When Baby returned after a few hours, Otis was still asleep. Knowing he was exhausted, and likely wouldn't sleep at night for a while, she let him rest, sitting beside him and stroking his hair, just as she had done years ago when he had first come to the Firefly family.

She remembered how sick and weak she had thought he was. Now she understood that he was a lithe predator, he had just needed the proper foundation.

Of all of her siblings, Otis was probably her favorite. Maybe that was because they understood each other so fully. Maybe it was because when she had an itch that needed scratched, he was the only one that could do that for her. After all, he wasn't her biological brother.

She had always thought he was gorgeous. She loved his white hair; how when he washed it, it was so soft and flowed down his back. She loved how pale he was. How when she nipped at his skin when they were having a round, the mark would show up instantly, not hours later. She loved his red eyes. How piercing he could make his glare, and how they shone violet in the moonlight. Once he had gained weight and muscle during the time he was recovering, his body was something to be marveled, as well.

Not to mention-

"What're you doing?"

Baby's train of thought was broken by Otis's voice, still gravelly from sleep. "Checkin' on you. You hungry? Shit. I know the answer to that. I'll bring you somethin' up, though. Just in case..."

Otis didn't eat that night. He did, however, drink the hot tea and water offered to him.

No one in the Firefly family slept that night.

Baby had retreated to her own bedroom after Otis dozed off for the second time. Everyone in the house was asleep until around 2 am.

Mama firefly heard him screaming first. Terrified, desperate, and agonized. It only lasted for a second. She knew Otis suffered from dreams about his parents occasionally, but she had never heard him scream.

That was when she understood what had happened to him. When she knew what had been done to her boy. Fury grew in her gut and she lay back down, sure she wouldn't sleep.

Baby heard the scream and jumped out of bed. She ran to his room, knocking on the door she knew he would have locked. "Otis? You alright?!"

"Y...yeah..."

"You gonna let me in?"

"...No."

"Yeah, yeah...I'll keep bugging you till you do."

The door slowly opened after a few moments. Otis peeked around the corner. "Go back to bed, Baby."

"Otis...You're safe now. You're home."

If only he cold tell his mind that.