He knew he should have worn heavier clothes but his pride had gotten in the way yet again.

It had been raining outside all day but Anti wanted to go out and get McDonalds, craving a nice shitty burger and fries. 

He was starving!

Okay, maybe that was being a bit dramatic but that's what it felt like to HIM.

Before he could get into the foyer closet to grab his jacket, though, Chase stopped to bullshit with Jackie about some stupid thing or other right in FRONT of the closet door!

'Fuck' Anti stopped halfway down the stairs, debating whether or not he should just go back to his room or not.

Him and the others still didn't quite get along yet much to Sean's disappointment. 

After the fiasco that was Project Iris, Henrik had run a series of experiments on him. Some went better than others. A lot ended with someone near death.

Oops. 

'I guess I DO have to take the blame for THAT'

At the time, he was just scared and trying to defend himself. He was new and angry and didn't know what else to do.

But in the end, he learned how to calm them down and make them stop treating him COMPLETELY like a wild animal. He just had to stay calm and stay the FUCK away from them.

He didn't want to freak them out or else he was afraid Henrik would want to run more experiments.

Anti knew by now, they didn't WANT to hurt him. They didn't know they had hurt him at all. They just thought they were helping him. Fixing him.

How wrong they were.

And it wasn't as if they'd take HIS word for it. Hell they barely let him speak to them at all.

In Henrik's mansion, the Septic House, he barely even existed to them.

But even if there was that 'invisibility', some of the egos had no problem at all expressing how much they disliked him.

Chase, for example.

In his fear and panic at trying to free himself, Anti MIGHT have threatened the man's family along with hurting his 'brothers'.

That's why when Chase saw him on the stairs coming down, Anti wanted so bad to just sink into the shadows and fade away. But he wasn't Dark, so he couldn't do that.

And no, he couldn't just run to Dark and live with him. They didn't exactly get along the best, either. Anti had tried to escape in his domain, not knowing any better and Dark took it as a challenge. So then Anti of course felt like he had to challenge him back.

That was stupid.

So here he was now, making a split decision. 

'I really want that burger' 

He let his hunger win over and he finished walking down the stairs. But instead of stopping to get into the closet for his jacket, he briskly walked on by, avoiding eye and physical contact at all costs.

He could just barely hear Chase mutter to Jackie, though.

"Fucking freak. Bet he doesn't even feel anything, going out in the fucking rain like that."

He was just wearing a black T-shirt and jeans. He WANTED to grab his jacket but Chase's animosity towards him warded him away. He just wasn't brave enough.

Jackie just chuckled at Chase's jab, not bothering on defending Anti. Why would he? He was the HERO and Anti was the Villain, supposedly, right? At least, that's probably how Jackie saw things. He was polite enough when it was just them in a room but with anyone else around, that was all thrown out the window.

Anti made it outside and even though it was cold and the rain felt like ice cold needles on his skin, drenching him soaking wet, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

He could relax now and go get his lunch.

The next day, Anti noticed he had a little bit of a headache. He took some Tylenol and laid in bed looking at his phone most of the day.

He felt like he was in a prison. Maybe he was.

He groaned as another wave of pain flowed through his skull. Anti fixed his softest pillow, fluffing it a bit more before trying to relax on it again.

'Maybe if I just take a nap, it'll feel better?'

It didn't work. 

He woke up a few hours later and by that time, the Tylenol had worn off, making him feel even worse.

'I don't wanna go to Henrik, though. He'd probably just observe, anyway, and not even do anything about it. Another experiment.'

It hurt.

Couldn't they see he was trying? He was mostly human just like them. Just a bit more . . . unstable?

His chest felt heavy but he knew that was because he just felt sad.

Anti could hear them downstairs laughing and talking together. Like a family. And here he was up in his room confined like a rat they wished they could exterminate.

He curled up in his sheets. He was hungry but he didn't dare go down there right now. He knew eating might help him feel better but he could wait it out until they went to bed for the night.

But then something horrible happened.

He had to go to the bathroom.

'Fuck . . . of course my body decides to this NOW!' 

He wished they all had their own bathrooms in their rooms but apparently Henrik wasn't THAT rich.

Cheapass.

