I was listening to my Evanescence CD, The Open Door, and messing with some stuff on Photoshop when I suddenly got an inspiration for a one-shot. Hopefully, it won't be super long like 'Time Snap' was. Disclaimer: I don't own Psychonauts or Evanescence.

Um, back story? Younger Sasha (some years before the game) was on a mission to take care of some psychic criminals when he gets captured and they infiltrate his mind to find out why he's there. Maybe they'll find something interesting…or maybe they'll get dragged down by some bad memories…

All Nein Lives

"I don't think this is a good idea…" Said a scraggily looking man, starring through the one-sided window at the pale faced young man tied to a chair in an otherwise empty room looking rather beat up and starved, "I mean, he's a Psychonaut…!"

"Who cares?!" Snapped another man next to him, "You go in that guy's brain and you find out why the hell he was sneaking around our compound! He's not talking! I want answers! Get in there!"

"Yes sir…" The first man grumbled and slunk into the room on the opposite side of the glass. Though he couldn't see his superior, he knew he was being watched. Clutching a PSI Portal stolen from some now dead Psychonauts, he crept towards the unconscious German slumped forward in his bonds, and telekinetically set the PSI Portal on the Psychonaut's head. He was nervous; it was only his second 'dive' and this was into the mind of one of the supposedly more brilliant minds the Psychonauts had. Of course, if he was so brilliant, he probably wouldn't have been captured. A flash of light and he was drawn in. No backing out now.

Shaking off the vertigo, he found himself on a spread of white and black nothing. Huge, almost infinite, edges falling straight into the churning clouds of colors around him. And it was silent, quiet as the grave, and eerie. He looked over his shoulder. It felt like someone was watching him, like there was some sort of haunting presence lingering in the air. It made him shiver.

"Alright, Psychonaut, let's find out why you're here…" He stepped forward, his boots clicking on the black and white floor, "That seems near impossible."

A flash of color. He jumped back, gasping, and then laughed at himself. It was only a figment. He watched it drift away and kept walking.

All that I'm living for…all that I'm dying for…all that I can't ignore alone at night…

"Who's there?!" The man spun around as a snatch of song drifted through the air, "What the hell was that!?" No one but him. Another chill ran up his spine, this guy had to be crazy. A completely insane Psychonaut. Maybe they'd beaten him a little too hard.

All that I'm wanted for…although I wanted more…lock the last open door-my ghosts are gaining on me…

"Stop it!" He ran across the blank space, eyes wide, because there was a disembodied voice coming from nowhere, singing, "Cut it out! Leave me alone!" He tumbled over the edge and slammed onto another surface. Opening his eyes, he scrambled to his feet and gazed around. It was the same black and white surface. There was nothing.

I believe that dreams are sacred…take my darkest fears and play them…like a lullaby…like a reason why…

The man felt something behind him and he whipped around. A small, scrawny, pale boy maybe about eight or nine was starring up at him with empty blue eyes, his greasy black hair falling into his face, his cloths looking a little worse for wear, and his entire form flickering, translucent, like a ghost. The man's heartbeat quickened and he took a step backwards but the boy just kept starring at him.

Like a play on my obsessions…make me understand the lesson…so I'll find myself…so I won't be lost again…

"Who are you!?"

"Sasha. Sasha Nein. Who are you?" A monotone sort of voice, filled with sorrow.

"Doesn't matter!" The man regained his composure, "What're you doing here?"

"Mourning." Sasha replied, an echo to his voice, "What're you doing?"

"Nothing. What do you mean you're mourning?"

…Should it hurt to love you?…Should I feel like I do?…Should I lock the last door-my ghosts are gaining on me…

"She's not coming back." The boy responded, eyes sparkling as a tear slid down his cheek, "I looked. She's not coming back."

"Who's not coming back? And why'd the music stop?"

"Mother." Suddenly, young Sasha's face was inches from the man's, "You're not supposed to be here, I think." He dropped back, hovering inches away and the man was too scared to move, "I can feel the night beginning…" He chanted, "Separate me from the living…"

"Huh? What's your problem kid!?" The man reached out a hand to grab the boy by his shirt front but his hand passed through the translucent figure, "What the hell!?"

"Get out." Angry blue eyes glared at him, blue energy sparking off his body, "Get out of here…!"

"Tch, like you can make me…!"

"Get…OUT!!" And explosion of brilliant blue psychic energy and the man went flying out of the mental world and into the real one. He slammed into the floor, gazing up at the man tied in the chair. The man shifted and opened his eyes, turning his head slowly to look at the man on the floor.

"Invading my mind is not something I would recommend you try again…" He said, pushing against the ropes binding him there so that they snapped easily and he stood, towering over the man cowering on the floor, "And now…pay back for the beating you gave me…"

--------

Milla peered around a tree, turned invisible, and slipped into the clearing as quietly as possible. Her mission, rescue the German agent Sasha Nein from the confines of a couple of psychic criminals and take him back to HQ. She paused at the front door and listened before pushing it open slowly. No guards. Odd, you'd think they have guards at the front door. She made her way quietly down the hall, dropping her invisibility to save some energy for combat if it was needed.

Sensing a flicker of psychic energy at the edge of her consciousness, she followed it down a couple of more hallways, meeting no one, past many doors, and finally to a door at the end of a hall that was slightly ajar. She pushed it open and blinked.

Perched on a chair in the middle of the room with numerous bodies scattered around him, smoking a cigarette, his legs crossed nonchalantly was a lanky, pale man with ruffled black hair and dull blue eyes. He gave her the courtesy of a small when she stepped in.

"You must be the agent sent to rescue me," He stood, took one last draw on his smoke, then tossed it to the floor, putting it out, "As you can see, there is no need. Let's go, shall we." He brushed past her and made his way down the hall as she just stood there, "Excuse me," She looked over her shoulder at him, "But I don't know the way out."

"Of course, darling!" Milla jogged ahead of him and led him out into the clearing.

He took a deep breath and sighed, shielding his eyes from the sunlight. He looked deathly pale in the open air and the various cuts, bruises, and wounds across his bare arms and face made him look like something that had crawled out of the grave. And yet, there was an air of secrecy, sincerity, sorrow, and defiance about him. A heavy mental block was set up around his psyche, preventing her from reading his thoughts. He apparently felt her prodding and turned his blank blue eyes on her.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to invade my privacy, miss." He said in a monotone voice though there was a dangerous undertone to it, "My mind is my last sanctuary."

"Sorry…!" She murmured, looking away, "We should head back to the jet, it's hidden under some-."

"Under some foliage about two miles away from here." The man finished and he gave her another vacant smile as she starred at him, "We should get going then." And he moved off, Milla quickly catching up, "I'm Sasha. Sasha Nein."

"Milla Vodello."

"I know."

"Did you really take care of that whole gang of psychics by yourself, darling?"

"Yes."

"Amazing!"

"Not really."

This semi-one-sided conversation continued all the way to the jet where the Psychonauts who had stayed behind with the transportation vehicle immediately started to clean Sasha's wounds. Milla watched him as the jet lifted off. He made no reaction whatsoever. He just sat there. He could very well have been a statue that was being cleaned. She wondered what it was that made him that way, why he acted so dead to the world, why his eyes were such a blank sort of blue. She was interested in knowing what was inside his mind.

--------

A little weird, isn't it. I guess Sasha and Milla became partners after this. Interesting how this turned out the completely opposite way I intended it to. The song that's randomly playing in Sasha's mind was 'All That I'm Living For' by Evanescence.

Well, please leave me a review and tell me what you thought! Reviews are good! They keep Stopwatch sane, yes they do…! Thanks!