Malaise

by Jamocha101

In the end, all he really wanted was to be left alone. But he was at least grateful to have teammates that cared for him as much as they did.

This fandom is terribly inactive. Feels almost obligatory to turn out another fic after all this time, no matter how much it potentially sucks. Had this idea in my head for a few days; you know when you're sick, and you just want to be left alone? Rev feels for that. Also working on developing a unique writing style; hope it shows through, here. Needless to say, I would really appreciate critique.

Just a cute little friendship fic, how they would all handle one of their teammates getting sick very early in the morning. Some awkwardness and hilarity ensues, as goes without saying. Mainly, this is a character-development story, so more than Rev fans should be able to get a little taste of their own favorite anthropomorphic superheroes. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Loonatics Unleashed © is owned by Warner Brothers.

It didn't matter how early he would awake, how late at night he would fall into slumber, or how many days in a row he went without sleep, whether it would be from late-night tinkering, ongoing crime fighting, or just pure insomnia. Tech was renowned around the base for being an abnormally light sleeper, light enough to the extent of merely feeling a presence in the dead of night outside of his door and awaking because of the raw feeling that somebody was there. It was if he possessed a psychic ability that allowed him to pick up on any unusual movement even while he was unconscious, and his brain alerted him to become aware of his surroundings. Such nights where this instinct kicked into action, however, happened scarcely. Ordinarily, the HQ would fall to complete and utter stillness when the lights went out, because when you're a superhero enduring physically demanding and stressful phenomena every day, you were exhausted by the time it was designated "bedtime" for everyone in the base of operations.

As exhausting as it was, dealing with everything the team had to deal with moving to Planet Blanc, Tech's sleep had only grown even lighter once the new location was established. The green clad coyote had never, for as long as he could recollect, been able to easily adjust to entirely new locations, and sleep peacefully thereof. Even when moving to the HQ after joining the team on the very first day of his altered life, he had been unable to fall into a satisfying slumber for the first couple of weeks. Although he was able to doze off, he would never consider himself "sleeping," when he was as inefficient as he was with adapting to new environments. He wasn't sure how his other teammates faired, but he never concerned his own problems with them. There was nothing he, much less they, could do about it. And no type or amount of sleeping aides could contradict this.

Tech had his eyes closed on this particular night, laying on his back, his arms laying still at his sides. He might as well had been staring at the ceiling, for it was no more interesting than his eyelids, and he knew that he simply wasn't getting to sleep tonight no matter the length of time he kept his eyes shut or the amount of deep breaths he took in order to ineffectively calm his nerves. It was only a couple days in to the move from Acemetropolis, and he was doing as bad as ever with enduring moving somewhere else; leaving the dessert to go to the Acemetropolis HQ was one thing. He was on an entirely different planet, now, so far away from where he had called home for as long as he could remember. The very thought, for reasons even he could not deduce, were irrationally unsettling.

One of Tech's eyes suddenly snapped open, interrupting any of his idle thoughts.

He must have heard something, he thought; he had felt his ear instinctively twitch at what seemed like a light tread occurring just outside in the hallway where everyone's rooms ran down adjacently. The series of quiet thuds had died down before he could assure himself that what he assumed he picked up on wasn't just his imagination, but he was no Lexi; it was more of his instinct that he was going off of, the instinct that told him something was disturbing the customary stillness of the night at head quarters. If he were fully asleep, the subtle disturbance would have surely awaken him.

Tech knew that every morning Ace would get up at a regular time to get a glass of water; the rabbit had been habitually doing so since the Loonatics first teamed up over a year ago. But, that couldn't be who it was, because it wasn't something that enacted this feeling in Tech that told him that something was out of the ordinary. Ace did it so often, that it didn't register that "disturbance" vibe. It was just another recurring event of the morning. But this...was different.

The coyote wasted no more time. If he wasn't getting to sleep, he might as well kill the seemingly perpetual hours of early morning by investigating this little commotion that he happened to pick up on.

His footsteps were soft as he made his away across his room and soundlessly opened the door to peek down either ends of the hallway. Every movement he produced, it seemed, casted some kind of little echo against the walls, for, with lack of furniture in the squad's brand new vicinity, every last bit of acoustic uprising had no where to go but up against the walls and back again. It was an almost peaceful anomaly, had it been happening during a reasonable hour. At only a couple hours after midnight when it was nearly pitch dark, it was merely ominous.

Tech squinted, but it did little to little to help his vision. The only illumination that was provided in the domicile at this time of day was a soft yellow light that was eternally lit above the oven in the kitchen, and small white lights posted up on the railing against the ceiling that were part of a security system, which was still in progress of installation. The flashing lights indicated what kind of disturbance had caused a breach in the security standards of the head quarters, an extra precaution both Ace and Tech wanted to make, in case all other communications were cut off somehow or another. The building was even larger than the one at Acemetropolis, so it was therefore deemed that extra insurance should be admitted. The lights only ever flashed, however, if there was ever a suspected danger; otherwise, they were just a series of dim white beams.

Despite its scantiness, it was just lucent enough for Tech to make his way. He could have easily switched on the lights in the hallway, but with as bright as they were, he thought that the potential for waking up his fellow teammates was avoidable enough just by keeping them off, and bearing the brunt of the relative darkness.

He rounded the corner at the end of the hallway to make his way to the lounging area, where he initially presumed that the entity might have gone; he couldn't think of anywhere else that would be a reasonable place to go at such an hour in the morning, especially when the aforementioned room was the only one with all of the furniture unpacked and arranged. In fact, the very emptiness of the HQ as he walked through it forced him to shutter; he couldn't stand how unsettlingly uncustomary it was. He couldn't help but just wish he was back home.

