Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon. If I did, let's just say that there would be a lot of shounen-ai...
A/N: Might be a oneshot, might not. Haven't made up my mind yet. Please review.
It's dark, and there are Digimon in the snow, but he doesn't know their names. He doesn't know and he doesn't care, he wants it built, he wants it built so he can control even more of the pathetic little creatures that run around his world. He stands above them, watching them work, grinning as they shudder in the freezing cold, grinning as they stumble and fall and hurry on, afraid of the long black whip he carries at his side. He stands and watches and one of the creatures falls; it falls and does not get up. He cracks his whip in the air and smirks as the other Digimon flinch away, smirks as the fallen one's fellows try to urge it to move. The Digimon doesn't move, it only shivers, it whimpers, and his eyes narrow and he grows angry. Disobedience makes him angry. He raises the whip and lashes downward, across the back of the defenseless creature and somewhere behind him another Digmon whose name he doesn't know closes his eyes, unable to watch...
It remains dark and there is Agumon, unconscious, a black bracelet around one arm, and he is furious. He doesn't want SkullGreymon, he wants MetalGreymon, and the Dark Digivolution is not working. He is formulating a plan, a new device, and new torture toy to play with and test on the small orange Digimon. As he works he is oblivious to the green caterpillar who sneaks slowly away, the tiny green caterpillar who would give anything if only his master would experiment on him, if only his master would torture him...
It's always dark. It's always dark in his mind, and the darkness never leaves, and the darkness is seeping into his heart. There is Wormmon again, at least he thinks that is what the worthless creature's name is. The Digimon is attached to his leg, it's begging for something, it's begging to be used and abused and tortured and beaten, it's begging for him to show it that he cares, but he doesn't care. Did he ever care? He raises his whip and brings it down, and Wormmon flinches away, but he can't stop. He brings the whip down once more, and down again, and again until he's satisfied that the pest won't follow him anymore. He leaves the Digimon shaking on the black floor, welts rising on his smooth sensitive skin, he leaves it and grins maliciously as it whimpers and cries...
The sun is bright but he can't see it. He can't see anything but the darkness in front of his eyes, the darkness that has blinded him for so long, but the darkness is pierced and he sees Wormmon lying at the feet of the children he has tormented for so long. Wormmon isn't moving, he's still, and Gatomon is leaning over him. "He's still breathing," Gatomon says, but the words barely register with him, he only knows that it is Wormmon, and Wormmon wanted whatever he would give him, and he has given him death. He rushes to Wormmon's side and picks him up, he's panicking now, he's been so wrong all this time, he has killed the only creature who has ever cared for him. Wormmon opens his eyes, they are blue, but they are weak. "Goodbye, Ken-chan," Wormmon says, and his eyes close and the blue is no longer visible. Wormmon's eyes are closed and he is only holding a body and the body disintegrates and he is holding air. Wormmon is dead, he is dead and he is gone...and it is all his fault...
Ken Ichijouji sat up so quickly that his head connected smartly with the ceiling. He really was getting too tall to sleep in the top bunk. The pain in his head, however, didn't exactly register as he stared into the darkness of his room, shivering in a cold sweat.
Though he knew it had only been a nightmare that had woken him, he still panicked, feeling desperately around his bed for Wormmon's soft, comforting form. He found the Digimon asleep at the foot of his bed and gathered him into his arms. At the sound of his partner's sobs, Wormmon's eyes flew open, and he nuzzled into Ken as the boy cried.
It was the sixth night in a row that Ken had woken him like this, and Wormmon knew that no amount of words would soothe him.
Ken wept into his partner, his body shaking, until he had cried himself into exhaustion. He fell asleep with tears still pouring from his eyes. His arms were still wrapped around the small, green Digimon, as if he never wanted to let go.
Wormmon pushed Ken gently back onto his pillow and tugged the covers up to his chin. Then, he burrowed beneath she sheets, snuggling under Ken's arm.
The nightmares that woke his partner in the middle of the night were a mystery to the Digimon, who knew only that Ken needed comforting.
It seemed to Wormmon that all Ken had ever needed was comforting.