Pinky could barely contain his excitement, hopping from foot to foot as he clasped his hands together, laying them aside his cheek. The time ma-doodle was almost finished! It had taken Brain longer than his usual plan thingies, but he understood that it was because he was all old and creaky and got tired a lot faster than usual. He still finished it within two days! Or would have it finished. Now that Romy was helping, it would be done faster than he could say pneu-mono-ultra-micro-scopic-silico-volcano-koniosis! It was the longest word in the English language. And Pinky had no idea how to say it! Or spell it... egad, it probably wasn't a very good word to use for "faster than you can say..." then, was it? Oh, he'd change to turnip.

"Turnip!" Pinky chirped, holding onto his toes as he rocked back and forth.

Brain spared him a glance over his spectacles, attempting to appear annoyed or uninterested, but the upward twitch of his lips betrayed him if only for a moment. Still, Pinky saw it. "What nonsense are you sputtering now?"

"Pah-new-mah-no-ultra-my-crow-ska-pick-seal-icko-volcano-no-cony-osis!"

Romy and Brain exchanged startled expressions, neither willing to bother deciphering whatever it was the taller mouse had uttered. Or what that had to do with turnips. "Nevermind, Pinky. Go back to your vegetation exclamations."

"Rutabega!" he giggled, spouting off things just for the sport of it, long-since forgotten why he'd started saying these words in the first place.

Brain shook his head and turned the wrench several times before he was satisfied with how tight it was. "And that should do it."

"It's finished?" Pinky was up in a flash, hovering over his cagemate's shoulder as his blue eyes sparkled.

Lips twitching, the megalomaniac reached up to pat his friend's cheek. "It's finished."

An ecstatic gasp his only warning, Brain found himself breathless as he was swept up in a tight, loving embrace. "Oh, thank you! Thank you, Brain! Narf!"

"Y-yes," he wheezed, weakly struggling in his grasp. "Pinky- I can't breathe."

"Oh. Poit." Pinky released him, though took the time to set him on the ground gently instead of dropping him gracelessly. "Sorry, Brain." He started brushing him off as if he'd gotten dirty somewhere along the lines.

The Brain rubbed his chest, casting his companion a look before rolling his eyes and waving him off. "Don't worry yourself, my dear. It's fine." Pinky giggled shyly, and he watched the stern look melt right of the shorter mouse's face. Oh, he could make the scowly-scowls go away with just a laugh? He muffled a couple more with his hands and wiggled with delight as the exasperation became fondness. Which then became sorrow. So quickly became the most despondent expression Pinky had ever been on the receiving end of. His laughter quickly died, oh he hated how making Brain happy was making him sad at the same time.

The hug he gave this time was much gentler and soft, with Brain remaining on the ground as Pinky bent over to nuzzle him and bury his face between his shoulder blades. "Sorry, Brain," he repeated, choked up and regretful.

"No." Brain swallowed thickly, his fingers hesitating on the taller mouse's arms, whether to curl in his fur to keep him close or push him away to let him go. "You have no reason to be sorry, Pinky."

"But I don't like making you feel bad." He rubbed his nose against his back.

Sighing, Brain gave his hands a pat. "Trust me, you do nothing of the sort."

He took a moment to enjoy being held by the precious mouse he couldn't bear to send from his side. But logically it made sense. He'd be preventing this future by sending him back. He'd never know the grief and loneliness that a lack of Pinky in his life had brought him. One ear twitched and he sent a half-hearted glare towards his son, who'd been clearing his throat rather noisily and jerking his thumb in the direction of the time machine. Yes, well...

"Come, Pinky. It's time for you to-" he was cut off at the sound of storming boots echoing throughout the foyer. The three mice exchanged looks, then climbed up to the top of the time machine.

Paul and several other guards raced towards them. "Sir! The hamster has escaped!"

"What?" Brain's fur bristled, his eyes widening for a split second behind the spectacles before narrowing. "What do you mean he's escaped?"

As one of the guards in charge of keeping an eye on the cell Snowball had been kept in, Pinky's ear twitched as he heard something behind him. The taller mouse turned around, blue eyes blinking curiously as he ignored the scared, bumbling excuses and apologies the officer was offering Brain. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary, but he was sure he heard something. His gaze lifted to the donut chandelier. The pretty sparklies distracted him for a moment, but then he saw it. The flash of fur. Graying, but still honey-colored.

"Egad!" Pinky stumbled back into Romy, pointing up as the hamster lifted another ray gun like thingy. "I found him, Brain!"

"Get down, guys!" The clone pushed down on Pinky's shoulder, accidentally sending him sprawling to the floor as the laser beamed right over where the pair of them had been standing.

