A/N: Yay! Angst! So much fun. :D

Roach lay in his bed, asleep. They had sedated him because he really needed sleep and he was freaked out. He didn't like not being able to see. Every time someone moved or made a noise, he flinched. So they decided it would be alot less stressful for him if he slept it off.

"What the hell, Archer?" Price said angrily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it was going to do that!"

"Well now it's worse. We're not trying that again."

"What else do you suggest we do?"

Price thought about it.

"I guess we could put sedatives in his dinner, just to get him through the night." He suggested.

"That's just gonna piss him off."

"Not if he's unconscious." Price grinned.

"But that's mean!"

"It's better than letting him die."

Silence...

"Well I suppose that's true, but it's not gonna make him any less mad."

"Yeah, but we can deal with that later. We should let him hang out in the rec room tomorrow. It might cheer him up some."

"I'm fine with it as long as he doesn't walk anywhere."

Price nodded, then another thought came to mind.

"When are you going to take his stitches out?"

"It depends on when his sight comes back, but the ones in his face can probably come out tomorrow." Archer replied. Those ones should've come out yesterday, but it wouldn't hurt to leave them in one more day. It would just make getting them out more uncomfortable for Roach.

"Alright. I'm gonna go get some rest, I suggest you do the same." Price said, heading for his room.

Tomorrow afternoon...

The black fog receded once again.

Oh, finally!

Roach warily opened his eyes, hoping to be able to see. He gasped when he opened his eyes and it was still dark.

Damn it! Why can't-

That's when he realized the lights were off.

Well now I feel stupid.

He sighed and looked around the room, wondering where everyone was. Suddenly the lights came on. He groaned and put an arm over his eyes, carefully avoiding the stitches. Several people walked into the room.

"Roach!" Archer said, rushing over to him.

"Can you see?" He asked, pulling at his arm.

"Yes, and give me a heads up next time you're gonna turn the lights on like that."

"Sorry, we didn't know if you were up yet. You sleep like a hibernating bear." Toad teased.

"That's because Archer is a bit too enthusiastic with the sedatives." He said, shooting Archer a glare.

"Hey, it's not my fault you... never mind, it was. Sorry Roach!" Archer said from another room.

"Yeah, whatever. When do I get to hang out somewhere else? This hospital room is boring."

Archer came back in, holding a pair of tweezers and a small pair of scissors.

"After I get the stitches out of your face."

"On second thought, I think I'll just stay here." Roach said, paling slightly.

"Nope, I gotta get those out today."

Archer sat down beside him on the bed and grabbed the scissors.

"C'mere." He said, reaching for him.

"I think I'll stay over here, thanks." Roach said, scooting further away.

Archer leaned forward and put a hand around his waist, pulling him back towards him.

"Ugh, can't you do this tomorrow?" He whined as Archer pulled his upper half into his lap.

"No, that's not good for you. Sit still."

He decided to start at the top, by his eyes, and work his way down. As he moved in with the scissors, Roach flinched away, causing him to miss. He did not like having scissors so close to his eyes.

"Dude, I said sit still." Archer said, moving in again.

Once again, Roach flinched and he missed.

"I hope you know the faster we get done with this, the faster you get to go hang out in the rec room."

Roach shifted uncomfortably as the scissors got closer... and closer... and closer to his left eye. He flinched again.

"Alright, that's it. Close your eyes." He commanded.

"Why?"

"If you can't see anything, you're not gonna flinch."

"I don't wanna." He whined.

"Fine, I'll just have Toad do it for you then." Archer said.

Toad walked over and put a hand over his eyes.

"You're such a traitor." He said to Toad.

"I usually listen to the person who scares me more, and between you and Archer, I gotta say it's Archer."

"That's just because I currently can't walk."

"True."

Archer carefully slid the scissors under the first suture and snipped. Reaching over Roach for the tweezers, he grabbed the small knot and gently pulled the stitch out. Roach winced and tensed up.

"Relax, it'll hurt worse if you tense up." Archer advised.

Roach tried to relax while he continued to take the stitches out. When Archer moved away from his eyes, it was easier to relax. After a few minutes, he stopped. He was about to ask if they were done, but Archer beat him to it.

"All done. Now you get to go to the rec room!" He said happily as he put the supplies away.

"Ummm... how am I getting there? I can't really walk..."

"One of us is gonna have to carry you."

"Nevermind, I'll just stay here."