He relinquished the thoughts and turned back to reality. He was just coming to the entryway of the lounging room and scanned it with as much effort as he could muster to make out something in the dark. Upon analyzing the area, he nearly deemed it empty before he thought he spotted just a little movement on the couch that sat several yards away from him on the opposite side of the expanse.

It was just a tiny bit of motion; as dark as it was, his eyes probably played tricks on him. But he could swear he spotted something of a silhouette on the couch, now that his vision had been planted on it. And, since there was no harm in persevering in his original mission, he took a few more steps to get a better look. Yep, he decided, somebody was definitely on the couch, and from the look of it, they were curled up in a rather tight ball. Despite being able to determine such details, however, he still couldn't figure out who it was.

"Hello?" he finally vociferated, deciding on the easiest way to find out. The figure flinched, from what Tech could tell, and then sat more upright, big eyes reflecting just a little light that was still radiating from the kitchen and the security mechanisms on the wall. Tech cocked on eyebrow after a dawdling moment had passed. Why hadn't the entity responded?

Tech thoughtlessly looked at the wall next to him, expecting to find a light switch. As far away as he was from the rest of the team at this point, he highly doubted cutting his eyesight some slack by turning at least one light on was going to disturb anybody. Perhaps except for whoever it was that was in the room with him, but if that person wasn't going to make it easier on both of them by saying something, Tech decided, than he-or she-brought it on his-or her-self.

He spotted what he was searching for and examined it for a moment before flicking one of the switches on the little white panel. Sub-sequentially, a single row of lights on the ceiling switched on, keeping the room relatively dim, but inevitably much more friendly to the eye than before.

"Rev?"

Tech wasn't sure exactly how surprised he was to find his avian friend the one to have brought him on this "investigation" of sorts, but then again, he wasn't really expecting anybody in particular. It was slightly unsettling, however, to find that it was the team's speed demon to be laying in the living room at such an unusually early hour, for he had always been one of the deepest sleepers amongst everyone in the team. As hyperactive as he was, the young speedster burnt off a lot of energy in the waking hours of the day, and while at night he showed virtually no indication of such factors taking a toll on his ever-alert self, when he fell asleep, he really fell asleep, and was exceedingly difficult to wake. The deepness of his slumber, though, was made up for by the fact that he was usually one of the earliest Loonatics to get up in the morning.

He wasn't usually up this early, though.

Tech looked back at Rev, who was still curled up on a ball on the couch, and hardly made any movement since Tech had turned the lights on to indicate a response. Instead, he just sat up partly, looking at his canine friend as if waiting for the latter to continue speaking. Tech still couldn't help but feel puzzled at this turn of events; why wasn't Rev saying anything? No explanation, no greeting, no nothing?

Tech hesitated, expecting something, but when nothing came, he took a few steps in the room until he was merely a few feet away from his comrade. "What's the matter, buddy?" he asked sympathetically, although he was more curious than sorrowful, "Why on earth are you up at an hour like this?"

Rev looked up at the coyote so that the two exchanged eye contact, and it was only then that Tech really got a good look at him. And what he had surveyed startled him somewhat; Rev's eyes completely lacked their normal spark and energy. In fact, they looked completely lethargic, being glassy, and bloodshot beyond that. His eyelids, as well, were sunken somewhat so that it looked as if he were only half awake. The coyote had never witnessed his friend looking so limp for as long as they had known each other.

"...You look awful..." the words had escaped the canine's mouth before he was able to restrain himself.

He might have found Rev's responsive scowl humorous, but he wasn't sure how appropriate it was to express such a revelation at this point...the speedy bird was almost pouting at the remark, in a fashion that resembled that of a five-year-old who got his toy taken away from him. Such childishness in Rev's nonverbal communication weren't uncommon.

That was the thing, though; even now, he continued to remain silent. Tech nearly shuttered as he came to this realization, for he never remembered Rev being so quiet upon straightforward confrontation like this...ever. Even if he wasn't in the greatest of moods-and he usually was-, he would still ordinarily speak whatever was on his mind, not one to keep secrets. As sensitive as he was, Tech assumed that keeping secrets is something that Rev doesn't even know how to do. If something was on his mind, it would certainly be unhealthy for him to conceal it, or-and Tech was sure of it-or it would just eat away at him. And these very notations only became progressively more ominous as Tech contemplated them. Was Rev keeping something from them? Did he do something wrong? Did they do something wrong?

"Rev, what's the matter?" Tech earnestly inquired again, trying to get a clear look into Rev's eyes to ensure his genuine concern. He took the last remaining steps that was separating him from the couch, and took a seat right next to the red-clad avian. "Why are you so-" the coyote abruptly stopped himself when he put a hand on Rev's shoulder, the result of doing so shocking him into silence. Rev felt so warm...even through the fabric of his nightshirt.

Rev opened his mouth as if to respond to the incomplete inquiry, but instead of actual words germinating from the attempt, his fist immediately flew to his beak, and series of loud, ongoing coughs broke into it. Rev's eyes were squeezed shut while the hacks rattled his frame, the coughs sounding rough and, more than that, painful. It took what was probably a full minute until they finally began to subside and Rev sunk back into the couch, as if the sudden episode weakened him.

Tech's eyes widened in spite of his awareness, and his hand went automatically to Rev's forehead. He hadn't even thought before he did it. Rev wasn't content with the sudden gesture, however, for his face scrunched up into a tight grimace as if the back of Tech's hand making contact with his crown was hurting him in some way. Notwithstanding, the disapproval was more likely caused by the embarrassment of being mothered by his own teammate.