Luckily, though, there was a bathroom on both floors so he figured he'd use the one on his floor, the second.

But as he got up, more sensations started to well up. Nausea combined with his throbbing headache. It made him wobble for a moment but he was quick to steady himself and leave the room. He wanted to be quick so he could run back in and maybe take another nap.

He thanked whatever god there was that he made it in without any trouble.

But luck just wasn't on his side lately apparently.

By this point, his headache was so bad, he was starting to tear up. He hated this. And not only that, he was starting to realize that his head and nose were starting to feel stuffed up.

'Great, it's a sinus headache? And I don't have anything for it. I can't take more Tylenol for three more hours.' he whined to himself.

When he opened the bathroom door to go back to his room, he nearly fainted, seeing Jackie standing there, waiting.

Anti's breathe hitched and at first, he took a step back, worried about what was happening.

But Jackie just nodded to him, "Hey. Marvin had to use the bathroom downstairs. You're done in there now, right? I need to go."

"O-oh" Anti found himself relaxing a bit, "Y-yeah. Sorry" he unconsciously wiped what tears there were on his face.

But once again, his luck was running bad.

"Hey, what's up? You crying?" Jackie seemed to notice the tears.

Anti froze and sniffled a little, unsure of how to respond, "I . . . why are you pretending to give a shit? You never do when others are around, obviously." he shouldn't have said that. He let his irritation get the better of him!

But Jackie just scoffed with a annoyed laugh, "Whatever, I was just asking. Trying to be nice. But whatever. You done in there or what? Hurry up and get out already, glitch-bitch"

Anti flinched at the nickname and as if on cue, he glitched. The action made his head spin and he could have cursed at himself.

Jackie noticed him sway a little but just observed curiously.

Anti hated that. Would it kill him to ACTUALLY be nice for a change? But he knew Jackie didn't care. None of them did. It hurt so fucking much. He was TRYING HIS BEST!

He sniffled and wiped his face again before stomping extra carefully down the hall and back to his room.

'Trying to be nice' he thought of Jackie's words again, 'What a joke'

Anti laid on his bed and curled up in the fetal position, wishing for his headache to just go away already.

That night, he crawled out of bed slowly, testing the waters. His headache was a bit better but now his throat was starting to bother him. It felt sort of itchy and he knew that he'd probably start coughing . . . which also meant he'd start glitching, as well.

'The burger was NOT worth it' he decided.

But now he was hungry after avoiding the others all day and since they were all in bed now, he could sneak down and fix something up for himself!

'Maybe I could make myself some tea, too.'

When he got into the kitchen, he felt like shit but he knew he had to find something to eat so he scavenged the fridge. Luckily, he found some leftover soup Chase had made for everyone that night. He put some in a bowl and started to heat it up on the stovetop. 

He would have heated it in the microwave but the last time he did that, he broke it with an accidental glitch and Henrik had to fix it, sending him little glares here and there.

And with his glitching acting up being a bit sick, he didn't want to take the chance.

He stirred his soup in the pan, enjoying how the steam from it was relaxing his sinuses a little.

He didn't know what kind of soup it was but it looked really good. He could tell there were some vegetables in it and some chicken but it looked creamy, 'Might help me feel better by morning, I hope'

"Hey what the fuck are you doing!?"

Anti flinched and turned around to see Chase standing in the doorway!

His anxiety wasn't helping the situation and he started to spaz a little, "I-I uh . . . I was just heating up some soup! I didn't really eat a lot yesterday. I was just hungry"

Chase stepped in the kitchen looking like a wolf stalking around a deer or something, "Yeah well that soup was for US, not you, you deadbeat."

Ouch. It wasn't like he could contribute in anything since they didn't LET him around them!

But instead of arguing, Anti just nodded, "Sorry. I won't do it again." he sniffled and avoided eye contact.

But Chase wasn't as 'nice' as Jackie and stalked closer and closer to him until he was right in front of him, "Yeah, you just keep acting oh so pathetic. Then when everyone lets their guard down, then what? I'm not gonna let you hurt anyone I care about again, you freak!" he shoved him against the stove.

Anti gasped as his hand accidentally touched the burner, "Ah! Fuck!" he held his hand and quickly went to the sink to put it under some water, trying SO hard not to cry in front of Chase.