"Nope, you need to go socialize with some people." Archer said as he hooked an arm under his knee and supported his back with the other.

"Put me down."

"Stop whining, it's not far." Archer said as he walked through the hallway.

"I swear to god if you don't put me down..." He started, but his mind chose that moment to go blank.

"What are you gonna do?" Toad asked curiously.

He ignored him and shook his head to clear it.

"I hope you know I hate you." He said as they walked into what he assumed was the rec room. The Ghosts looked up as they came in.

"Awww, I love you too Roach." Archer said, setting him down on the couch.

He sighed and flipped him off.

"Hey, Roach. How are you doing?" MacTavish said as he came in with Cpt. Price and Ghost.

"Fine. Archer is an ass, though."

They both raised an eyebrow.

"You're just mad because I took the stitches out of your face." Archer argued.

"And almost poked my eye out with those damn scissors of yours!"

"I did not! You were just nervous about having scissors near your face."

"And you're not?!"

"No, not really."

"Do you want me test that theory?" He threatened.

"Nope, definitely not."

"You shouldn't have said that."

"Why?"

"Because now I want to."

"You better not."

"I feel like I should."

"If you do that I'm gonna sedate you!"

"You do that all the time as it is!"

"With good reason."

"What sort of reasoning do you have? It's definitely not what I call logical."

"That's enough, you two. Seriously, you're giving me a headache." Merrick grumbled.

"We are not!" They chorused, then glared at each other.

"This is getting creepy." Logan said.

"Yeah, it is. Do you feel any better, Roach?"

"No, I feel like shit." He said, leaning back into the couch.

Riley ran into the room and barked at Roach, then he jumped up onto the couch with him.

"Excuse you, this is my spot." He said, shoving at him.

Riley whined and scooted closer to him, laying his head on his leg.

"He likes you, be nice to him." Hesh said.

"You know, just because I don't feel like pushing you off of me right now doesn't mean I won't later." Roach said to the dog.

Riley looked at him as if he understood and sat there quietly.

He looked over at Hesh and Logan and said, "If your dog slobbers on me, he's getting shoved off the couch."

"You're so grumpy." Keegan said.

"You would be grumpy too if you felt like you got run over by a tank."

"Dude, I gave you your pain meds, why are you whining?" Archer said.

"Those don't help, they just give me a headache." He said, playing with Riley's fur.

"You always have a headache."

"I do not."

"Yes you do."

Roach glared at him.

"You know what you should do?" Ghost said.

He looked at him to show he was listening.

"You should tell me what your nightmare was about."

Roach groaned and covered his face with his arm as pictures of his dead little brother flashed through his mind.

"Fuck no."

"Oh, come on. Please?"

"No."

"Fine, I'll guess then. Hmmm... was it about when you got captured?"

"If you don't shut the fuck up, I'm either gonna leave or bitch slap you and I can assure you, you won't like either of them."

"You can't leave because you can't walk." Kick said evenly.

"I'll find a way. Don't doubt me."

"Seriously though, what was the nightmare about?" Price asked.

"I already told you no." He growled.

"Well I told you to tell me."

"And I told you no." He said stubbornly.

"Why are you so stubborn? I'm not asking you to go into detail, I'm just asking you to tell me what the fuck it was about."

I guess I'm not getting out of this, so I'll just make something up.

"You all died." He lied, forcing tears into his eyes to make it look like he was telling the truth.

Riley sat up and barked at him.

"Riley says you're lying." Logan said.

Roach glared at the Riley and shoved him off the couch.

"Get off me, jerk."

Riley whined and went to sit with Logan.

"You really need to stop lying." Toad said quietly.

"Shut up, Toad."

"If you told someone you'd feel better."

"You just told me not to lie and now you are."

"I'm not lying. It's not good to bottle up all your feelings because at some point, you'll explode."

"I don't care."

"You will later."

He looked him in the eye and knew he was just trying to help, all of them were. But none of them could, not with this. If he told them it would just cause trouble. His biggest fear was them finding out about Charlie and blaming him for his death and kicking him out of the Task Force. He felt like he should tell them and explain, but at the same time he was scared it would hurt. He'd already had enough pain in his life, he didn't need more. But no matter what he did, there was always pain. It was like a constant companion, except you didn't like it. No one liked pain. Especially when it seemed to follow you no matter where you went.

A/N: Wow, talk about a dramatic ending! Whoop whoop! REVIEW! :P