"Oh, relax," Tech flatly said, drawing his hand away. Replacing it when Rev complied by loosening his face muscles, Tech frowned swiftly and his brow furrowed. Quietly, almost in a whisper, he anxiously remarked, "You're burning up, Rev..."

Rev may have grunted or groaned in response to the remark, though it was so inaudibly quiet, Tech wasn't sure. In any event, Rev had seemingly given up on communicating with his canine friend further, and leaned back down on the armrest the way Tech found him when he first came in, letting his eyelids drop. They weren't completely closed, though, which suggested to Tech that Rev wasn't even trying to sleep out here. His glassy eyes were pinned to the wall on the opposite side of the room, as if there was something intriguingly and hypnotically interesting about it.

Tech saw how inert Rev really was, and worry immediately washed over him like a powerful wave. Rev hardly ever got sick...how could he? In fact, Tech couldn't recall seeing any of his teammates sick since the very first day they met, save for the occasional cold that Duck seemed to be prone to catching in the winter, but that was virtually nothing. Rev was totally run down, and being so indifferent to his normal happy, energetic self was something Tech was of the highest disapproval of.

"Hang on, buddy," Tech said, his resolution putting an edge on his voice. "I'm going to get you something that'll bring down that fever."

Rev looked at Tech wordlessly out of the corner of his eye for a moment, but he didn't say anything. The latter didn't have time to pick up on the expression, though, before he was already up and on his way out of the living room. His gait was nearly a jog and he disappeared around the corner, eager to get to his destination. Rev nearly rolled his eyes at his friend's evident potential for enveloping himself in his infamous doctor-mode.

The coyote had rounded the corner absently, and had looked back to get one look at Rev to see if he would move at all; if he would try to get up or anything of the sort. His attempts were fruitless, though, because he felt himself suddenly crash directly into a rather solid surface almost immediately after he had averted his vision. A couple of reactionary "Oofs!" echoed over the hallway walls before the two colliders got a look at one another.

Ace. With a cup in his hand. It was "that" time of morning.

The aforementioned rabbit was looking at Tech with glazed-over eyes, one his fists rubbing mercilessly at the left one, and his right one looking down at Tech with the most unreadable blank gaze. "Ehh..." he said, before a long yawn interrupted his own trademark phrase. "What's up, doc?" he said, upon recovery. And then added, tiredly, his voice scratchy, "...What're you doin' up so early?"

Tech shook off the question before he allowed it to veer him off-track. Taking a moment to disregard his leader's inquiry, he moved past him to get to the closet that hopefully withheld the medication that Tech was hoping to find; without everything unpacked and completely organized, a lot of the Loonatics' items were simply scattered in various parts of the HQ, and weren't inevitably exactly where they were supposed to be as an inconvenient result. Ordinarily, Tech would keep all of the medication in the med-bay near his lab, but neither were completely set up yet, and so he seemed to recall slipping some of it in the closet with other presently misfit objects. He dug through the storage unit's contents before being reminded of the presence behind him.

"Rev's sick," the canine blankly remarked. "I'm getting something to bring down the fever."

Tech wasn't turned around to see Ace's face fall into another unreadable expression, but he could swear he almost felt it. A moment passed before another vociferation sent more echoes on the walls. "...Rev's sick? How'd you know? Is he in his room?"

"No. I heard a little noise out here, and when I came out to see who it was, I found Rev laying on the couch in the lounging area. Guess he couldn't sleep, I don't know." Tech's concentration was still mostly set on finding the desire content, and his hands dug deeper and deeper until he had to stand on his toes in order to reach the back of the shelves.

"Well...ain't that the oddest thing? Rev never gets sick, " Ace remarked dumbly, putting a hand to his head as if entertaining the very thought was painful to it. Only half-awake, he wasn't quite sure how accurately he was able to analyze the situation. "What kinda...'sick' is he? Any way I can help?"

"Aha!" Tech suddenly interjected, tugging out and sub-sequentially examining a white medicine bottle and a thermometer. He shook the former slightly to ensure that an efficient amount was still in there, and then turned to his bunny comrade, being reminded that the latter had asked him something. "I don't know 'what kinda sick' it is yet, I only just found a few minutes ago. All I know is, if he was any hotter, he'd melt the couch. As far as helping...I dunno...you can get a glass of water to help him swallow these pills," he affirmed, and quickly started to head in the opposite direction without waiting for a response.

Ace immediately deduced by Tech's rushed demeanor that he was eager to help his friend, which was comprehendible at best, at least when it was so early in the morning and Ace's brain was not completely functional. He knew Rev was sick, but he wasn't sure that he completely "knew" it quite yet. Rev sick? Since when did that ever happen? But knowing that he lacked the brainpower to answer any of his own internal questions, Ace made his way over to the kitchen sink and filled up two glasses of water; one to fulfill his own desires, and one to fulfill Tech's desires.

Tech re-entered the room to find Rev pretty much exactly the way he had left him; curled up into a tight ball with his head rested on the sofa's arm, and his sickly eyes staring blankly ahead. Tech nearly cringed. Now that he thought about it, he never recalled ever seeing Rev even tired before, lest seeing him sick. The closest he could ever recall to seeing him so lifeless-like was when Sypher had stolen his powers, and even then he still retained at least a bit of his characteristic enthusiasm, despite the consequential lack of energy. Now, though, his speedy friend was just like a zombie as far as he could tell. He knew that such sluggishness was merely a symptom of many illnesses and it was really nothing to get so worked up over, but seeing it in Rev? It was unnatural to the extent that Tech, despite being one of the most rational members of the team, couldn't help but let it severely unnerve him.

