(Author's note: This is for the prompt "Please, can you be brave for me?" and while it feels more like a sickfic on the tin, it is still about a sickness and vaccination is very important.
I know this feels kinda ironic with the pandemic and the anti vaxxers going on, but I really found this prompt super duper fitting for Leif who I headcanon to be very afraid of needles in a medicinal setting.
This fic of course contains MAJOR spoilers about Bug Fables, especially Leif's request, so please turn around if you still want to play the game.
Leif sometimes refers to himself with I pronouns in here, that is a deliberate choice. I will explain it in the end notes.)
"Why are we waiting in line again?", Leif asked.
"I already told you. There is a new illness going around and the Doctor wants to vaccinate all of us.", Vi said, "You really could listen to me when I talk, Leif."
"We might have been a bit busy with breakfast when you came rushing in, Vi.", Leif retorted.
Vi rolled her eyes. "Of course you were."
"Guys, please, don't fight.", Kabbu intervened, "Basically, we are here to make sure that we don't catch the illness. That is why Vi told everyone in the ant kingdom to get into the hive. Dr. H.B. wants to make sure that we all are vaccinated before it can spread."
"Er… what is a vaccination anyway?", Leif asked.
"You don't know that?!", Vi's antennae stood straight and her eyes widened.
"It has been some time since we have been… last alive…", Leif murmured, folding his wings a bit tighter around him. There was a lot he still didn't know about a world that had moved along without him.
"You are getting a weak dose of the sickness and then your body will learn how to combat it, in case you get infected with the real one.", Kabbu explained, "It isn't dangerous or scary. It will be over in a flash."
"Well, it hurts a little bit.", Vi added, "But I won't cry. I never cry."
"It… it hurts?", Leif recoiled a bit. He didn't have good experiences with scientists.
"Vi, you shouldn't have said that.", Kabbu scolded Vi, who looked a tiny bit guilty.
"Did… did I say it hurt? That was a joke, Leif, it doesn't hurt at all. It's totally harmless. You'll see."
The line moved and Leif couldn't help but feal uneasy. The first time he had seen Dr. H.B., she had wanted to cut him open. She had given up on her request after he had of course denied it. Besides, he had found out just what he was without her intervention anyway. Leif had been long dead and the current Leif was simply revived by a cordyceps. Both Vi and Kabbu had assured him that he was Leif to them and he was incredibly grateful about that, but sadly the memories of the lab over Snakemouth had resurfaced and the… terrible things that had happened there.
Suddenly, the line was cut down to the three of them. Normally, the three of them would always go inside together, but the doctor insisted that everyone had to enter on their own. Kabbu explained that it was because of quarantine. Leif assumed it had to do with the scanning that was done upon entering the hive.
Vi went in first and came out a few minutes later.
"I didn't cry. I totally didn't cry.", she said, flailing her arms around.
"No… nobody said that you did.", Kabbu was a bit perplexed. "Ah, it's my turn now."
Upon Kabbu entering, Vi got some honey ice cream out to indulge in it.
"You got a treat?", Leif asked, "Or is that from your secret stash?"
"Nah, I got it because I was brave.", Vi said, seeming rather satisfied with herself, "I just didn't want Kabbu to call me a child again. Because I am NOT a child."
Leif had to chuckle a bit, Vi seemed even more like a child when she insisted she wasn't. Though her words worried him somehow.
"Didn't you say that it doesn't hurt?", he murmured.
"Oh, it doesn't. It totally doesn't. I didn't cry.", Vi said, a little too fast and Leif felt the uneasiness return in his stomach. Not even eating cooked dangers made his stomach drop like that. He tried to distract himself by looking over the queue and focused on Zasp and Mothiva who were bickering a bit farther in the queue, or more it was Mothiva complaining to Zasp why they had to stand in the queue and Zasp telling her that they already had have their turn if she hadn't taken forever to get ready.
Kabbu returned and Vi hit her treat behind her back.
"You are fine going there on your own, Leif?", Kabbu asked, "We always can ask Doctor H.B. if-"
"We are fine.", Leif said, though his stomach betrayed him, "It doesn't hurt, right?"
"No, it is really easy. I am sure you can do it.", Kabbu smiled at him, "Me and Vi will be waiting for you right here."
