TW: None?

Nano flinched back as the green man's hand reached out to touch her purple arm, he froze his movement and dropped the hand to his side. "This isn't going to work." He grunted turning to Lalna who stood off to the side, leaning against the side of the furnace. "If she isn't going to let me even touch her then I can't analyse shit."

Lalna's eyes flicked to Nano, she was standing in a defensive position staring daggers at the tall green man. "Nano, you need to let him do this."

Nano snorted, a bitter sound that was tinged with sarcastic amusement. "No I don't Lalna, I'm fine. I don't need fixing!"

Smiffy's eyes flicked back to the purple hued girl. "Then get out of my fucking lab." He shot back, he shouldn't have agreed to this in the first place, the truce between Hat Films and the Flux Buddies was flimsy and was best kept by keeping both parties far away from each other.

Lalna heaved a heavy sigh as Nano stormed out of the room, her shoes clicking on the marble floor as she fled the scene. "Smiffy, look... I know you two haven't ever got along but despite what she says she does need help, I have tried everything I can to try and cure her but I have nothing."

Smiffy ignored him for a moment in favour of pouring a few aspects into his cauldron, once satisfied he had added the correct amount he turned to face the blonde man. "I get that you care about her or whatever mate but she is never going to let me of all people help her. Have you tried Rythian? Hell, Strife might even have something that would help?"

Lalna let out a barking laugh. "Yeah, Rythian is going to lift a finger to help me with anything, ever."

"Well unless you can get her to behave herself and actually let me examine her to get some readings I can't help either." Smiffy replied.

The blonde man shoved his hands into the pockets on his lab coat and pulled out some small brown notebooks, walking forwards he lay them on the research bench. "That's all the notes I have about it so far, I have some video from an examination I did but I haven't ever caught anything on tape when she has been having an episode."

"Episode?" The taller man asked as he reached for the top most note book to flick through.

Lalna nodded his head before speaking. "It's really weird, sometimes she just sort of sings really softly or seems to be talking to someone who isn't there, but a couple of times it has been worse, mostly when she is near a lot of taint or comes into physical contact with flux."

Smiffy cocked his head to indicating he was listening. "What happens then?"

Lalna pauses to bite his lip for a moment, a pained look marring his features. "She gets aggressive, says she hears voices screaming and shouting and the flux on her skin moves like its alive or something, like flames lapping up her arms and face. When it's over and she comes back to herself she says she doesn't remember any of it then she goes to bed to sleep it off." Lalna's voice sounds dead as he describes the incidents. "She's my best mate Smiffy and I have no idea what the hell is happening or how to stop it, I know she is being difficult but I cannot give up on her and if I have to beg for you to help her then I will."

Smiffy placed the book back down and regarded the other man, dark bags under his eyes as he plead. "You need to convince her that she needs help mate, if she won't cooperate then I can't do anything. I won't do anything against her will, you know that."

Lalna nodded at the green man, he had never found out the full details of his past, no one really had except Trott, who had gone through it with him, even their third member hadn't heard all the details but Lalna knew it was something to do with genetic experiments on unwilling participants that had resulted in the strange green man and his humanoid walrus friend. "I'll talk to her."

**********

It was a further two weeks until Lalna sent him the footage he had taken and another week after that when she arrived, exploding through the set of double doors in the tower to throw her jet pack to the floor, she spread her arms wide in a gesture that was supposed to show openness but instead smacked of aggression and defiance. "Go on then, take your samples and whatever the fuck you need to do."

Smiffy raised an eyebrow at her as she stood just inside the doorway. "What's the magic word?" He asked, unable to resist pushing her a little.

Nano narrowed her eyes at him and took a deep breath through her nose, teeth clenched in anger. "Abra-ca-fucking-dabra." She growled at him. "If you don't want to help you only need to say so!" She spat reaching down and snagging the straps of her earlier discarded jet pack to slip it back on.

Smiffy leant back against his workbench as she fastened the tanks to her back, with a flick of his wand the doors in front of Nano slammed shut before she could exit the room, she span on the spot to level him with another dark look. "You can stay in there." Smiffy informed her, his tone bored as he pointed to a door set into the opposite wall. "I'll go tell Trott and Ross to stay clear for a few days, you go calm down." He didn't wait for an answer, just strode out of the room leaving her alone, staring after him.

**********

Nano pushed the door with a little more force than was necessary so it crashed against the wall. The room was small but somehow welcoming with its blue bed and matching rug covering the cold marble underfoot.

Nano threw her bag down on the bed and pushed her jet pack into an empty corner. She was so angry all of the time and she didn't know if it was her own or something else's and it scared her, for all her talk and seemingly brave actions she was just terrified of what she was becoming, all the unanswered questions gnawed away at her.

Burying her face in her hands she let out an angry sigh, her hand raking through her hair as her leg jiggled up and down. She launched herself to her feet as she heard the door to the lab beyond close again.

Smith met her eyes as she emerged from her new room. "Have you calmed down enough for examination?" He asked, trying to make the words sound as impersonal as possible, hoping it would help her to accept his help. When he didn't get an answer he continued, pointing towards a table visible through one of the other doors. "Strip and lie on the table."

Nano made a face at him, teeth bared and eyebrows pulled together. "Fuck off, Lalna didn't need me to strip so I sure as fuck aren't doing it for your perverted pleasure you asshole."