The coyote shook away the thoughts, refusing to let them cloud his logical judgment. He moved forward and repositioned himself on the couch next to Rev like before, and quickly skimmed over the directions on the bottle. Rev, in return to the reappearance of Tech, readjusted himself to sit upright which took a lot of effort, and didn't hesitate to wear another grimace on his face. Of the very few things Rev truly hated in the world, pills were definitely one of them. As scarcely as he was prone to illness, he only recalled taking them a few times in his life, and not once did he remember it being tolerable. He wasn't sure how so many old people could swallow them dry every single day and not have a problem with it. Not only did they always taste like something along the lines of bitter rubber and plastic, just the feeling of them slithering down his throat was sickening enough. And they always felt way bigger than they were. Even the smallest pills made him feel as though he were endeavoring to swallow rocks. No amount of water, as far as he could remember, was ever able to make it better, and the lingering, sickeningly toxic taste left in the back of his mouth always made him want to gag.

Tech looked up from reading the directions on the bottle in time to see the look on his friend's face, and felt his own face fall in return. "It won't be bad," Tech said. "It's just a couple of pills."

Rev narrowed his eyes.

"I'm going to take your temperature first to get an exact number," Tech said, pulling up the thermometer and waiting for a moment so that it could reset. "Here," he said, handing it to Rev, who took it weakly in a trembling hand. "Put that under your tongue and wait for it to beep."

Rev examined it a minute as if it were some alien technology before complying and putting it in his mouth. His feverish eyes stared down at it, watching as the number rapidly increased.

He had hardly done so before Ace entered the room, carrying a cup of water in his hand. He paused in the doorway, once he caught sight of Rev, and it was only then he really realized what exactly Tech meant when he said that he was sick. Ace's face fell involuntarily at the sight of seeing his normally energetic friend so uncharacteristically motionless on the couch, with a thermometer sticking out of his mouth and eyes as red as the triangle on his uniform, had he been wearing it at the time. Ace bit his lower lip; he remembered when he had gotten sick one or twice at home when he was just a little rabbit, and he just as clearly remembered how much it truly sucked. He wasn't sure if he was ever really as sick as Rev looked, though, and if there was anything Ace wanted right now, it was for him to feel better. He felt that he was responsible for his teammates, and if one of them became ill...it was his job to try and make them feel better, right?

Ace walked the rest of the way into the room after shaking away the troublesome thoughts, and kneeled down near the armrest that Rev had been laying his head on before he sat upright to get his temperature taken. The bird had only turned to look at his leader then, and Ace could swear he felt himself tremor at getting a close-up on Rev's sickly eyes; he looked like had been crying with how watery and discolored they were. The yellow-clad rabbit felt worry immediately flush him out...Rev was going to be okay, right? He had to be okay. Ace looked at him like a little brother...if anything happened to him...

Once again, Ace shook away the disturbing thoughts. Nothing was going to happen to Rev. Not as long as he had anything to say about it. He wore a small smile on his face for his younger friend's sake, despite how he was really feeling. Maybe if he appeared happy, it would cheer Rev up a little bit. "Hey, doc," he said softly, putting his hand on Rev's shoulder and giving it a little squeeze as if to wake him up from sleep. "You're sick, huh? Well, Doctor Tech and his handsome assistant Nurse Ace will turn that that right around," Ace had reassured with the most optimism he could muster. And to his immense relief and satisfaction, he could swear Rev had turned his head and gave him the smallest of smiles. Nothing compared to Rev's usual glower, but at least it indicated some source of life that Ace was desperate to see. Rev reminded him of a little kid.

The thermometer beeped, and the blue roadrunner removed it from his beak to look at the monitor. He couldn't get a look at the number, however, before Tech was already on top of it and had removed it from his hand to look at it himself. To both Rev and Ace's horror, Tech's eyes widened beyond normal capacity, and a quick exhale escaped his windpipe.

"A hundred and three-point-nine," he breathed, his eyebrows knitted together in the utmost lack of satisfaction. Rev's temperature was over five degrees above normal. Ace leaned over and took the thermometer away from Tech as if he didn't believe him and wanted to see for himself.

"Swallow these," Tech said, quickly rattling two white pills into his paw and handing them over to Rev, whose face scrunched up into the exact same grimace he had before. "Come on, Rev," Tech said, clearly not willing to tolerate his friend's childish hesitation, "We can't let your fever stay so high. As soon as you take this medicine, I'm going to figure out what's wrong with you."

"Here ya go, doc," Ace gently offered with a smile, giving the glass of water to Rev. He was still kneeling down next to him. "That should make it a little better, huh?"

Rev breathed an inward sigh, and slowly took the water from Ace's hand, the cup rattling with how unsteady Rev's own hand was. He rolled the pills around in his free hand slowly, as if looking to find an indication that they were poison, before he very reluctantly tossed them in his mouth and tried to take a few swigs of water to wash it down as fast as he could manage; if he remembered anything from having to take pills in the distant past, it was that the longer he allowed the pills to stay in his mouth, the more they disgustingly resembled plastic to his abused taste buds.

The terrible feeling of taking the little white tablets had not been reduced at all from how he recalled it, and his face turned into a sour pout even before they had completely gone down his esophagus. As fast as he endeavored to be rid of the medicine, the taste of a pungent cardboard-like substance still wreaked all over his tongue and the roof of his mouth. He couldn't help but utter a nearly inaudible "ugh" in reaction to the aftermath, and put a fist up to his mouth as if he was ready to chew it to get rid of the taste.

