After given a second bath, Melody had been told about Heinz when asking where Seri had gone or where the food on the tray went.
"Is it okay if I meet him?" she asked innocently, the other once more melting at her sweet nature.
"Sure, I'm sure he'd like meeting you too," the teal haired man smiled. "But he won't be able to talk or move much, so don't get upset if he doesn't respond, okay?"
"What happened to him? Did he get hurt?"
"Yeah, he did, but we're not sure exactly how," he sighed as he carried her down to his shared room with the brunette.
"I hope he gets better," she spoke sadly as they came up to the door.
"Me too," he sighed as he felt himself beginning to brighten up when seeing his former nemesis. "Hey there Heinz, I'm sure that Seri told you we had a guest. Well, she wanted to meet you."
The brunette glanced over, somehow having gotten used to moving his head without feeling it.
The moment he saw the hair and horns though, he held his breath, not realizing he was doing so before the other panicked.
"Heinz! Breathe you idiot!" Perry shouted as he ran over, having set a startled Melody down.
When he was by the bedside, he began performing the basic CPR, ready to do mouth to mouth before seeing the chest rising and falling again.
"What's happening?" Seri asked as she ran in, having heard the shout, her eyes filled with worry.
"I don't know, he just stopped breathing, he looked scared," Perry spoke, feeling his hands shaking.
"He's scared of me…" the tiny girl whimpered, beginning to back away, tears forming in her eyes.
"Oh sweetie, no, I'm sure there's another reason. Don't cry now," the widow cooed, scooping her up into her arms.
"Heinz, she won't hurt you, she saved Phineas' life earlier today, she's a good girl," Perry instantly reassured, instinctively petting the man's hair.
Hearing those words and looking at the small girl, he realized this tiny thing wasn't Eva or connected to her than their similar appearances.
He felt guilty for reacting as he did, for scaring everyone like that, giving Perry a remorseful look as much as he gave it to the child.
Reading it well, the teal haired man gave him a sad smile before turning to the small girl, gesturing for her to come over.
"It's alright now, he understands," he reassured, watching as the two walked over, the little girl sitting in the woman's lap nervously.
"Mr. Heinz," the small girl spoke up suddenly, eyes downcast as she fidgeted nervously. "I don't know if you had a bad experience with someone like me, but I promise, I won't do anything bad here. I like it here a whole lot, everyone's so nice, I don't want it to go away."
She tentatively looked up, tears forming in her eyes before a smile formed on her face when seeing the other's face looking far more peaceful. He held a small, apologetic smile, blue eyes sparkling with a few tears of his own.
How could he be afraid of this sweet little thing?
How could anyone even want to hurt such a cutie?
He saw her growing sleepy as the adults talked with him, the teal haired male telling the two how he knew him, albeit twisting a few things around.
"Pretty clever, Perry the Not Platypus," he chuckled in his head, playfully putting that add on, somehow feeling the other knew what he did.
"I'll be back…" he started, ready to gather the small girl up to help her to bed before Seri interrupted him.
"I'll take care of Melody, you can get yourself and Heinz ready for bed," she teased, making the other laugh softly.
"Alright, Mom," he teased back, the woman rolling her eyes as she left with the dozing child.
Getting to work, he started prepping the bathtub with water, wondering why Seri made it big enough for two people.
Okay, he knew, but it wasn't like he was going to actually bathe with the man, at least not as long as his arms looked as they do.
Heaving a sigh, he got to work making sure the water was at a comfortable temperature he knew the man liked.
Just because Heinz can't feel doesn't mean it shouldn't be comfortable, right?
His mind drifted to the man in question, getting him undressed, leaving a loose robe on him just in case one of the kids came bursting in. Hasn't happened yet, but knew it could, be a nightmare or something else entirely different.
With some effort, he heaved him up into his arms, careful not to hit his head when walking through the doorway and into the bathroom.
Fully undressed and in the water, Perry began to wash the body, careful not to do anything that might seem inappropriate.
He watched the other's reactions, unsure whether he'll be able to feel again or not, so always kept his eyes on him.