Before Brain had stumbled even slightly, one of the guards shot at the chandelier, sending a hailstorm of crystal raining down on the polished blue tile. And Pinky. "Careful!" The world leader hollered, gripping his cane tightly as his panicked gaze flitted between the clearly crazed hamster and the thing he cherished most.

"Sir, we must take him down," one of the guards declared, as another fired a second shot towards Snowball, who managed to avoid it as another donut shattered. Brain silently prayed that his friend wouldn't look up, but as luck would have it, Pinky did just that. While he had the sense to close his eyes before any shards fell into them, but he let out a small whine as one sliced his cheek. He ducked down, backing up to seek shelter behind the time machine.

"Stop shooting!" Brain glared at the man responsible for the last shot, fire in his eyes. "You're gonna get us all killed!" He growled when he heard Snowball's infernal laughter, rage boiling inside him. "Find some other manner to apprehend him! He's a hamster, he can't get that far!" Another laser shot past, and Brain could tell he was clearly aiming for Pinky. "Snowball!"

"Not going soft are you, Brain?" Came the teasing response. Brain trembled with anger, clenching his cane so hard he could feel it bend in his grasp. The treacherous, maniacal hamster. He was trying to kill his Pinky.

"Dad!" Brain blinked as his attention was grabbed by his son, gesturing frantically at the time machine. "Send him back! Now!"

Right. Of course. If he sent him back, then the danger would pass as well. Were he a few months younger, he could've easily made the jump down from the top of the time machine, but with his joints the way they were, he had to carefully climb down, losing precious time as Snowball fired another shot at Pinky and the guards tried frantically to find a way to reach the hamster without putting their leader and his family at risk. But despite the hamster's age, he was surprisingly agile and capable of avoiding their aim and capture.

"Braaaaiiin!" Pinky wailed once the shorter mouse was back on the floor, latching onto him and Brain's stomach lurched as he caught sight of the blood dripping down Pinky's cheek. "Brain! Mean ol' Snowball's breaking the donut chandelier!"

It wasn't until his palm was cupping Pinky's face that he realized his hands were shaking. "Oh, Pinky..."

"Dad, hurry!" Romy came around to the two of them, pushing a button to start up the machine.

Brain's ears twitched, disgruntled at being ordered around, but his son was right. Without any more preamble, he input the date Pinky had gone missing, guesstimating the approximate time. A few more flicks of his wrist and a long-winded encryption, and a portal to the past opened before them.

"Pinky! Pinky, where are you? Stop this foolishness at once! You know I didn't mean any of it! Pinky!" Through the ripple of time, the three mice had a perfect window into the past, seeing the laboratory and a much younger Brain before them. A younger, despairing Brain who was turning the lab upside down in search of his friend. "Pinky! Pinky, I'm sorry!"

The taller mouse's heart leapt into his throat. "Brain," he whispered, his eyes widening and his tail erect. "Brain! Narf! I'm here, Brain!"

"Alright, ma, go through." Romy nudged him forward, using his other hand to keep his father from stopping him. They couldn't waste this opportunity.

Pinky nodded and took a step forward, only to jump when the next laser beam that was fired was not aimed at him. It hit the time machine, blowing it to pieces and disrupting the portal to his time. "No! No, Brain!" Despairing, Pinky dove towards the fading portal, watching it flicker out right before he landed face first on the blue tile floor.

Brain clutched the fur over his heart, aching as he listened to his friend's heartbreaking cries. Above him, Snowball continued laughing. "This isn't the end, Brain! Just you watch, I always win!" With that, the hamster managed to swing from the chandelier and out an open window. A stampede of guards abandoned the foyer to chase him down, a select few remaining to protect the emperor and his family.

Romy, for once, growled with frustration and kicked at a singed component of the device. "Glarb!"

Grinding his teeth together, Brain glanced between the open window and Pinky's slumped form. The lanky mouse was looked around for the portal, his eyes filling with tears as he came up with nothing. He crawled forward a bit, on his hands and knees as he whimpered, ears falling back as he slowly turned to gaze at Brain over his shoulder. The megalomaniac's lowered as well, the fury in him being set aside in the face of Pinky's distress. It wouldn't do any good to be angry, not when there were tears sliding down his cheeks and a cut that needed to be tended to.

"Pinky," he sighed heavily, feeling extremely weary all of a sudden, and shuffled over with his cane to kneel beside his friend. He ran his fingers through the fur of his side, but the taller mouse scooted away, ducking his head. "Pinky."

"He needs me, and I'm not there," Pinky whispered brokenly, staring hard at the floor. "Oh, I'm an absolutely wretched friend!"

This time he let Brain place his hand against him. "Stop that. You're nothing of the kind." The megalomaniac's brow furrowed as he cupped Pinky's uninjured cheek and made him look him in the eyes. "If anything, I was the wretched friend. You're not at fault for trying to protect me, Pinky. You didn't leave on purpose, you know that."