Ace chuckled at the sight of Rev's reaction, but felt a pang of sympathy for him at the same time. He hardly recalled a time when his bubbly friend appeared to be as miserable as he was now, and his instinct led him to put a hand on Rev's back as if it would help him get over his malice towards the medicine. If nothing else, he thought, Rev should at least know that he and Tech were going to take care of him. But Ace's kindly gesture took virtually no effect, for nearly as soon as it occurred, Rev leaned forward, and began coughing hysterically into his fist. Tech and Ace's eyes both widened, and the latter began rubbing small circles into Rev's back, feeling at a loss of what to do to make his ailing friend get over the episode. Rev's whole frame was tense and shaking, from what Ace could feel; he could almost feel himself begin to panic despite his universal resolve to remain keen at all times. Rev's hacking sounded like it really hurt; Ace had never heard anybody cough like this. It sounded like it was suffocating him.

If it had gone another second, Ace would have probably actually started to lose whatever cool he had left, but thank goodness Rev had managed to calm down and slump back into the couch. His muscles went completely inert, as Ace could tell with the hand that was still on his teammate's back.

"You alright doc?" he asked, readjusting himself to put his other hand on Rev's shoulder.

In response, Rev only allowed his head to lull to the side, and a light groan escaped his apparently dysfunctional throat. As if this very expression wiped out his last bit of remaining energy, his eyelids flickered for a second before they went shut immediately afterwards.

"Stay awake, Rev," Tech quickly said, his hand going up to give Rev's shoulder a little shake. Rev's eyes responsively reopened, but he had only looked more lethargic than when Tech first came out and found him by himself. "I want to see if I can make a diagnosis-"

"Ehh, maybe we should just take him to the doctor, Tech," Ace cut in. "I mean, look at him-"

"With all due respect, Chief, I happened to commit to medical studies before I got in to engineering. I can handle this for now. If we need to take him to the doctor, we will."

Ace was about to argue, but couldn't so much as open his mouth to do so before Tech began to deal with whom he considered his patient. "Can you tell me your symptoms, Rev?" the coyote asked, although he knew that if Rev hadn't spoken so far, he likely wouldn't, even with coaxing. With how his coughing had sounded, it was understandable albeit unnerving.

As was expected, Rev had only looked at Tech for a moment with his big, glassy eyes, and his beak turned downward somewhat into a small, heartless frown. If only he could let Tech know-he wanted to talk, he really, really did...there was hardly ever a time when he didn't, given the opportunity. For as long as he could remember, talking, getting things off his chest, telling people all about whatever was in his head at the time, was one of his favorite pass times. He would have gladly let Tech know exactly how much his throat was killing him, how so wickedly dry it felt, how uncontrollable the painful the coughs were, but he simply couldn't, no matter how abundant his desires were. It made him feel deprived; even if he had made the effort, all that would come out was a croak; that's how much his throat hurt, and it was so sudden that he could swear it knocked him off-balance as if he could only hear out of one ear. For the past few days, he hadn't been feeling his best; his throat had gotten progressively more raspy, he felt more tired than he would normally feel, he had become a little sluggish...but he merely dismissed it. Nobody else seemed to notice, so he figured it was nothing to get worried over, and nothing furthermore to worry anybody else over. Surely, he thought, it was just a cold, and it would go away. But he woken up tonight with a terrible feeling that there was some kind of...knick in his throat...some kind of little pinch, and when he ended up involuntarily coughing it out, he found the rasp in his throat had increased tenfold, and whatever symptoms he had been exhibiting for the past week had completely wracked themselves over him as if a few hours of sleep had fueled their ferocity. It was miserable, it made Rev feel handicapped. With as much energy as he found himself lacking, all he wanted to do was sleep, but his sickly body, apparently, protested and wouldn't allow him to slip into dormancy. He wasn't even sure why he had come outside into the living room...maybe he was just sick of staring at the ceiling in his own bedroom.

"Rev...Rev..."

Rev had to rattle himself out of his thoughts as he had realized Tech, who was leaning into him with the most incredulous of glances, was trying to get his attention. Rev felt stupid; he was must have zoned out, and now Tech and Ace are going to think he's delirious; he hardly enjoyed being catered over as if he was a child. It wasn't that he didn't like attention, but this kind of attention he only found irksome, embarrassing. When he came out of his room, he never anticipated anybody coming out to find him here...all he really wanted to do was rest in silence. All he really wanted to do was try and get some sleep.

"I want to check his throat," Tech said, turning to Ace once he had regained Rev's attention. "I need a flashlight, though. Be right back," and then, before he completely departed from the vicinity he added, "And check his temperature," referring to Ace, who still had his hand planted softly on Rev's back.

Obediently, Ace picked up the thermometer where it had been placed on the armrest, and wiped off the tip with the end of his nightshirt sleeve, turning it on, and handing it to Rev in silent succession. The latter avian was grateful that at least Ace hadn't put it in his mouth for him...that would have been exceedingly perturbing.

As soon as Rev secured the device in his beak, a voice suddenly filled the atmosphere from the other side of the room, giving the two presences a start.

"Ace? Rev?" Although both of the referred-to Loonatics were expecting Tech, the aforementioned voice certainly did not belong to him.

Both Ace and Rev looked up at the same time in surprise, and none other than a female figure stood in the doorway of the lounging area.

"Lex?"

"...I was asleep, but then I heard voices out here," she explained, taking a few steps into the room. She needed not to elaborate that it was her sensitive ears that picked up on the rustle that was going on outside of her room; this much was already inevitable. "I just passed Tech on the way in here. What's going on?"

