"How are you feeling?" Viktor asked as he came into the bedroom, towel wrapped around his hips, silver hair plastered to his face and still dripping from his shower.

"Exhausted." Yuuri looked up from his phone to see Viktor tugging on a sweatshirt. They had left the hospital early in the afternoon on Yakov's orders, seeing as none of them could keep their eyes open any longer. Otabek had refused to move, not that anyone had tried to persuade him otherwise, so Phichit, Yuuri, and Viktor had all ventured back to the house so they could shower and get some proper sleep.

"I can't imagine why." Viktor smiled as he plopped down on the edge of the bed next to Yuuri, who immediately leaned into him. It felt so good to have Yuuri snuggled up next to him, Viktor almost wanted to cry.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" Yuuri asked after a few beats of silence.

"I don't know." Viktor sighed, pulling Yuuri closer in a protective manner as he recalled the day's events.

The police had come to the hospital to collect statements about the assaults, during which they had connected the dots from Yuuri's previous run-in with the man whose name was apparently Grigor Sokolov. Yuuri and Viktor had decided at since they now had all four identities, they would press charges against the group of perverts who had made their lives hell. Little information was able to be exchanged during the statement collection, but they had set up some time to talk to their lawyer about the case.

"Viktor if we don't win-"

"Shh…" Viktor moved one of his hands to stroke through Yuuri's hair. "Even if we don't peg all of them for the first attack, Sokolov will get it for attempted murder, no doubt."

"But all of them have previous offences, so if they walk… what if they hurt someone else?"

"Don't think about it." Viktor laid back, bringing Yuuri with him, letting him use his shoulder as a pillow. Yuuri snuggled closer, slowly regaining the feeling of comfort he used to experience when he slept next to Viktor. "We're going to do everything we can to get them thrown in jail, and if our best isn't enough, we'll do more."

"Okay." Yuuri nodded, fighting with his eyelids to stay awake longer. He just wanted to exist in that moment, cuddling close to Viktor, feeling safe and warm in his arms, forever. He wanted to forget everything; the men who'd hurt him, the pain he'd caused everyone else, the fact that his friend was in the hospital… everything.

"Sleep." Viktor whispered into Yuuri's hair, losing the battle against the calming pull of darkness himself. "Just sleep."

Yuuri couldn't even keep himself aware long enough to respond to Viktor's words, and soon found his mind retreating into the comforting inky blackness of sleep.

But of course, the darkness had to part at some point, and Yuuri's mind sent him back to the clearing, where he had a full, unobstructed view of Sokolov's hands around Yurio's throat.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" he screamed into Yurio's face as he squeezed tighter.

"Move!" Yuuri screamed in his head, straining against unseen binds that kept him from running at Sokolov and getting him off of Yurio. "Goddammit MOVE! He rescued you so why can't you rescue him?!"

Time seemed to slow down as Yuuri just watched, horrified as Yurio turned purple and stopped struggling. His eyes stayed open though, bugging out as he searched through the night. When they found what they were looking for, they regained their usual anger and power.

"What the hell are you sitting around like that for?" Yurio asked the question clearly despite having a too-tight collar of human hands around his throat. "Help me here! I can only do so much for you, piggy. Time to step up!"

"But… But I can't!" Yuuri managed to call back, still feeling as though he were tied down so tightly that no part of him could move an inch.

"The hell you mean you can't?!" Yurio shot back as a sickening crackle sounded in the night. "You saw me get this guy off of you, right? He's three times my size! Don't think about it, just do it! Loser!"

It was that memory of the bathroom, that reminder of a time when Yurio had seen him as no more than a snivelling crybaby, that forced Yuuri to his feet. He was not the man who cried over getting sixth place in the grand prix finals. He was not the man who let everyone down on national television. He was not the man who let a fifteen year old intimidate him.

He wasn't the man who'd let himself be violated by a group of perverts and not fought back. He wasn't the man who hadn't been able to speak for a month because someone had told him to be quiet. He wasn't the man who was so helpless that his friend had died because of him.

No.

He wasn't that man.

He refused to be that man.

"YURI!" the scream tore through his throat as he launched across the clearing, landing on Sokolov's back.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Sokolov roared and released Yurio as Yuuri's fingernails found their target and plunged deep into the bastard's eyes, making him roar louder before whimpering like a kicked puppy.

"I'm not what you think I am!" with new found strength, Yuuri threw Sokolov to the ground, relishing the sight of him cupping tears of blood as they dripped out of his mangled sockets. "I'm not weak! I'm not weak! I'M NOT WEAK!"

"I'm not weak!" Yuuri lurched forward with his cry, confused at first. Where was Yurio? Sokolov? Why wasn't he in the forest? Where was he?

"Yuuri?" Viktor sat up with him, having been woken up by the shout. "Yuuri it's okay, you were dreaming." He placed a tentative hand on his fiancé's shoulder when he saw the signs, hoping to calm the panic attack before it went full-force.

"Yurio." Yuuri muttered to himself, shaking. "Yurio…"

"He's okay, you're okay, we're all okay." Viktor assured, moving Yuuri into a gentle hug when he reacted positively to the hand. "Just breathe."