in danger for the good of others.

He checked his watch, and realized that it was six in the morning- he wasn't going back to sleep, so Patton rubbed his eyes to wake up and threw the blanket off.

Patton felt the nightstand for his glasses, put them on and stood up. He heard a knock on the door, and Patton opened it and saw Logan.

"Hey, you're awake. Did you sleep well?" Logan said. Patton just nodded, not wanting to talk about what had woken him up. He should have been used to it by now, the recurring nightmares of Deceit hurting him again, Talyn dying and coming back over and over... but he wasn't. Patton hadn't been sleeping much. In fact the last time he remembered having a full night's sleep was a few days ago when Logan stayed with him in the hospital. He would ask Logan to stay with him again, but it would be so... embarrassing to have to ask him. Besides, Patton was fine.

"So what's going on outside these confined walls?" Patton asked, his voice joking.

"Well, it's ... it's okay." Logan hesitated. Patton noticed the stutter in his voice.

"Are you sure? You sound a bit unsure." Patton said. Logan fidgeted with his tie before answering.

"Do you recall when I said I would question Deceit?" Logan stuttered. Patton nodded and gestured him to keep going, trying but failing to hide his nervousness.

"Well, I was talking to him, trying to get answers. He said that he was destroying buildings to get Thomas to 'come out and play'," Logan said, making air quotes with his fingers. "And that he- he wanted to get captured. For what reasons, I don't know yet, but they can't be good. And we have a predicament: we can't let him go, but it's almost as bad as keeping him here."

"Lo, you can't believe what he says. He's a liar!" Patton exclaimed, trying to sound confident that he didn't believe Deceit. But no- he just wanted to not believe him. Deceit was a liar, yes, but he was also a scheming snake who would stop at nothing to get his way.

And what terrified Patton most wasn't that he himself had been hurt by Deceit, captured and tortured for information, but the fact that Deceit could and would hurt other people.