Rev took the thermometer out of his mouth just in time for another short coughing fit, as if to answer Lexi's question.

The female rabbit, in return, walked the rest of the way in until she closed most of the distance between her and her two friends, and her face fell into a sympathetic furrow, catching sight of the ailing roadrunner, whose fit had just subsided until he was able to sit back and catch his breath.

"Oh my gosh," she said suddenly, kneeling down in front of Rev the same way Ace was still kneeling beside him; the latter had taken the thermometer back and examined it shortly before putting it back on the armrest. Lexi must have noticed.

"Do you have a fever, Rev?" she asked, concern written all over her tone, to Rev's furthering chagrin. Lexi had protective tendencies, and with her female instinct, she couldn't stand to see any of her friends in any kind of sub-standard state, physically or mentally.

"One hundred and two-point-five," Ace said, knowing Rev wasn't even going to try and vocalize if he hadn't done so up to this point.

"What are you guys doing out here? Shouldn't Rev be in his bed?"

"Tech came out here and just found him on the couch-"

"Maybe we should put a cold cloth on his forehead," Lexi suddenly suggested, eyeing the roadrunner anxiously, and then turned to face him directly. "You really don't look so good, Rev," she remarked, observing his sluggishly red eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Ehh, I don't think he's gonna talk, Lexi. I think his throat's bothering him."

"Aw...poor Rev," she said, her brow furrowed together. "We should call a doctor, shouldn't we?"

Ace smiled at how frantic Lexi truly sounded. "Tech said he's got it 'under control,'" Ace replied. "He went to get a flashlight to look at Rev's throat...I have no idea what's takin' so long."

Lexi suddenly pressed the back of her hand up against Rev's forward, the same way Tech had done shortly ago. Rev didn't even bother protesting this time; at this point, he hardly even cared any more. "He's so warm, Ace-"

"Tech gave him medicine a little while ago to cool him off. It was almost a hundred and four before-"

"I wonder how he got it," Lexi abruptly remarked, perceiving Ace progressively less. She kneeled back down to look into Rev's eyes again. As much as she hated to see how feverish they looked, she found herself unable to turn her eyes away from examining her ailing friend as if it were a train wreck that she couldn't look away from; having come from a big family, Lexi had seen a lot of illness from her younger and older siblings alike, and a certain protective nature had inherently been part of her ever since she had left them to join her teammates in their resolve to become a superhero squad, or what have it. Being a few years younger than herself, Rev earnestly reminded her of some of her younger brothers, who even had the same bubbly tendencies from time to time. She remembered how terrible it was whenever they would come down with something, and how she often took responsibility for them and went through great trials and tribulations to making them feel better. The severity of the illnesses that Lexi had witnessed as a middle child in a big group of kids had varied from near hospitalization to just a temporary cold, but each time she was forced to find herself in a spot in which she had to take some kind of motherly role. As much as she hated to admit it, she thought she didn't know Rev probably as well as she should, but seeing him in such a laid-up condition so suddenly gave her a little scare; it reminded her way too much of what she had left behind. Immediately, she attempted to recall every method she had previously utilized on her brothers and sisters when she found them in a similar position.

"He should be drinking fluids," she suddenly said, straightening up. She forced a weak smile on her face as she looked down at her younger friend. "I'll get you some cold water, Rev. Maybe that'll make your voice feel a little better That is partly what's bothering you, right?."

Rev wanted more to be left alone than he wanted anything to drink, but he had to admit that getting something to soothe his terribly sore throat didn't sound like a totally bad idea; and he voiced such an opinion by throwing the blonde rabbit a small smile in return before the latter turned around to go into the kitchen and fetch the promised beverage.

Ace stood up, too. He wasn't sure how long he had been kneeling down, but as soon as he had straightened he could swear he felt something in his knees pop. What was taking Tech so long to get a flashlight? If he had anything to say about the situation, he would advise that they just call a doctor and have Rev get professional medical attention, but he knew how stubborn Tech tended to be when he felt that he could rightly control a situation like this. The longer it took for Rev to feel better, though, the more Ace just wanted to abide by his own version of resolving the problem.

As if on cue to the very thought, Ace felt another presence make their way into the proximity that he was occupying, but when he looked directly ahead to welcome whom he assumed was Tech, he was surprised to find that it wasn't only Tech who was making an entrance, but two more acquaintances accompanying him as well.

"Well, well," Ace smugly remarked as Duck and Slam followed behind Tech into the lounging area. "Looks like it's a party in here, now."

"They just woke up," Tech explained, walking ahead of them to get to Rev. "Couldn't get them to go back to bed," he then added tartly, as if he disapproved.

"Well how can you sleep when all you can hear is yack, yack, yacking?" Duck said, puppeting one hand to punctuate his point. "Because of whatever festival was being thrown out here, I'll never know how that dream ends."

By then, Lexi had begun to enter with a bottle of water in hand and was standing behind the outspoken mallard. "Misty Breeze dumps you and all your teeth fall out," she sourly suggested, throwing a reprimanding scowl at Duck as she was highly intolerable of his lack of consideration at a time like this.

Duck inhaled to respond in an equally tart manner, but Slam's blubbering had filtered the lingering atmosphere before he could. "Awwww...Revvie not feel gooooood," he mused, noticing Rev sitting on the couch. At the moment, he was having to comply with Tech, who was sitting next to him and shining the flashlight in his mouth. Ace had sat back down and was on his knees on the other side of Rev, looking at the two of them, eagerly anticipating the result of Tech's examination.