"But I wasn't supposed to leave at all!"

"No, and I know that." He stroked away some of the tears with his thumb. "Though you had every reason to-"

"Stop saying things like that!" Pinky threw himself on the ground, burying his face in his arms.

Brain blinked at him, his hands hanging in the air from where he'd been trying to offer comfort. Some things never changed he supposed, sighing as he rubbed his brow tiredly. His eyes met those of his son and he waved him on, wanting a semblance of privacy with his friend. He couldn't do anything about the guards, they were a necessity, but it would be somewhat less mortifying with their clone absent from the scene.

With Romy gone, Brain felt more comfortable as he sat down beside his friend, capable of ignoring the handful of guards keeping an eye on them. Pinky's sobs weren't the noisy blubberings he was used to, but that made them all the more painful to listen to. Carting his fingers through his fur, the megalomaniac stroked his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"I'm sorry, Pinky. I won't speak in that manner again. I promise," he assured him softly. "It wasn't my intention to upset you. You know I hate that."

The taller mouse sniffled and kept his face buried in his arms while he spoke, so only muffled sounds emerged. Brain's ears twitched, but he couldn't make out the words, so asked him to repeat it. This time Pinky lifted his head, fur of his face matted and moist and his teary eyes still leaking. "I hate when you're upset too."

"I know you do," Brain murmured, scratching behind Pinky ear and watched the tremor travel through his back to his leg.

"I hate when people talk mean about you too," he added, a frown uncharacteristic of the happy-go-lucky mouse wrinkling his features. "Even if it's you talking about you. And I don't hate much, Brain. Hate isn't nice at all."

Pink eyes blinked behind their spectacles and his lips quirked up slightly. Leave it to his inane companion to inspire this odd mixture of amusement and concern in him. "You're quite right, Pinky. It isn't nice."

Far too serious for either of them to be all that comfortable, Pinky nodded. "I don't like feeling that way, Brain. I love you too much to let you say mean things about yourself. So please. Don't."

Love. A many-meaninged word. Brain attempted to ignore the hopeful spark in his heart and the shiver that settled in his aging bones. Of course Pinky loved him. Pinky loved everything. Well, apparently not self-deprecation, but that was beside the point. The point was they were friends, best friends, family even. So love was a perfectly acceptable term to address any feelings the taller mouse could possibly have towards him. Even if he didn't deserve them-

"You're doing it again." It was incredibly difficult not to burst out laughing at Pinky's serious scowl. The poor thing just didn't have it in him. "Stop it."

The order had Brain raising an eyebrow, not to mention that his obtuse friend had deduced his train of thought. "And how could you possibly know that?"

"Because I know you. You're one of the only things I do know, so I make sure to do it very well." Pinky nodded firmly, hesitating a beat while a considering look crossed his features. Then he was firm again. "Well, I try to anyway. Troz."

While it warmed his heart to hear, as he most certainly knew that Pinky did try very hard for him, the stubborn nature reared its head deep within him. Ruffling the already mussed tuft of fur atop his head, Brain rolled his eyes. "You only said you disliked "talking" mean. Nothing about thinking it. You can't stop me from thin-"

Pinky had grown tired of listening to the bad talk and being able to do nothing about it. So he pressed his lips to Brain's to shut him up. And to stop him from thinking. He could do that easily. He didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until it was over and blue eyes blinked open to see wide, shocked pink ones. Were he in another state of mind, he would've fallen into a fit of giggles at the silly look on Brain's face. But as it were, he could only feel satisfied that he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do.

He waited patiently for Brain to stop gawking, even though that took a few minutes. "Pinky... what...?"

"Will you listen now, Brain?" Pinky asked, sitting up with his hands folded in his lap. "I love you and I don't want any bad anythings - thoughts or words - about you at all."

The Brain licked his suddenly very dry lips, flushing as he caught himself. "Pinky, I- you- what I mean is-" A scowl etched upon his aging face at his inability to articulate himself. "You don't know what you're saying. You're young and innocent and-"

"I'm not stupid, Brain, I know what love is." Pinky crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

But he was so terribly stupid. However, he was also terribly loving. "I know you know what love is, but you don't know the context of your actions. You can't just kiss me."

"Because why?"

Brain opened his mouth to retort, but his voice fled him as the question stumped him. He blamed it on old age. So he settled for stubbornly scowling at his companion, greeted with a similar glower. They remained in a standoff for a moment or two until Pinky just couldn't hold the expression. His gaze softened and his lip began to quiver, hugging himself more than keeping his arms crossed defiantly.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a long time." Pinky blinked big, blue eyes at the smaller mouse, watching his stubbornness fade a bit. "Poit. But it was never the right moment and I wanted our first kiss to be special. Like a true love's first kiss." His ears drooped. "You do love me, don't you, Brain?"