If he cried, he was afraid Chase would just mock him for it.

Chase cursed under his breath, "God dammit, now look what you did! Clumsy idiot. You better go see Henrik in the morning and if he asks, I had nothing to do with it, got it?" he threatened.

Anti cowered, trying to seem submissive. It WAS stupid of him to be leaning on the stove like that. It was his fault anyway, he got burned.

He just nodded, "It. . . it was my fault" and just then, he forgot to keep a clear head and the pain wasn't helping. He started to cry silently, sniffling a little more.

And Chase noticed, "Oh for fucks sake! Are you fucking crying?!" he crossed his arms with a small snort, "Geez, grow the hell up, man, it's just a little burn. Knock it off before I actually GIVE you something to cry about!"

But that didn't help matters. Anti was afraid. 

But his soup was ready. Without another word, Anti quickly put some in a bowl, turned off the stove and quickly ran off with it, taking it to his room.

He sat on his bed, slowly sipping on the liquid in his spoon, 'Why am I such a fucking coward? I could easily put him in his place. But I don't want to. Then the others would hurt me. Marvin and Jackie would hurt me  . . .. and Henrik. . ..'

He wanted to run away.

But then where would he go?

He'd never make it on the streets unless he resorted to stealing and Jackie would hear of it and it'll just be the same thing all over again. Pain.

When Anti was finished with his soup, he set the bowl on his nightstand and tried to go to sleep.

The next morning, he woke up to his sinuses flaring even worse than the previous day and when he started to get up, he started to cough again just like he thought he would. He had been up most of the night coughing, keeping him from getting any actual sleep.

'Great. Just fucking great'

He tried to stay in his room again but he knew he needed water.

'Maybe I could snag some cough drops, too'

Suddenly he was painfully reminded of the burn on his hand from last night and he hissed. It was nice and red still and very painful to the touch. He knew he should go to Henrik but he was still too afraid to.

So for now, he went to the bathroom and found some antibiotic ointment to put on it and wrapped it up in a bandage. Hopefully that'd be good for now. The whole time he wrapped it up, he sputtered tiny coughs and sniffled horrendously. 

He couldn't find the cough drops in the bathroom so he assumed they were in one of the drawers in the kitchen. He took the box of tissues with him, blowing his nose as he made his way down. He didn't even care at this point if Chase or the others were down there right now. He needed something to soothe his throat.

When he arrived into the kitchen holding the box of tissues, sniffling and coughing, he wanted to kill himself seeing Henrik fixing himself some coffee. Great. Just great.

And of course the doctor noticed right away.

"Ah! Anti! I could hear your coughing from upstairs! Bad night, hm?"

Henrik seemed nicer than the others but Anti knew the horrors he was capable of even if he wasn't aware of it himself.

Anti just nodded, "I'm just a little sick is all" even his voice was affected by it, sounding stuffy from the flem, "I'll be fine"

Henrik wasn't fooled.

"Sit down, let me examine you, hm?" the doctor motioned to the kitchen table.

Seeing as he had no choice in the matter, Anti trudged over to a chair and set his tissues on the table. Henrik pulled out a small flashlight from his pocket and stood in front of him. 

Anti tensed and looked worried but Henrik just pat his shoulder, "It's okay. Nothing vill hurt you. I'm fascinated you can even GET sick since your name implies otherwise, hm? Look up, please"

Anti did so but he couldn't help but talk back, "It's just a name Sean gave me. I'm just like you guys. . . . . sort of. I get sick, I can feel pain. I can .. ." he was about to say he could die but he didn't want to give anyone any ideas.

"I'm sorry" Henrik sounded genuine as he looked up his nose. He then tapped Anti's cheek gently, "Open up, please. Tongue out"

Just as he was opening his mouth, Marvin walked in.

"Oh hey, am I interrupting something here?" the magician chuckled.

Henrik didn't catch on to the implied joke, "Anti is sick. I'm checking his vitals. Looks like sinus infection. You've been experiencing headache, stuffiness, coughing, dizziness?"

Anti nodded, "All of it. . . for a couple of days now"

Henrik cuffed him upside the head but it was soft, "Silly boy! You should have come to me immediately!"

