It was late and the sun had long set over the horizon when they made it back to the camp. Patroclus had not said a word the whole journey back, only staring out at the horizon while keeping a death grip on Odysseus' hand, sometimes turning to look at Antilochus with a pained gaze as if asking "why?".
The own question echoed in Antilochus' mind, "why? Why did Patroclus, sweet, innocent Patroclus have to be the one to discover the desecrated body on the hillside? Did the gods truly take pleasure from corrupting the innocence of a child that had never in his life laid a violent hand on anyone?"
Antilochus was jerked out of his thoughts by a low whine. Turning, he saw Patroclus straining against Odysseus' hold and moving in the direction of Achilles' tent, toward safety and normalcy.
"No, Patroclus," Odysseus murmured quietly, "it is late, Achilles is asleep, as you should have been hours ago. You need your rest, you have had a very long day. "
"Yeah kid," Antilochus murmured, taking Patroclus' hand and gently guiding the teen towards his own tent, "let's get you to bed, you can see Achilles in the morning. Trust me, you'll feel a whole lot better after a good night's sleep."
Patroclus stopped his struggling and let Antilochus guide him to his tent without anymore trouble.
"Do you need anymore help or can you take it from here?" Odysseus asked Antilochus as Patroclus entered his tent.
"I can take it from here but could you watch him, while I go get some gear from my tent?" Antilochus asked, "I highly doubt that Patroclus is gonna be able to sleep on his own tonight and the last thing we need is him wandering off in a mad panic in the dead of night and getting himself hurt. Believe me, he has done it before."
When Antilochus had entered the tent after thanking Odysseus, he saw that Patroclus was already lying on his bed.
"Hey, kid," Antilochus murmured, gently pushing a strand of hair back from his friend's face. "Why don't you try and get some sleep, huh? I promise that you'll feel better when you do."
As he moved to sit closer to the firelight, Antilochus felt a hand encircle his wrist in a death grip and heard Patroclus say in a small, vulnerable voice, "stay."
"I'm not going anywhere, kid," Antilochus murmured gently prying the boy's fingers from his wrist, "I'm just gonna sit over here and do some work for a little while. I didn't get any of these reports read and signed 'cause I was with you the whole day."
" 'Kay," Patroclus said, turning to lay on his side and closing his eyes.
Antilochus was surprised at how easily Patroclus fell asleep and most of the night passed uneventfully, however, in the early hours of the morning, a ragged scream jolted Antilochus out of a peaceful sleep.
Sitting up, he saw Patroclus huddled in the corner of the tent, scratching frantically at his arms.
"What in the name of the gods are you doing, kid?" Antilochus murmured, taking Patroclus into his arms and holding the teen against his chest. His only response was a choked whimper.
"I saw i-it i-in my d-dr-dream," Patroclus sobbed, "I-I s-saw -hic- the b-bo-body again."
"Oh, kid," Antilochus said, sadly, resting his chin on top of the boy's head "I'm so sorry that you had to be the one to find the body. I would have given anything for you not to witness that."
"I-I d-don't wanna go back to sleep, please don't make me!" Patroclus cried.
"Shh, shh, shh, kid," Antilochus murmured laying back down with Patroclus in his arms, "you don't have to go back to sleep, we're just gonna lay here for a while. I need you to calm down and try to rest. You're gonna make yourself sick."
"I c-ca-can't," Patroclus sobbed.
"Yes, you can," Antilochus said firmly, mimicking what he had seen Achilles do to calm Patroclus when he was distressed. "just take slow, deep breaths,"
Gradually, Patroclus' sobs tapered off and his breathing began to calm.
"That's it, kid," Antilochus murmured gently, "just calm down. It's alright."
"I don' wanna sleep," Patroclus whimpered, "please don' make me."
"Easy kid," Antilochus soothed, "no one is gonna make you do anything you don't wanna do. C'mere, rest for a little while."
"No sleep?" Patroclus asked, though his words were already slurring with renewed exhaustion as he lay his head on his friend's chest.
"No, kid," Antilochus responded, smiling slightly, "no sleep"
Patroclus let out a content sigh and quieted down. Within minutes he was fast asleep again.
" I am impressed," a voice said from behind Antilochus, "I can never get him calmed that fast,"
Turning, Antilochus saw Achilles, lord of the Myrmidons standing at the entrance to his tent.
"M'lord," Antilochus acknoweledged, bowing his head as Achilles came to sit next to him.
"I heard that you two had an eventful day" Achilles said.
"You could say that," Antilochus murmured.
"It isn't your fault you know," Achilles said after a pause. "Odysseus told me what happened and how Patroclus ran ahead of you before you could stop him. It was just an unfortunate sequence of events that took place. It is in no way your fault."
Antilochus' reply was cut off as Patroclus began to whimper again.
This time it was Achilles who moved to comfort the boy.
"C'mon cub," Achilles murmured, gently shaking the boy, "it's just a dream, little one. Nothing to get so worked up over."
Patroclus seemed to sense his cousin's presence and settled down, resting his head against Achilles' chest.
"I am going to take him back to my tent," Achilles said, lifting the teen into his arms.
"I can care for him, M'lord" Antilochus said, "it is no trouble at all."
"You have cared for him very well, Antilochus," Achilles responded, his voice filled with pride. "I cannot thank you enough for taking care of him when I could not. However, you need to sleep. You are obviously exhausted and I know first hand how taxing it can be when Patroclus cannot settle down."
"Yes M'lord," Antilochus said.
"Thank you again for all of your help." And with that, Achilles exited the tent.
"Shh, shh, Cub," Achilles murmured gently, as he rocked the seventeen year old in his arms "s'alright, you're not there anymore, I gotcha, you're safe."
"I-I ke-keep s-se-seeing it!" Patroclus sobbed, "every t-time I close m-my eyes! It won't go away!"
"I know, Cub," Achilles soothed, drawing the boy closer and gently rubbing his chest. "I know its scary, but you're safe now, I won't let anything hurt you. You have my word.