Heinz on the other hand, while he truly appreciated everything Perry's doing for him, he still felt miffed by whatever secrets he's harboring.
Even as he's being bathed, the agent hasn't lifted the sleeves of his shirt up, leaving them soaked.
He's beginning to piece together what could be the reason, but without actually talking to him, he was left frustrated.
Just about all of Perry's nightmares seemed to have stopped or they've at least hadn't become as vocal as they were before.
He was still miserable waking up, not realizing he's being stared at discreetly when staring at his arms for so long.
"What happened to you?" Heinz asked in his thoughts, wishing he could communicate with him.
When he had been helped out of the tub, dried and redressed in some loose pajamas, Heinz felt he couldn't take it anymore.
A strange sensation filled him, unsure if it was the Hōgyoku implanted inside him or something else entirely, he found his hand lifting up.
Perry never saw it coming, far too focused making sure the buttons of his friend's pajama top were well fastened.
He stopped, jumping in surprise when a hand grabbed his arm, yanking the sleeve upwards, exposing his scarred limb.
"H-Heinz?" he gasped softly, attempting to pull away, unable to without using full force, something he was afraid of doing with the brunette like this.
The man stared at the jagged marks, taking note of their angles, realizing they were self-inflicted; he raised his head, blue eyes locking with red ones.
"P-please…please let go of my arm," Perry begged softly, starting to panic, seeing the emotions flickering in the other's eyes.
He did let go, only to raise his hand to the other's face, gingerly touching his cheek as a stray tear fell.
How could he move like this?
It should be nearly impossible if his nerves were severed, yet he's moving!
Is he starting to regain feeling or is it something else?
Could it relate to whatever experiments the man was forced to endure?
Perry shook, unable to hold back as a few more tears fell from his eyes, squeezing them shut in an attempt to look away.
Before he knew it, the hand went to the back of his head, making him shake harder, unsure what was going to happen.
What he didn't expect was to suddenly be pulled in fast, face pressed into the other's chest, two arms wrapping around him.
"H-Heinz…" he sobbed softly, hugging him back.
He didn't care if he could feel it or not, how strange it looks if someone walked in on them suddenly.
He honestly needed the comfort, something he couldn't get from the others and the scientist was giving it to him right now.
"I…I'm so sorry; I was weak and so scared. I thought you were gone, my boys, everyone I cared about were all gone. I didn't want to become a monster."
"A monster?" the scientist wondered in his thoughts as he continued stroking the other's back, not bothered by the lack of feeling.
He's oddly enough gotten used to it, yet somehow, it was like he could still feel, figuring it was instincts and subconscious memories helping him.
He's read about something like that before with amputees when he was still in college, so it wouldn't surprise him if it was the same for him.
"I saw so many tortured, murdered before my eyes, listening and watching people committing suicide. I can only imagine what experiments they endured after I had been experimented on. I saw people taken away either to be sold for sex, experimented further or…or they join their cause. I was terrified of becoming that worse than the experiments, than being raped repeatedly!"
"Oh Perry…" Heinz cried in his thoughts, somehow tightening his hug on the other, hearing him cry harder into his chest.
He stared at the teal and black hair, his vision blurring, knowing he must've been crying heavily.
Who wouldn't after hearing that?
They would have to be heartless monsters not to be moved, not to be horrified by the nightmare the poor agent endured.
Before he knew it, he leaned his head down while a hand pushed his head back a little, exposing some skin.
Slowly, he pressed his lips on the crying male's forehead, seeing him jerk in surprise, staring as he lifted a hand to the spot.
"Did he just kiss me? Kiss my forehead?" Perry wondered as he felt the area, a strange tingling sensation filling him.
Whatever the reason behind it was or why he felt like this, he didn't really care at the moment. It felt nice, even feeling better when leaning into the other's arms, his crying slowing down with a few hiccups on occasion.
"I'm sorry for not telling you, I was scared you'd hate me. I've always been so strong around you, I barely showed weakness. I should have known better, you must've gone through far worse than I did."
