Wakko had no idea how long he'd been laying here, staring up at the ceiling. All he could think about was the filming earlier today… or maybe it was yesterday by now. He was pretty sure it was the darkest thing they'd ever done; the only thing that came even close was the death scene in their movie. That was hard enough, but it still came nowhere close to what they did for this one. Whose idea it was to have all three of them essentially die, Wakko had no idea. It hadn't been real, he knew that, but it didn't help much.
Shifting in his hammock, the middle sibling pricked his ears. He could hear his siblings, Dot snoring and Yakko's softer ones, and wasn't sure how they even managed to get to sleep. But he could hear their occasional sharper breaths and knew that their sleep was far from peaceful. He wanted to do something, but he didn't want to wake them up… no need for all of them to go without sleep tonight.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Wakko was about to roll on his side and try to get some sleep himself, but then his ears pricked again as something reached them: quiet, fearful whimpers, and he recognized the voice right away. Immediately he sat up and peeked over the edge of his hammock. Dot was sitting up too, and their eyes met for just a moment before both looked down at the ball pit.
Yakko was tensing in his sleep, clutching the blanket in a tight grip. His face was set in an expression of extreme distress and his whimpers were growing louder.
"N-no… no, please…"
The two younger siblings immediately climbed down, clambering over the balls to their brother's side. Dot reached out and shook his shoulder.
"Yakko? Yakko, wake up."
"No! Please, don't!"
The eldest Warner appeared not to have heard her. He was almost yelling now, his grip on the blanket getting even tighter. Dot shook him harder, raising her own voice almost to a yell.
"Yakko!"
"NO!"
Yakko shot upright, eyes snapping open as he looked around wildly. Wakko reached out, gripping his brother's arm.
"Yakko, it's okay!"
The eldest Warner's frantic eyes moved to him, then Dot, the wild panic lifting just a little.
"S-sibs?"
His voice was hoarse, and he was trembling hard. Dot reached out and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"It's us, Yakko," she reassured, her voice soothing. "We're here."
Yakko's eyes moved back and forth between them again, then they grew over-bright, and his jaw tightened before he reached out and pulled them both into a tight embrace. Wakko felt his shoulders shaking, heard the hitches in his breathing, and knew he was struggling not to cry. His own throat tightened, and he swallowed hard before returning the hug, rubbing his brother's back like he always did when comforting him or Dot.
"It's okay, big brother. It's okay."
Yakko took a deep, shuddering breath before releasing them, almost reluctantly, then placed his head in his hands. He took several more deep breaths in a clearly arduous effort to compose himself.
"We'd ask what you were dreaming about," Dot said softly. "But I don't think we've gotta."
Yakko nodded, his head still in his hands. There was still a tremor in his voice when he spoke.
"Sorry if I woke ya up."
Wakko looked at Dot, seeing the same concern he was feeling in her eyes. He returned his attention to his brother.
"I wasn't really sleeping anyway," he said. Dot patted their older brother's back.
"Me neither. Anything would've woken me up… and I think I'd rather be awake anyway."
Yakko took one more deep breath and swiped at his eyes before looking up and giving them a weak smile.
"Guess we all would, sis."
A few moments of silence passed, then Wakko spoke up in the best cheerful voice he could.
"We can watch my Don Knotts collection."
He couldn't help but wince at how flat his tone fell, but it was saying something to how desperate for a distraction they were that both his siblings immediately nodded. Yakko kept a tight hold on his and Dot's hands on the short walk to the couch, but neither of them called him out on it.
Wakko put in the first DVD, then moved to join his siblings. Dot was already nestled against Yakko's left side, his arm around her, so Wakko settled in on his right side. His brother's arm immediately wrapped around him, pulling him close. For a while none of them said a word, the only sound coming from the TV, but the silence was doing nothing to alleviate Wakko's concern and a glance at Dot confirmed it wasn't for her either.
Yakko was gazing ahead but didn't seem to be seeing what they were watching. He had a distant, almost haunted look in his eyes, and the way he was holding them, as if afraid they might disappear the moment he let go…
It was Dot who finally broke the silence, bumping her head gently against Yakko's shoulder before speaking in a soft voice.
"If it'll help to talk about it, you can."
Wakko nodded.
"Yeah. You always listen to us… we can listen to you."
He saw his brother's jaw tighten and knew what it meant. He did want to talk about it but was reluctant to talk to them. Not because he didn't trust them, but because he didn't want to upset them. Wakko might not be the eloquent one of the family, but he still knew when words were needed and how to find them, especially for his big brother and baby sister.
"You don't have to protect us," he said. "We all went through the same thing, and if talking's what you need, we can take it."
"We'll be fine," Dot added with an appreciative look at him. "Cross our hearts."
For a little while Yakko didn't respond, but finally he dropped his gaze to the floor and his tense form almost seemed to sag.
"It was like… it was all happening all over again, but for real. It was like I was frozen, and I was screaming at myself to move, but I couldn't. All I could do was watch while… while you guys…"
His voice finally broke on those words, and he closed his eyes tight as he started trembling again. He didn't continue, but he didn't have to. Wakko's throat tightened, and he nestled closer to his brother, wrapping his arms around him. He saw Dot do the same, and her voice was gentle.
"But we didn't. We're right here, see?"
Yakko took a trembling breath before speaking again.
"I know. It was just… it was like I was losing you guys again."
"You didn't," Wakko said. "And you won't, ever."
"… Promise?"
His brother's voice was so small, and Wakko had never heard him sound this vulnerable before.
"Promise," he murmured, echoed by Dot. Looking up at Yakko, he saw the corners of the eldest Warner's mouth quirk up into a smile for the first time since they started filming for that stupid episode. He pulled Wakko and Dot a little closer, pressing a gentle kiss to each of their heads.
"Thanks, sibs," he said softly. "I love you."
Wakko let himself smile too as he and Dot nestled against their older brother. It was somewhat strange to have their usual roles reversed like this, but if this was what his big brother needed Wakko was fine with it.
"Love you too, big brother," he whispered back. Dot hummed in affirmation, then laid her head on Yakko's shoulder and started purring. The TV continued to play, but none of the siblings were really paying attention to it now.
It doesn't matter… nothing we did yesterday matters.
Wakko had been telling himself that constantly since the filming finally ended, but now it was much less hard to believe it. It was over. They were together. And that was all that mattered. The middle sibling let his smile widen.
We're okay.