Smiffy took a deep breath through his nose, he bared his teeth at the girl and strode forward, arm shooting out to clamp around her wrist. Nano shrieked, high pitched and tried to yank her arm away from him but he held on, his other arm reaching in his pocket to pull out his wand.

Smiffy dragged a protesting Nano towards the corner of the room where a cross was etched into the marble, pointing his wand he activated the spell and the two fell into the darkness.

They landed with a splash into deep cold water, Smiffy still not releasing Nano's arm as he pulled them towards the edge of the pool to climb out.

"What the fuck Smiffy?" Nano asked, spluttering out a mouth full of water as she was dragged from the pool by the green man.

He didn't answer but he did drop his hand from her skin as he strode off down a roughly hewn rock corridor that had been carved into the stone. Nano eyed the shaft above the pool where they had fell, there was no way back up or another exit apart from the one that Smiffy had taken. Pushing her wet hair out of her eyes Nano followed after the man.

She found Smith in a second small room, no bigger than the first with just one feature. A book stood on a lectern, Smith reached a hand out to Nano as his other hovered over the open book. Nano raised a mocking eyebrow at him, her own arm stretching towards the book, she might have no choice about going with him but she didn't have to touch him.

**********

The world materialised around them with a stomach turning swirl before settling in their vision. Nano stumbled against the feeling but Smiffy was more than used to the journey.

"Are you going to tell me where the hell we are now?" Nano asked, again she got no answer so she growled at Smiffy's retreating back. "You can't ignore me forever you bastard!"

Smiffy let out an amused breath at that, the first sign that he had been listening to anything she had been saying. "This way."

She followed him out of the door and up a long spiral staircase that wound up through the rock, there were no windows so she assumed they were underground, glowstone set into the bottom of the steps above lit the way as they climbed in silence.

Light spilled through large windows as they reached the top of the stairs, a short corridor leading to a set of double doors the only features other than the brick walls and windows too high for Nano to see out of.

They emerged onto soft grass and the smell of the sea, Nano took a deep breath of the fresh air, her lips twitching into a half smile as the sun warmed her skin, a feeling of relaxation that she had been lacking since the accident settled over her.

Smiffy raised an eyebrow at the girl as she closed her eyes and tilted her face towards the sun, the purple of the flux shining on her skin as her lips turned up in a small smile that he had never seen grace her features before, it softened the harsh lines that often cut across her face then she would scowl at him.

Smiffy watched without interrupting as Nano's shoulders sagged and her hand which had been clenched into fists at her sides relaxed, her fingers uncurling as her eyes slowly opened to look at the cloudless sky above.

"It's so quiet." She whispered, looking out to the east where the grass sloped down and turned gradually to sand before disappearing beneath the clear water of the ocean.

Smiffy hummed an affirmative sound as he pulled his shut jacket off and undid the top button of his shirt with a flick of his fingers. He made towards the sand, kicking his shoes off on the last patch of grass. Smiffy sat and pulled off his socks and rolled the legs of his trousers up before burying his green feet into the warm sand with a contented sigh.

Nano regarded the tall man for a moment, she hadn't ever seen him like this, quiet and contemplative. It was always screaming and shouting and dick jokes when it came to Smiffy, she had never really thought that there could be anything else to him that she hadn't seen.

The anger had gone, replaced instead with a feeling of loss and loneliness settling over her, emotions that she hadn't felt in a long time that made her feel small and insignificant in a world full of dangers and ugliness.

Nano walked towards where Smiffy sat, her steps small and measured. He didn't look at her when she approached, he didn't even turn his head when she sat herself next to him, his eyes far away and glazed over.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Nano removing her own shoes to curl her toes into the sand like the man next to her. She jumped as she spoke suddenly without warning. "How do you feel now?"

Smiffy turned his head, his eyes sliding over her face taking in her features and expression. "What did you do to me?" Nano asked, her voice softer than he had ever heard it.

Smiffy paused to wet his lips before he answered. "I've given you distance, I didn't know if it would work or not."

Nano let out a shaky breath, something clicking into please in her mind. She felt her throat burning, a solid lump lodging itself inside as her eyes started to sting and water. Nano clamped her lips together, mouth forming a small line as she tried to control her breathing but failed, tears ran down her cheeks so she buried her face in her raised knees, sobs wracking her body.

Smiffy eyed the girl as she curled in on herself, her shoulders quaking with the force of her crying. Taking a deep breath he shuffled closer, placing a large hand between her shoulder blades to rub soothing circles.

She didn't even tense as his hand came in contact with her back, simply sobbed harder and turned to him, gripping at his waistcoat and pushing her wet face into his shoulder. Smiffy's arm lifted to drape over her shoulder from its earlier position on her back, he muttered some nonsense that he wasn't sure she would believe, 'it's going to be okay' and 'you're safe' mixed in between shushing noises as he rocked them both back and forth.

The sun was starting to paint the sky in shades of pink and orange when she pulled away apologising, rubbing at her face with the back of her hand. "I can't hear the voices anymore." She said offing Smiffy a watery smile. "It hasn't been this quiet in my head since before the accident, it's..." She trailed off trying to find the right words to express the sprawling emptiness that gripped her heart. "...strange." 

Credit to vexedbeverage on tumblr