"Say, 'ah,' Rev," the coyote commanded, adjusting the flashlight somewhat.

If he could, Rev would have laughed at how far this was being taken. Trying to tolerate the less-than-desirable circumstances, however, he attempted at obeying, but instead of being able to carry out any sort of note, the result was absolutely unnerving to anyone in the room who had heard. The avian sounded as though he had been gargling nails. Worse than that, not even a few seconds after he made the awful vocalization, he had pushed Tech's hand away so that he could turn his head to the side and promptly have another coughing fit into his fist.

By then, Lexi had jogged over and waited until the hacking eventually subsided to hand Rev the bottle of water. The sickly bird graciously took it, but only sipped it scrupulously after he felt as though a series of white flames had went up his chest and out through his esophagus.

Slam had walked in further and wanted nothing more than to scoop Rev up into one of his trademark bone-crushing hugs, but he knew that it was probably best if he reframed. To satisfy his desire, he instead opted to pat Rev on the head and murmur some incoherent message of condolences. Rev looked up after feeling the gesture from his much larger buddy and smiled a thanks for it, but he still couldn't help but just want to be left alone; being fawned over by Tech and Ace had been bad enough, but now he was literarily surrounded by all his teammates, who were all sharing their own opinions of the issue while he sat there, hopeless to add anything to the verdict no matter how much he would have really liked to. In fact, if he could, he probably would have found some way to tell everybody to just go to bed, but even if he could talk, he might have not been able to break everybody out of their own individual chats.

"Okay, I've seen enough," Tech said to Ace, turning off the flashlight and putting aside, "Rev's throat appears to be inflamed. Honestly, I'm not sure what could have caused it. What was his temperature last time you took it?"

Before Ace responded, Duck had his own way of punctuating his thoughts on the current happenings. "What kind of sickness is it, Tech? Is it contagious? Please say it's not contagious. I am a brave, strong superhero-I can't end up like that," he said, gesturing to his fellow fowl. "No offense, Rev."

It was at that very moment that Rev was sure his head was going to explode, because all in one second, it seemed, everybody started talking at once, and to think it only took under half an hour for the entire team to be up and in the same room without any effort put into the occurrence whatsoever. A more convenient gathering could not have happened if it was prompted, not at this hour in the morning. And between Lexi snapping at Duck, Tech and Ace arguing over Rev's sickened state itself, and Slam's independent interjections in his very special language, the room was so full of life that it wasn't difficult to decide that it was a mistake on Rev's part to come out in the first place. All Rev really wanted from the very beginning of this long night was peace; complete and utter silence and peace. He left his room because he wasn't feeling good, and being very abruptly reunited at what wasn't even three in the morning with all his teammates might have been one of the last things he would have asked for. He loved all of them, he really did, but he just wanted to be left to suffer on his own, because as far as he could tell, all the bickering was doing absolutely nothing whatsoever for his progressively more unhappy vocal chords. He wanted to block out the noise-he wanted everybody to go to bed. If he had to be sick, he would like to be sick by himself.

Rev just didn't know what to do to get everybody to shut up; he had half a mind to get up and go back to his room, but as much as he wanted to get away from everything, he wasn't sure if he was willing to be brusque enough to actually "ditch" everybody's ongoing "efforts" in a sense. Without realizing, he had already clasped his hands over his visually imperceptible ears, though it did little to block out all the noise. All he could do was pout and wait for everybody to shut up. He even considered, out of desperation, trying to utilize his obsolete throat to find some polite way to let everybody know that they weren't helping in the least bit, but even if he felt that he was capable of even talking at a normal volume, there was no way he was going to be able to raise his voice above the room's populace without feeling as though he inwardly damaged his throat beyond whatever repair it needed.

For what felt like probably hours, but was more likely minutes, Rev found he didn't have to vocalize to silence the progressively increasing volume in the room; Ace had done it for him: "Alright...alright!" he had exclaimed, managing to get everybody's attention on the second attempt. Rev slowly removed his hands from the side of his head. "Let's just think about what we're doin' out here. All of us stayin' in here and bickerin' is not goin' to make Rev feel any better."

"I say we dump him at the doctor's office," Duck ruthlessly interjected with the opportunity of silence. "The sooner any contagion is rid of, the better."

"Blow it out your beak, Duck," Lexi heatedly snapped in return, vehemently wishing that she could somehow educate the mallard on courtesy, a word that was clearly not in his lingering vocabulary.

Consequentially, another ongoing battle was about to break out between the two impatient teammates, but Ace managed to stammer out a halt before any such happenings could germinate.

Duck sighed and softened his voice, almost as if in defeat. "Don't you think it's best to bring him to a doctor soon? I mean, it's not just that I don't want to get sick, but if he's going to feel better, shouldn't he get professional help?" Duck said it almost timidly, as though he was trying to prevent any indication that he actually cared for Rev's wellbeing; but the truth was, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his fellow birdfolk on the team...he was always getting sick when he was younger, and living in an orphanage among at least a hundred other kids whom also got sick meant he got minimal attention to lessen his woes. Not getting any aforesaid attention when he really needed it back in those days was so difficult-nobody was there for him. And now that he really thought about it, he wouldn't have wanted for any of his teammates to go through the same thing, even if he sometimes wished they could relate to him better. Looking at a rather sickened Rev was actually disheartening as it reminded him of those bad memories; he wished that the red-clad roadrunner would return to his normal self as soon as possible so that Duck could be rid of these mental burdens.

"What time is it, anyway? Seriously doubt the doctor's office is open at-" Tech did a quick browse of the dimly-lit expanse before locating a clock on the wall-"Three in the morning."