Anti shook his head and he didn't know why he did that.

"Wh . . . why DIDN'T you come see me?" Henrik actually sounded heartbroken.

Anti started to panic, remembering what the good doctor had done to him.

He swallowed thickly and avoided eye contact.

Marvin felt awkward and scratched the back of his head, "Henny. . . . maybe Anti would prefer .. . MY services? Would you like a potion, Anti, to help your symptoms? I mean, it's only temporary but it should help for a few days, right?"

Anti WAS tempted on it but what if he was just pretending to be nice and poisoned the potions!?

He shook his head, not trusting himself to talk out loud.

In his rough movement, Henrick noticed Anti's hand.

"Anti?" Henrik picked up his hand to look at the bandaging, "What happened to your hand here? Did you hurt yourself?"

And just as if on cue, Chase walked in the kitchen. It didn't look like he had heard any of the conversation but Anti wasn't about to say anything about it.

But his fear was obvious.

Henrik looked from him and to Chase, connecting the dots, "Chase . ..  do YOU know what happened to Anti's hand?"

Chase whipped around looking caught  but Anti didn't want any trouble out of this. It would just come back to bit him later.

"It was my fault!" he blurted, sounding hoarse.

They all looked at him curiously.

Jameson had come in, too, with Jackie behind him, having heard the last bits.

They all looked at him expectantly. It was making him start to panic.

"I. . ..  I.  . . ." he started to glitch with all their eyes on him, "I was just . . .. heating myself some soup last night. Ch-Chase . . . scared me walking in and I  . .. I burnt my h-hand on the burner. . . That's all . . .. that's all"

Chase looked STUNNED. Why the hell didn't he tell the truth?

Henrik didn't believe a word of it, though, seeing the look on Chase's face but he didn't want to pry. Anti was freaked out enough as it was.

"Very well . . ..  I want you to take it easy, Anti. Take care of your illness."

"Wait, Anti's sick!?" Jackie seemed surprised, "I didn't think you could GET sick!" he snapped his fingers, "THAT'S why you looked like shit yesterday coming out of the bathroom and why you were swaying like that! Are you okay?"

Why did he sound so concerned? It was just a front.

Just like yesterday, pretending to be nice.

Anti just avoided looking at him altogether. He hated how concerned everyone was pretending to be. It was just salt on the wound. They didn't REALLY care and that's what hurt the most.

Brought out of his mind dialogue, Anti started to cough again and he covered his mouth as to not disgust them too much.

"Anyway" Henrik continued as Jameson came up to Anti and gently pat his back, "I'll get you some antibiotics from my lab downstairs. Jackie, could you please get the cough drops out of the second drawer from over there? Some tea would help you, too, Anti" 

Henrik put his hand over Anti's head instinctually and his brow creased, "You're getting a little hot, too. Might be sinus infection mixed with the flu. Very unlucky, hm? Do you still feel nauseous today or was it just yesterday?"

Anti went to answer only to be thrown back into a coughing fit, unable to stop it.

"I'll get him some tea" Chase started up the keurig and put a chamomile pod in. When it was done, he put some honey in it and handed it to Henrik who tried to give it to Anti.

Anti wanted it. He did.

But he didn't see Chase make it. He was afraid. What if he put rat poison in it or something.

He shook his head.

"Anti . . .why won't you take it?" Henrik was confused, "It's just chamomile tea. It will help"

Anti shook his head again, afraid of talking for fear he'd go into another coughing fit.

But his breathing was picking up the more Henrik tried to make him drink it.

He could feel a panic attack rising.

'Poison! They're feeding me poison! I have to get out of here! I have to run! Run!'

He tried to get up but his head stopped him, getting dizzy.

Henrik tried to make him sit back down but he accidentally grabbed his bad hand.

Anti yelped and shot away. He ended up on the floor curled against the cupboards. He tried not to look at them. Would they mock him like Chase did last night? He couldn't take it.

He couldn't take it!

Tears streamed down his face, he started to shiver and brought his hands over his head in case someone tried to hit him.

Chase's words rang in his ears from last night.

'Knock it off before I actually GIVE you something to cry about!'

