Despite Patton and Roman's objections, Virgil was standing in front of Logan's lab, alone. They had both been clingy. They had both wanted to stay by Virgil's side, to keep him close and protect him, but he didn't need protecting. Virgil knew they both meant well, but Virgil had made it through so much in his life. Having his memories shoved back into his head was a reminder of that. He didn't need Patton to coddle him or Roman to fight away the imaginary monsters. He loved them both dearly, but he was strong. They needed to remember that.

Logan on the other hand, had been in self imposed isolation. If what Roman had said was true, and wasn't just his normal flair for the dramatics, Logan hadn't left his lab for a few days. This did not surprise Virgil, his curious friend had a knack for getting himself on a project and completely forgetting the concept of time. What was surprising, was that neither Patton nor Roman had checked on him. Both had decided the unconscious Virgil was more important. He wasn't happy about that choice.

Virgil knocked on the door, pushing it open without waiting for a response. "Why are you still in your lab nerd?" He asked, walking over to the spot that was always left clean for him, and sitting on the table. Virgil could not be bothered with what was and wasn't a chair, and Logan knew that.

"I have a few more experiments that I need to conduct. I thought it best I take care of those before we continue on our journey to hunt down the rest of your memories. I am to assume that is what we are planning to do, yes?" His voice was stoic, cold, it held no emotion at all. Virgil didn't like it.

"Yes, but most experiments you do have to sit and wait a while, right?" He had helped Logan with things before, those memories were fresh in his mind. "So why stay here? I'm sure dad misses you."

"Considering he has not come to visit me since the beginning of your coma I find that highly unlikely."

The two fell silent as Virgil processed all of that, watching Logan fiddle with a bottle of something that had originally been tucked up on a shelf with other bottles of the same liquid. "You love him don't you?"

"Yes, I do. Though, I do not understand the purpose of you asking that question."

"You don't even look sad Lo. I used to be able to see it in your eyes at least, no matter how much you tried to hide the pain. What happen..." His voice trailed off as his mind sorted through the memories. Everything was so vivid and clear but it was chaotic and hard to keep track of.

"Logan, you didn't!" His ears were standing straight, tail bristled as his whole body tensed. "Please tell me you didn't. You said that the risks weren't worth it."

"You are not being clear about your question, if you are however, referring to the experiment that got me originally kicked out of the human colonies, then yes, that is what I did. I determined that the risks were worth the consequences. It allowed me to have a clear and level head while I researched how to wake you up."

Guilt flooded through Virgil's body, he pulled a leg up to his chest as he continued to listen to Logan. He never meant to hurt his friend, but he needed his memories back.

"I will stop now that you are awake. The effects should wear off within the hour."

"You even know how long it lasts, is this just for the past four days of testing, or were you stripping out your emotions before?"

"Observant as ever." Logan pushed the glasses up on his face. "I know how you react to things Virgil, I think it would be best if you were to drop this issue."

"Like hell I am, you also know that that is only going to make me more nervous."

"Very well," He sighed, almost reluctant to share this information "shortly after you disappeared, I went forward with my experiment for 2 months. Patton needed the support, and I could not deal with my own tumultuous thoughts and feelings. I concluded that, until Patton's emotions had stabilized, I would push my feelings aside. As you are aware, I knew there would be a backlash. My mind seemed to attempt to correct the inconsistencies by increasing the intensity of what I felt. That was not a problem as, whenever I felt something, I came back to my lab and repeated the procedure. Unfortunately, this backlash grew until it rendered me catatonic."

"I swear if that was a cat joke-"

"You know I do not joke Virgil."

"Well one can hope when the other option is your best friend attempting to erase his feelings. I mean really, what did you think was going to happen?" Behind the anger in Virgil's voice was obvious concern. "You went catatonic and yet you still decided this was a good course of action?"

"I couldn't handle losing you again." Logan snapped, tears streaming down his face before he swore, quickly wiping them again. He had not expected this flood of emotions to come so soon. He expected he at least had time to get Virgil out of his lab. "I couldn't... I couldn't come to terms that if you did not wake up, not only would I have been the cause of your prolonged stasis, but Patton would not have forgiven me, and I would not have forgiven myself. This is why I do not want to deal with emotions, they are messy and chaotic." His whole body was shaking and Virgil sighed, watching as his friend collapsed into a chair.

"I made the suggestion Virgil, I am the one who allowed my desire to see know us again, cloud my judgement for what your body could handle. Patton has made the logical choice to have his anger focused on me, and I can not blame him. It is my fault." His tears streamed down his face in a torrent that could not be stopped. 

"You aren't to blame for my actions." Virgil's eyes scanned over the crying human before a sigh left his lips. "I am going to regret this." He hopped off of the table and changing into his cat form, allowing his body to shift and shape until he could fit into Logan's lap. He then jumped up onto Logan's lap and began to purr, offering a calming presence to his distraught friend. That was not his only reasoning though. As Logan broke down, Virgil called out to Patton. They needed to fix this. There was apparently a lot left unsaid between the two of them.

AN: I didn't get a chance to run this through my editing software so hopefully it isn't too bad. I hope all of you are having a wonderful new year, hang in there!