"Of course I do, Pinky." The words spilled out before Brain even had the chance to realize they were out, unable to deny it when he was ensnared by the gorgeous gaze. He shook his head, more slowly than he would like but his mind was spinning far too rapidly for him to manage anything else. "But that's not the issue at hand," he replied, trying to salvage some of his dignity, but his voice cracked regardless and he had to pause to clear his throat. "You can't possibly... it goes against all reason for you to... Pinky, how is it that you love me?"

The lanky mouse titled his head and reached out to take one of Brain's hands in his. "You know how you always wanted the world a whole lot?" He waited for the megalomaniac's slow nod. "Well... poit. That's how much I want you. I can't think of anything anyone could ever want more, so that's what you are to me. You're my world."

"Pinky, I..." As the shorter mouse's mind raced, Pinky watched and was able to pinpoint the second guilt entered his pretty pink eyes.

"It's okay, Brain, I know you've never wanted me as much as the world." He gave his hand a squeeze, offering up a smile as his friend tried to find the words to deny his claim. "But that's because you never had to."

Brain blinked rapidly, swallowing several times as he considered what he'd said. Oh, Brain was con-fused all the time in his old age. Pinky squeezed his hand again as words found their way out of Brain's mazey head. "I don't understand, Pinky. What are you going on about?"

His most important mouse looked awfully hurt, even though he tried to hide it, Pinky could tell. So he bumped their noses together, the soft smile remaining. "I'm saying that you never had to want me, Brain. Narf. I was already yours."

Egad. Tears were not the reaction he wanted. Pinky cradled his old version of his cherished friend as he cried into his chest. His fingers carted through the graying fur and soft inane syllables were whispered in his ear until the world leader regained enough of himself to cup his cheeks, thumb tracing the scratch, and told him: "You never had to want me either."

Their lips crushed together desperately. One longed to make up for the years they'd missed and the other hungered for the chance to bring happiness to this mouse's life, even if it came at the cost of not giving his first kiss to his Brain. His Brain. All cold and alone and sad...

When Pinky burst into new tears, sobbing into their kisses, Brain hugged his head to his chest and called for assistance to his room. Their room. The time machine could wait to be repaired in the morning; his precious partner needed consoling as well as an injury that needed tending to and both were far too exhausted to make any headway. He really wasn't as young as he used to be.

The door shut, shrouding the two in the darkness of the bedroom. At first, the smaller mouse tried feverishly to comfort him with pleasure. Kissing sloppily, needy, and rubbing their fur together frantically. He'd waited so long and he wanted so much... those tears needed to stop. But a hand on his chest and frightened blue eyes prevented him from doing anything more than heavy petting and gentle kisses. There was a time and place for everything, and now wasn't it.

Safe in their bed, most of the tears kissed away and a bandage on Pinky's damp cheek, the pair cuddled under the covers. Lightly touching everywhere they could, neither could tear their eyes away. "Sorry, Brain," Pinky whispered, his eyes still glossy and red-rimmed. "I just... I wanted you to have my first kiss... before this. Together. I mean, with my Brain. Zort. You know?"

"I do," he hushed him, brushing his lips against his eyes and felt them flutter close, the affection coming freely. Far easier than he thought it would once upon a time. But now, in his old age, he had nothing to lose except the mouse in front of him. And he was losing him anyway. "When you return to the past - and you will, Pinky, I guarantee it - this future will have never happened. So our kiss will have never happened." He watched the eyes threaten to open, but stroked his thumb over his lids to keep them closed. "You and I can have our first kiss together. At the same age, whenever you want."

"Really, Brain?" he asked through a sigh, snuggling against him. "Promise?"

The leader of the world pressed his lips firmly to his forehead. "I promise. Whenever you decide to tell me, I can assure you that I feel the exact same way. So don't be afraid, my dear. No matter how much I yell at or hurt you, my love for you is as everlasting as the earth." The words came so very easily when they fell on deaf ears. Pinky's breaths had evened out before he'd finished his assurances, but the smile on his lips absolved him of any lingering guilt.

He would send him home. To the mouse who needed him more, who needed to give Pinky the long life he deserved by his side. Together forever. He would have a different life, far more satisfying and treasured than this one. Brain was absolutely certain that Pinky would make sure of that.


Awwwwwww.

These two... seriously. They never fail to warm my heart.

Only one chapter to go! If I don't have it up by tomorrow evening, I owe every person who comments/complains about it a oneshot of their choosing xD So expect it!

Gag Credit-

pneu-mono-ultra-micro-scopic-silico-volcano-koniosis: "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs" (also, can you believe that only accepts this word with hyphens in it? It's too long otherwise! It just deletes it xD so, it really is spelled without the dashes).