He started coughing again but he was more concerned about not getting hurt.

It was quiet in the kitchen. He could feel everyone's eyes on him.

Were they afraid he'd snap and attack them? Would they hurt HIM for being so annoying this morning? Were they fed up with him and about to leave him alone? He didn't know which one would hurt worse.

"Anti-?" before Henrik could really say anything, Anti started to glitch.

In the middle of his coughing fits, Anti cried and mumbled but they could hear him.

"'M sorry. . . sorry. . . . please. . ..  don't hurt me . . . 'm sorry"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Henrik gently shook him, "Anti . . . Anti, it's okay. Come with me. Let's go down to my lab"

'Come with me'

Anti was terrified of what they might mean.

'Come with me. Let's go down to my lab'

Anti feared the worst. Would he tie him down and try and 'fix' him again? More . . . experiments?

He couldn't do it.

No, not again.

Anti saw an opening to get to the doorway and he took it.

He ran out of the room, very aware of Jackie running behind him but Anti was faster and got to his room, shutting it behind him and locking it. He felt like he'd pass out but he ran under the bed. 

He didn't know what else to do. Yes, it was childish but he didn't care. Maybe if Jackie broke in, he'd think he glitched out.

But Jackie just knocked on the door, "Anti? Hey, Anti, what was that? Are you alright? Henrik was just going to help you get away from all of us is all. I know you're scared and freaking out. You were having a panic attack, right? You felt claustrophobic around all of us? Come on, please open the door? Let's just talk. Please?"

Nothing.

Anti didn't even move.

But all of a sudden, he could hear Jackie messing with the door.

He lock-picked his way in!

Jackie cautiously walked inside, looking around, "Anti? Come on, it's okay, I promise"

Anti didn't believe him and he still didn't move.

But that didn't mean his coughing wasn't going to betray him!

He tried to keep it in but he couldn't and Jackie found him immediately.

The hero bent down slowly and chuckled slightly, "How'd you even get UNDER there? You're so small" he tried to be light about it but Anti just scoot himself further under it away from him.

Jackie sighed, "Look. . . I understand now, alright? Will you just come out so I can talk to you face to face? I won't hurt you, I promise. That's what you're afraid of, right?"

Anti didn't say anything but he still coughed here and there.

Jackie held up the cough drops, "You forgot these. You want one? Come on out and I'll give you the bag"

He was tempted.

"Come on~" Jackie waved the bag in front of him like he was a dog or something and Anti stayed put just out of spite.

"Not a dog. . . . Why . . ..  why do you all. . . treat me . . . like I'm some animal?" he felt himself crying again amidst the coughing, "Not an animal. . . not"

Jackie sighed, " . . . . you're right . . . I'm sorry. I wish Sean was here to help. He'd know what to do, wouldn't he?"

But Sean never came around much anymore.

He vouched for Anti and then he just up and left again.

Really, they ALL wished he'd do more with them.

But Anti shook his head, "Sean . . . hates me, too"

"That's not true, Anti . . . And I don't hate you! None of us do. We're just  . . . . I don't know. . . . I guess it DOES seem that way to you, doesn't it?"

Slowly, Anti got to the furthest end of the other side of the bed and crawled out, peeking above the mattress with Jackie on the other side.

Jackie smiled and threw the cough drops to him. Knowing they were wrapped individually, Anti took one out and started to suck on one, sighing at the immediate relief.

They were silent for a few moments before Jackie finally spoke up again, "Chase actually hurt you, didn't he?"

Anti avoided looking at him but Jackie knew he was right, "I'll talk to him. When you're ready. . . . how about you come back down and we can all just have a healthy chat, huh? We won't touch you or get too close. We'll all just have a long overdue talk. How does that sound?"

Anti liked the idea but he was still afraid, ". . . . you're not just saying that so Henrik can sedate me and do experiments on me again? . . . I'm not going back down in that lab! I can't. Please?"

Jackie felt bad. Yeah, they all needed to have a chat.

He nodded, "You have my word, Anti. I know it might not seem like much to you, but you can trust me. Okay? I won't let anyone lay a hand on you. It's just talking. You're safe"

Anti relaxed at his words. He could feel he was sincere about it.