Leif nodded, took a deep breath and then entered the laboratory.
Doctor H.B. was turning to face him and she had a far too delighted look at her face for his taste. "Ah, it's you. Are you sure you don't want to take the examination I offered?"
Leif furiously shook his head. That was not what he had come for.
"I am joking.", Doctor H.B. said, though Leif wasn't too sure about that, "Crow, the vaccine."
"H-here, Doctor.", Crow walked over and handed H.B. something, Leif couldn't see clearly what it was, because it was hidden by the giant stack of paper that Crow seemed to carry around everywhere and anywhere.
"Sit down.", H.B. instructed, "And then extend your arm."
Upon this instruction Leif's uneasiness only grew. He still did as said and waited for the doctor to approach. He was still watching her and once he could see just what she had in hands, his eyes widened.
It was a syringe, and that syringe was coming dangerously close to his arm. In an instant, Leif's memories flashed back to his time in the lab and before he knew it, he had casted his bubble shield and backed off, knocking over several things during it.
"N-no.", he rasped out, "No! You don't come near us with that thing!"
The next thing he knew was that Leif had run outside of the lab, heavily breathing.
"H-hey! You didn't have your shot yet.", Doctor H.B. shouted and she had the inadequacy to follow him. Both Kabbu and Vi stared at him when he left the room in an obvious panic and gasped alongside the rest of the queue when Leif turned around to attack Doctor H.B. with his ice magic, only a little, but it was enough to make her trip.
"Don't let her get near me!", Leif yelled towards both Vi and Kabbu. The both of them shared a look, Leif using first person pronouns was never a good sign.
"We will retreat for now.", Vi decided and the three of them used the chaos to retreat into Defiant Root. Once they found a shady, deserted place, Leif let himself fall down, shuddering.
"Leif, please explain to us what happened.", Kabbu requested.
"I want to know that too.", Vi said, "Though have you seen H.B.'s face when you attacked her?! I have never seen her so surprised."
"Vi, please.", Kabbu let out a little sigh, "That isn't the appropriate time."
"It's never the appropriate time for you.", Vi said, but then calmed down and turned towards Leif. "Uh, are you feeling alright?"
"N-no.", Leif said, hugging himself and pulling his wings as tight around him as possible, "You didn't tell me…that it would be a syringe…"
"Why was that… oh, Leif, are you afraid of…", Kabbu said, a sudden understanding flashing over his face.
"Why should he be afraid of… oh…", Vi added, looking down at the ground.
"Do you want to… talk about it…", Kabbu asked, laying a hand on Leif's shoulder, rubbing gentle circles into it.
"We don't know…", Leif said, "Kabbu, Vi, do we have to get back in there…?"
"I am afraid, yes.", Vi said, "H.B. is rigorous when it comes to illnesses. If even one bug catches it and gets it into the hive, it could become an epi…, epi-something. She won't let you go without a shot. Besides, the illness…"
"I heard it's pretty dangerous…", Kabbu continued, "It's good that a vaccine was found so soon, but… it is the only thing that safely protects you from it."
"Can we even get it…", Leif murmured, "You know, with our… condition…"
"You still have the body of a moth.", Kabbu said, "And you can get hurt and you need to eat."
"You eat a LOT.", Vi chimed in, "And even though you never get food poisoning, I don't think that you are immune to… catching an illness. At least I don't want to risk it. You are important to us, Leif."
"Please, can you be brave for me?", Kabbu asked, "Can you be brave for us? After everything we have been through. It is just one horrible moment. Can you do that, Leif?"
"...", Leif hugged himself a little more, "I think I want to talk about it now… The time in the lab…"
Kabbu and Vi shared a look. "Are you sure?", Kabbu asked, "We understand if it is… too much."
Leif shook his head. He wanted to talk about this. "It's okay, really.", he said, "I have to get this off my chest…."
Kabbu and Vi shared another look. "We will listen to you.", Kabbu said.
"Yeah, spit it out.", Vi added, "I won't even comment."
Leif gave the two of them a tiny smile and then spoke.
"You have seen them in the lab… the zombiants, zombees and zombeetles and the…", Leif trailed off. He didn't need to remind his teammates about Zommoth. That all was still fresh in their memory.