The other Loonatics followed suit of Tech's vision to analyze the time as if they didn't believe it themselves.

"Takeh lotchah menerohh," Slam remarked, his brow furrowed in utmost discomfort for the possibility that his friend may be unable to obtain help.

Rev, upon translating his much bigger friend's suggestion, sat up and rapidly shook his head, his eyes widened and furrowed to the point that he hoped his distaste for the idea was as evident as he could make it with as much communication capability as he lacked.

"Don't like hospitals, huh?" Ace read Rev's quick response like a book; out of everybody, the bunny chief had probably comforted the roadrunner the most since he had been awake with him; he had been the one to really analyze everything he really wanted to convey without being able to do so verbally, and it was refreshing to say the least, to have an elder friend that could understand you like that. Ace had managed to get a smile or two out of Rev since he had been up, argued against Tech's humorously overbearing tendencies, shut everybody up when they were all talking at once, and read his verbose communications like it was no problem-Rev guessed Ace had a knack for being as cunning as he was. He had never felt so assuaged by him as he did now.

"That's alright," Ace continued, still kneeled down on the right side of Rev so that he was at eye-level with the avian, "Seems to me like you're alright enough to avoid a trip there anyway. At least you're breathin', easily, right?" the rabbit interrogated with the same soft smile on his face that Rev found progressive increasing comfort in. The bird threw back an almost enthusiastic nod in return, with a small smile to match Ace's, a gesture of oblivious appreciation.

"I guess we'll take Rev to a doctor tomorrow. I'll make the appointment in the morning as soon as they open," Tech said, finally surrendering his ascendancy.

"Well, won't that doc be thrilled?" Duck pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest and tossing a look at the ceiling, "A superhero that runs a million miles a day and never breaks a sweat, and that guy'll be able to brag that he had one such a Loonatic as a patient. If there's any good to be brought out of this, it's that Rev'll be making someone's day." Duck wasn't sure if this was some convoluted way of cheering Rev up any, but the very mentioning of the thought rang true in his head. Nobody, not even the team itself, ever thought of superheroes getting sick.

Ace chuckled somewhat, amused by the notation. Slowly, he got up from his kneeling position and took the moment to stretch out little knots in his back. "Well, I guess we'll see soon. And, uh, I don't know about you guys, but there's only about four hours left of designated sleeping time, and I'd rather we all be at least somewhat charged for tomorrow."

Despite the evident hint Ace was indicating, Lexi couldn't help but make one last sympathetic inquiry. "You don't want us to stay up with you or anything, do you Rev? Play video games or something?"

Rev was eternally grateful for Lexi's offer, but shook his head with an appreciative smile. What he really wanted was silence for once.

"Alright. Well...I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Rest well, buddy," she reluctantly said, throwing him one last grin before turning around to exit the room, Duck and Slam hesitantly following suit.

Duck sheepishly paused in the doorway and looked back, cutting off Slam from going out behind him. "Uh...get well soon...I guess," he muttered, although it was genuine. Slam smiled and grunted out a compassionate agreement before the two completely retired from the scene.

"You'll be okay until morning, right?"

Rev looked up at Tech, whom stared back down at him with an abundant amount of concern that hadn't left his eyes since he had first come out and found out that Rev was sick; the latter couldn't help but smile at him. As close as they were friends and viewed each other in equality, Rev couldn't help but sometimes view Tech as a superior, and sometimes this made him feel more inferior than anything else. Right now, however, he was only eternally grateful for yet another friend that was so concerned for his own wellbeing; as annoyed as Tech would get at Rev, he was always there as a leader for him. He was always there to teach him and be help him learn and grow...and in the end, Rev guessed, they were both willing to learn from each other. It was a quick but refreshing revelation.

Still smiling, Rev nodded up at his canine friend, hoping that his appreciation was evident in his expression.

Tech sighed like the response didn't satisfy him. But, he wanted Rev to be comfortable, and if he was more comfortable out here than in his own room, then so be it, he decided. "Alright...We'll get you feeling better as soon as possible. Just try to get some sleep," he advised, patting Rev on the shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Tech," Ace said, throwing Rev a wink. He had read both of their thoughts. "See ya in a little while, doc."

They all exchanged one more smile before Rev was left by himself in the room, which was once again darkened when Ace had turned out the lights on his way out. Finding himself alone so suddenly, it almost felt a little foreign now that his teammates had gone back to their designated quarters, the room left in a newfound silence that Rev had been yearning for since the very first moment Tech had awoken and come out. He marveled at being able to relax by himself, but he found warmth in a feeling of peace that he wasn't in possession of since before the little "gathering" of sorts occurred...having all of his friends out there, concerned for his health, arguing over the very thing, wishing him better...even Duck. It reminded Rev of how much they were all worth to one another. He had forgotten what life was like before he had them. And with as close as they had gotten and were continuing to get, especially with having to cope with the move to Planet Blanc, Rev could never imagine life without them. Despite how much they managed to annoy him not even ten minutes ago.

The roadrunner sighed deeply as he sunk back into the couch, letting his thoughts cloud into a dozing consciousness. As much as he had wanted to be left alone, he was at least grateful for teammates that cared for him as much as they did.

Had some ups and downs with writing this; I beseech you to review, for I would really, really appreciate feedback. This really wasn't about Rev's actual illness, so no, I didn't elaborate on exactly what kind of illness he had. Didn't really think it was important. I feel as though the end is somewhat rushed, but I could only go so far before I thought it was being spread thin. Thank you for reading.