He watched Jackie get up and walk to the door, "Come on down when you're ready."

Jackie shut the door behind him. He wanted to kick himself, he was so angry. 

It was all his fault. Why couldn't he see Anti's pain before? 

'I could have said something yesterday instead of waving him off. What he said then now makes more sense. How stupid of me'

When he got back downstairs, everyone else was still in the kitchen.

Jackie didn't even give him the chance.

The hero stormed up to Chase and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, picking him up to his height with a snarl, "You hurt Anti."

Chase was shocked and tried to argue, "WHAT?! NO I DIDN'T! It was just an accident! It was . . . .I was only. . . ." he stopped himself, thinking about what happened last night and what just occurred a few minutes ago.

'Shit . . ' Chase realized what he did made everything worse, "I  . . yeah. . .. you're right. It was my fault, not Anti's."

Marvin gaped at him, "Chase, what the fuck did you do!? And here he was even trying to defend you, too!"

"I know. I don't know why he did that" Chase was still surprised about that. Jackie let him back down on the floor. Sometimes being the tallest Septic had it's advantages. Like intimidation for instance.

Jameson snapped his fingers to bring attention to him and he signed, "What did you do?"

Chase rubbed his arm, feeling bad now about what he did, "I uh . . I mean it WAS an accident. . . but I didn't exactly feel bad about it at the time. I uh . . .I was yelling at him. It was stupid. He was heating up some soup and I yelled at him because I didn't want him to have any. I don't know . . . why I was being a dick like that. I shoved him and he fell backwards a bit and his hand fell onto the burner."

"Fucking Christ, Chase" Jackie scolded him, "Do you have any idea how you made him feel? I had to coax him out from under the bed just now. He's terrified. And not just of you. The blame doesn't ALL fall on you but a majority of it does, Chase, don't get me wrong."

Jackie turned to Henrik, "Your experiments at Iris, Henrik. None of us realized, we were hurting him. Scaring him. He's terrified of you, too, because of the experiments you did on him."

"What?" Henrik looked horrified, "But I was only-! . . . I didn't mean to . . ." he started to tear up, "I'm a doctor . . . I'm supposed to help people. . . ." it all clicked into place, "The tea.  . . and the potions. . ..  he thought they'd have poison in them" he realized.

"Poison!?" Marvin scoffed, "I'd never put poison in my potions!"

"But he doesn't know that" Chase sighed, "Just like he didn't know if I put poison in his tea."

Jackie took a long breathe to collect his thoughts, "I told him to come back down whenever he was ready. Then we'd talk to him. Listen to him if he had anything to say. There'll be no hostility. We need to clear the air NOW. It's obvious Anti has been scared of us for a long while now. He hasn't done anything since the Iris incident to warrant that. Hell, maybe there's even an explanation for THAT we've never even thought about."

Henrik nodded, "Very well.  . . . . I feel so dumb"

Jameson put his hand on Henrik's shoulder to try and make him feel better but they all knew that they only thing that would help would be to apologize to Anti.

They waited for a while but it was clear Anti wasn't coming back down again most likely until tomorrow.

Henrik left sealed bottles of water in front of his door and knocked, letting him  know to drink his fluids and that they were sealed so he'd know they were safe to drink. He also tried to leave some bland food at the door, too, but he doubted Anti would touch it. The only thing he knew Anti WOULD touch was the gauze and burn ointment he left.

The next day, Anti felt like death warmed over. His throat felt a little better but his nausea returned full force. His hand felt a lot better, though since he had wrapped them up in the stuff Henrik left.

He had been tossing and turning all night. He had given in and ate the rice and crackers Henrik left but it didn't help.

As soon as he picked himself out of bed, he felt his stomach whirl and felt drool in his mouth.

He had to get to the bathroom FAST.

He ran to the bathroom door, ignoring Jameson as he went past him. He didn't even have time to shut the door behind him. He quickly positioned himself in front of the toilet and vomited. He retched violently, shaking in between harsh breathes.

He didn't notice Jameson next to him, rubbing his back trying to soothe him.

When he was finally finished for a while, Jameson had a glass of water he was pushing to him to drink.

No in the mood to fight it off, he grabbed it and drank the whole glass. He trusted Jameson not to poison him, at least.

