When Brainy came to his head was ringing and there was a distinct sour taste in his mouth. His muscles had a distinct stiffness in them that came with not moving in several days. Everything was blurry and he blinked, trying to clear his vision. He automatically reached to where his counter should be in order to pick up his glasses only to meet nothing. He frowned, trying to gather his bearings. A flash of blue. Pain. Struggling to breathe... Gargamel! He sat up quickly, the realisation and relief that he wasn't dead finally settling in. The wave of dizziness kicked in at the movement and he winced as his head screamed in protest at the sudden movement.

"Brainy?" a small voice to his right asked. It sounded like Gutsy but Gutsy never sounded so vulnerable. Brainy glanced to the side, seeing only a blurry mess. "Here." His glasses were pressed into his hand and he slipped them on. It was Gutsy: the red-bearded smurf looked drained. His sash was uneven, there were large bags under his eyes and he seemed to only be holding himself up through a sheer force of will.
"Um...Are you okay?" Brainy asked, somewhat doubtfully. Then he coughed, his throat feeling like sandpaper.
"Am I okay?!" Gutsy asked, a note of hysteria in his voice. "No. No I am not! What the smurf were you thinkin' Brainy? We almost lost you!"
"I..." Brainy didn't know what to say. "It was necessary..."
"Necessary? Necessary!" Gutsy repeated. "I can't think of anythin' that would be worth loosing you! And it was planned! You put the way back home and the note..." Gutsy trailed off, swallowing hard. "It was horrible..."

In one quick movement he pulled the brainiac into his arms.
"Don't ever do that to me again!" Gutsy almost begged. "Please..." At the sheer desperation in Gutsy's voice Brainy bit back tears.
"I'm sorry..." Brainy whispered, his eyes filling with tears no matter how hard he tried to stop them. "I couldn't think of what else to do...Gargamel keeps being a threat." Gutsy didn't say anything, just tightened his grip slightly and adjusted Brainy's glasses slightly. "Um... What happened after I..." He stopped himself from saying 'nearly died'. "Blacked out." Gutsy sighed heavily, sinking into the pillows. Brainy finally recognised where they were as Patrick and Grace's mushroom.

"I found you...You were barely breathing, had a concussion. Papa said if you didn't have such magic aptitude, or had pushed it any further then you would have...you know...It was awful. Gargamel lost the ability to harness magic and was arrested."
"So it worked?" Brainy asked, significantly perking up.
"Not the point!" Gutsy exclaimed. "Don't think that it working made this smurfing worth it!"
"Mhm," Brainy said in an unconvincing façade of agreement. Gutsy sighed and shook his head slightly.
"You are very hard to be mad at..." he muttered. "But it isn't worth it. What would I do without you?"
"I don't know...Go back to what you used to do? Be besties with Hefty?" Brainy replied with a small grin. Gutsy gave a very undignified snort.
"If anything I would beat the smurfing stuffin' out of him for every time he ever hurt you. Maybe I should do that..."
"He would hit you back. And he hits hard..." Brainy replied, giving Gutsy an unimpressed look.
"The fact that you know that is exactly why I should give him a taste of his own medicine when we get back," Gutsy said, resting his head on top of Brainy's. "Oh, water!" He passed over a small cup. "Papa said to drink when you woke up."

It was gone in moments and it helped with the dryness and sour taste in his mouth.
"How long was I out?" Brainy asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly, still feeling drained.
"Coming up to a week," Gutsy mumbled. "I was starting to think you would never wake up..."
"I'm sorry...I really didn't want to worry you. I just...desperation," Brainy tried to explain but the words didn't come out right. Gutsy didn't say anything, just tightened his grip again and seemed to finally relax.

                                           ----------------------------------------------

The day to return home had finally occurred. Brainy had enough strength to survive the journey.

The brainiac had been feeling sick all day. The worry had twisted his stomach into knots. He had been pacing back and forth for a while. He could feel the panic rising and his hands were in tight fists.
"Are you okay?" Star asked, after watching him go back and forth for several minutes.
"Mhm," he murmured, not stopping.
"Are you sure?" she pressed. He simply nodded. She blocked his path to keep him from pacing anymore. "Alright, what's wrong?"
"Nothing..." Brainy said, shifting from one foot to the other. "Nothing is wrong."
"Brainy..." Star pushed. Brainy shook his head. "Come on."
"What's going on?" Gutsy asked, coming into the room. "Brainy, what's wrong?" Star gave Brainy a smug look that very much said 'see, it's obvious!'
"Just kind of dreading going back to the village," Brainy mumbled. "It's not like I have ever belonged there."

Gutsy sighed. He smurffriend was right: he was always mistreated by the village to the point that he had left and tried to change himself in the past.
"Things will be different now," Gutsy said, reassuringly. "You'll be a hero."
"That isn't any better. It'll just feel fake," Brainy muttered. "Plus attention...Hefty will still give me a hard time."
"I'll sock him in the face for you," Handy said, helpfully, peeking round the doorframe.
"No you won't. There is no need for violence," Papa said, also stepping in, making it clear everysmurf was eavesdropping. "I will be having a serious word with him." Brainy doubted that would do any good but he remained quiet.
"Plus I'll always be here for ya," Gutsy said, lifting Brainy's chin where his expression was cast in a downcast expression so there eyes met. The brainiac blushed slightly and nodded: that certainly helped.

"So are you ready to go home?" Gutsy asked, gently, taking Brainy's hand.
"Home..." Brainy repeated, doubtfully. He sighed. "As ready as I will ever be at least." 

Finally finished! Sorry it has been so long since I updated and that the ending was so rushed: I kind of lost inspiration like ten chapters ago but I wanted to get it finished for anyone who was enjoying it. Hope the ending was somewhat okay and that you enjoyed reading!