"All of them were results of the lab experiments… and of course I too, was forced to fuse with bugs that they brought in. For a cordyceps… it actually isn't easy to fuse with a body that we haven't chosen as a host… it can be downright painful."
Leif withdrew into his wings, murmuring. "That is when they had to make us compliant… with drugs. I remember the agony of being forced in a body I never wanted and then I got forced to participate in their experiments. It was painful, everything about it and I will forever remember the sight of a syringe with the pain and loss of control. I…. I am afraid when I see them. I know that the experiments are over, but my body is still reacting…"
Leif fell silent and Kabbu was speechless for the moment. That was a lot more than Leif had ever shared about his time in the lab. It was no wonder that he was so scared. Kabbu wanted to say something, but at this moment, even though he was the best at pep talks, he didn't find any words. Instead, it was Vi who found her words.
"I did cry earlier.", she said, "I hate them. The syringes. They hurt and they always say they don't hurt and that is a lie. I can get them on my own now, but when I was still smaller, Jaune always had to come with me and hold my hand. It isn't… the same thing you went though, Leif, but I understand where you are coming from…"
"Vi… did you just admit to having a weakness?", Leif felt himself smiling a little under his wings. As brash as Vi was, she had a heart of gold.
"Yes and I would prefer to not repeat myself.", Vi said, "Say Leif… would you do it… if we came with you… and hold your hands, like Jaune did for me?"
"That is an excellent idea.", Kabbu finally chimed in, "We both got our shots already, so Doctor H.B. shouldn't have issues with us being present."
"You would do that for us…?", Leif raised his head, peeking out of his wings.
"Yes, of course.", Kabbu said, "You would do the same thing for us. Well, what do you say, Leif, can you be brave? For us?"
Leif slowly nodded. "We think… we can do that.", he said and stood up. "Let's get back into the hive."
Soon, they stood in the queue again. The uneasiness in Leif's stomach returned, but the moment he looked at his beloved teammates and friends, he felt better. He still started to shiver a bit when it was about to be his turn again. How strange it was for him to feel cold when he was literally wielding ice magic and the cold was a part of him.
Once it was time to enter, he took a deep breath and took both Kabbu's and Vi's outstretched hands.
"Ah, good to see you back.", Doctor H.B. said once Leif entered and her gaze flashed over Vi and Kabbu and especially the placement of their hands. "It hasn't been that long since I always saw you enter with Jaune, Vi.", she said.
"Hey, I haven't come in with Jaune for ages.", Vi retorted, "But now… Leif needs our support. Right, Kabbu?"
"Yes.", Kabbu nodded, "Please let us stay with Leif, Doctor."
"As long as he isn't attacking me again.", Doctor H.B. said, "You are lucky I didn't get hurt because Crow was catching me."
"We… we are sorry.", Leif said, drooping his antennae. "We panicked…"
"Sit down and let's get this over with. Crow, the vaccine.", the Doctor said and Crow hurried over to prepare the syringe. Leif had his eyes on the repellent tool until Doctor H.B. came closer with it.
His breathing got quicker. He clutched the hands of both of his friends and he started to shiver like crazy.
It would be okay however. Nobody would hurt him. Vi and Kabbu would never allow for someone to hurt him (outside of a battle of course). He averted his gaze from the syringe and closed his eyes. It would be just one horrible moment and it was over.
"There, that was it.", Doctor H.B. said and Leif opened his eyes. Apparently, while he was busy not panicking, everything had happened already.
"You did well, Leif.", Kabbu said.
"Yeah, that was awesome.", Vi added, "Hey, you should ask for a honey ice cream."
"...I think we would prefer a cooked danger.", Leif smiled.
(Author's note: So, in the game Leif normally refers to himself with we/us pronouns, that is a part of him being a symbiote and always referring to two people, the parasite and the host. Whenever he speaks with I pronouns, then he only talks about himself as the parasite, aka the cordyceps. It was a thing in game and I wanted to integrate it into the fic.
That actually was my first Bug Fables fic. I really liked the three protagonists and their dynamic and I hope that I did them justice, I am not often writing characters that have hundreds of words of canon lines and are actually fleshed out characters without me having to fill 90 % with headcanons.
Again, this is only thinly a sickfic, but I think we can think outside the box a little, can't we?
The next Sicktember fic will be posted on the 12th of September and it will be another Bloodborne one.)