Finally, Jameson had him look at him and he signed to him, 'Are you ready to talk? You could lay on comfy couch in the living room. The bathroom is much closer down there than it is from here to your room. You could make yourself some tea. Peppermint will soothe your stomach'

Anti swallowed and cringed, sort of tasting the remnants of what he brought back up. But he knew Jameson wasn't lying to him. He hesitantly nodded, letting Jameson help him to his feet and bring him down stairs.

Jameson had him lean on him to keep himself steady until they finally made it to the couch. Anti mumbled to him, "Can . . can YOU make my tea? Please?"

Jameson nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

While he was gone, Anti flopped onto the couch on his side in the fetal position and held his stomach. He didn't see Jackie peek in from the kitchen and disappear again.

But he DID see Jackie come back out a moment later, dragging Chase behind him.

Anti didn't really know what to do. It looked like Chase had gotten in trouble. The glitch sunk himself deeper into the couch.

Jackie held Chase in front of Anti, "Talk, Chase." he shoved him forward.

Chase looked a little awkward but nodded to Anti, "I uh . . . I wanted to apologize, Anti."

'What!?' Anti's eyes widened, confused.

He continued, "I've been treated you horribly since you've been here and it wasn't right. You haven't done anything to warrant that since you've been here. I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did. I shouldn't have threatened you or pushed you. I'm sorry"

Anti didn't know whether to believe him or not, though. How did he know Chase wasn't just talking out of his ass to keep from getting himself into more trouble with Jackie?

Upon his silence, Chase felt even more awkward but didn't push anything, "Do you . . . feel better today?"

Anti looked at them both unsure and was about to answer when Jameson came back in with some tea. He handed it to Anti and addressed the others.

'He puked upstairs in the bathroom a little bit ago.'

Chase looked a little cheated watching Anti sip on the tea that Jameson made but he understood why. Anti thought Chase would poison him. He hated that thought.

But he decided to wait to bring it up until Marvin and Henrik were in the room, too.

It wasn't long.

Pretty soon, they were all in the living room but let Anti stay alone on the couch to give him space and comfort.

Jackie started it off, "Anti, Chase isn't the only one who should be apologizing. ALL of us need to. I'm sorry I've been kind of a dick lately to you. You were right the other day. I played nice before whenever it was just you and me in a room but when anyone else was around, I was anything but and I'm sorry. We played it off as just messing around but we didn't even think once about how it could have been affecting you."

"I'm sorry, too, Anti" Henrik piped up, "I didn't know. . .  Jackie brought it to my attention and I feel so stupid for not seeing it before. The experiments. . . I thought I was helping you! I didn't know I was hurting you. I'm sorry"

Anti didn't know what to think. Was this even real?

Was he hallucinating? Was he THAT sick? He didn't know how to respond.

But it was clear they were waiting for him to.

He couldn't sit back up so he stayed laid down, holding his stomach, "I . . . that time in Iris. . . .I was new . . . I panicked. I didn't was different from all of you and I didn't know I was scaring you. I was afraid and I just wanted to get out. I wanted to leave. But you all . . . ." he was glad his cough had gone away but he still could barely spit out the words, "You hurt me. . .. tied me down. Confined me. All those tests . . .I felt. . . like a wild animal. A monster. I was just trying to run. I'm sorry I threatened you all. I was just scared. . . . . I was willing to do anything to get away from you all."

"Then . . ." Marvin tilted his head a little confused, "Then why didn't you try harder? You could have killed us. Could have actually hurt us and got away if you wanted."

Anti started to tear up, "I didn't want to. . . . . I didn't WANT to hurt anyone. I was just . . . retaliating. I was afraid. But I learned. . . I learned quickly that if I remained more like THIS. . . submissive. . . . docile. . .invisible.. . .. then you guys stopped hurting me"

"Then what happened when you were . . . born? You hurt a lot of us right off the bat" Chase brought up, "What about that?"

"I'm sorry. . . . I was new. Everything hurt. I was confused. Everything was a blur. But I got better and stopped but that's when Henrik caught me. . . . and made everything hurt again"

"Alright" Jackie nodded, "Okay. So now we understand. Right guys? Now we understand and can move forward?"