"My suffering doesn't compare to yours though…"
"Agents aren't even supposed to form any kind of relationship with their nemesis, yet somehow you and I formed a friendship like no other. We fought, we hated each other, yet we also loved each other so much. I don't know why, but the thought of losing you, it hurt far worse than losing my owners, my brothers. Why did it hurt so much losing you when we're enemies?"
"Perry…"
He couldn't believe how badly off his former nemesis was mentally, how unstable he's become from wherever he was prior.
How he survived it all, he was simply amazed, but realized just how vulnerable the other truly was.
Every day as an agent, no matter how calm and collected he appeared, he must've always feared losing his family, losing him as a friend. He must've been terrified one day screwing up, being found out in some manner, who knows what. The pressure must've been immense, then adding in whatever hell he was put through that made him human, it made it worse.
"I'm sorry for being so weak now, for not saving you sooner," he hiccupped, eyes growing heavier.
His body growing limp, the agent let himself and the other crash onto the mattress. He couldn't gather the strength to get up and clean himself off and into his own bed, letting himself hug the other tighter.
"You're not weak though, you never are, no matter how you look," the brunette mentally comforted, pulling the other into his arms before sleep claimed them both.
At some point the sun shined through the blinds, rousing the two men into consciousness, the smaller male first to realize where he was.
"Oh god, what did I do?" Perry wondered, not recalling what happened last night.
When he went to run his hand through his hair, he felt his forehead, memories surfacing, calming him down somewhat.
"At least I didn't take advantage of him," he sighed in relief, "how does he calm me down where my boys can't? Maybe I should ask Jeremy, he's a smart kid and pretty understanding. If Dennis were still here, I would ask him right away…"
A few stray tears fell from his eyes as he recalled the former Rogue.
He missed him so much as did everyone else, but for him; it felt like he lost a brother than a friend.
He'll admit, when he was a new agent, barely out of training, Dennis was considered a prodigy next to him. He admired him so much, and was heartbroken when learning he had become a rogue agent, forced to fight him twice even.
Mentally shaking his head, not wanting to end up in further depression, not when he still has to take care of everyone else here, he slowly got up from the bed.
He knew Heinz wouldn't wake up, if he wasn't awake already, but he did it out of habit from the times he shared a bed with the boys when they got scared, him included.
As he began to gather clothes and get himself freshened up to make up for his lack of bathing last night.
He was just glad that when he read the time, he had woken up an extra two hours before his shift at work would start.
Gives him plenty of time to clean up, get dressed as well as Heinz dressed and in a sense, ready for the day. He'll eat and if Seri's busy, feed the brunette his breakfast too, check him for any messes and by then, be ready to head out for work.
As he dressed, he stared at his arms briefly, recalling how it felt when Heinz held the limb, holding him in general. It felt so nice, wishing when he hugged him, he could feel the same as he does.
He really hopes he'll find the Shadow Queen, maybe she'll know how to fix him, help him regain feeling.
Maybe she'll even know how to restore his vocal cords? Strangely enough, he actually missed his voice from cursing him upon defeat to simply talking to him. Hell, he even misses the man's bad singing.
"What is wrong with me?" he whispered softly, not realizing he said this out loud, thankfully still in the bathroom.
Letting out a small sigh, he finished in there before getting the brunette properly woken up and ready.
This time however, he felt calmer with him, more willing to leave his sleeves rolled up if he needed to.
Seeing no hate or disgust over his weakness from his suicide attempt, he no longer felt any fear with the man.
If only he felt like this with the kids, with Seri, but felt it might be too much for them if he suddenly walked out in a T-shirt and they saw his arms.
The kids would freak out and worry over him, probably upset that he didn't tell them sooner or not understand completely why he hurt himself. Seri, she wouldn't understand, may not even believe him if he actually told her the truth.
There are so many secrets he's keeping now, secrets he thought he'd be done with by now, but more keep piling up.
Maybe one day he'll tell Phineas and the kids, when he feels they could handle such heavy news. He knows he has to someday tell them about the chances of finding their loved ones, ready them for possible heartbreak.
God he felt horrible about all this, why does he get such shitty luck?
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