There were short nods all around the room.

"Okay then. Anti?" Jackie addressed him, "How about it? Wanna start over? Will you let us take care of you?"

Anti knew he was crying since his vision was so blurry but he could just nod.

It was a nice moment.

Until he had to puke again.

Anti bolted for the bathroom and his retching could be heard from the living room.

Marvin signed, "I'll get an anti nausea potion and see if he'll drink it"

Henrik nodded, "I'll get some Tylenol and the antibiotics"

"I'll make more tea!" Jameson signed.

Chase made his way into the kitchen, "I'll get some scrambled eggs and toast cooking for him"

Jackie made his way into the bathroom and help Anti out.

When Anti was out of the bathroom and back on the couch, he was sure he was dreaming or hallucinating. They were all sitting together with him. Jameson gave him more tea, Chase brought him a plate of food, Henrik gave him some medicine and Marvin was trying to get him to drink a potion.

He didn't want to keep pushing them away so he decided to try and trust them, taking their apologies to heart.

Pretty soon with the medicine and potion, he was starting to feel a bit better but Henrik still wanted him to rest. Not that he had a problem with it.

He was tired as hell since he couldn't sleep for the last two nights. He felt safest around Jackie for the moment so he let the hero sit next to him on the couch with his arm around him and he let Henrik sit on the other side of him.

Pretty soon, he was laying his head in Henrik's lap with his legs on Jackie's, letting Henrik pet his hair as he fell in and out of sleep.

Yes, Chase found he was a little jealous now. He wanted to make sure Anti never felt threatened by him again. He wanted to change things now more than ever and he was letting everyone else near him EXCEPT for him! He understood, though. How couldn't he?

The next day, Anti felt a lot better. Henrik still had him take the antibiotics and he'd HAVE to keep taking for the next week but other than that, he was doing great. Marvin's potions seemed to help a lot, too.

The stuffy nose and headache went away as did his nausea and dizziness. His fever had gone down. But he WAS still tired. Exhausted, really.

Henrik tried to tell him it was probably because he had carrying around so much tension all this time.

Since Anti felt a little safer being around them for now, he came back downstairs to the living room and laid curled up on one side of the couch, falling asleep again.

When he woke up, he was leaning his head on someone.

Blinking his eyes open a tad, he almost flinched back and screeched seeing Chase.

'WHAT THE FUCK!?' Anti raised his head up cautiously to move away. He didn't want to make Chase angry.

But Chase caught him trying to move away and just pulled him closer to lean Anti's head on his shoulder, "It's okay, Anti. I won't hurt you."

That didn't help but Anti didn't move.

Chase could feel how tense he was, "Anti . . . you know I'm really sorry, right? I am. I just don't know what I can do to make you see that. I'm sorry" he pet Anti's hair gently, "Seeing you like this. . ..  so small and yesterday, so scared and sick . . . . you remind me a lot of my kids. I wouldn't want them to go through what you have. I just wanna make it up to you.  . . if you'll let me?"

Anti felt bad and breathed a big sigh, "I'm sorry . . . . for everything"

"I know" Chase rubbed his head softly, "I know. So am I"

Finally giving in, Anti relaxed his head back down on Chase's shoulder, letting himself cuddle into him. He almost felt just as protected as he would be with Jackie. Perhaps that's because Chase is a father and it was just an instinctual feeling?

Whatever the case, it finally seemed as though things might get better.

And it did.

Anti was no longer treated like some monster. He actually got invited to go out with them all, to play games, watch movies and even just just come down and eat meals with them.

From then on, they all started to form a bond with the glitch.

Marvin would have him help him with his potions tricks and let Anti mess around with his gags and prank toys.

Jackie would have him help him in the gym and even teach him some moves and just talk with him about his day.

Henrik would let him twirl around in his chair while he worked in his lab. It didn't seem like a very big deal but it was. No one else was ever allowed in that chair.

Chase would teach him how to cook, do skateboard tricks and do teabag trickshots.

And Jameson would often play two person games with him and have him in his room for some tea parties with snacks and he'd give Anti a puppet show with his socks to make him smile and laugh.

Things were so much better now.

He could never get sick of it.