Work Text:
Karl had the same nightmare occasionally, ever since Miranda abducted him as a child.
No matter how old he got, in the dream he’d only be a young boy. He would be in the labyrinth of a cave, the cave the megamycete was in. He would hear it pulsating, echoing off the walls of rubble.
He would hear the gentle words of his mother, the advice his father would give him. They sounded so close, yet so out of reach. He would run through the caves, calling out to them.
“MAMA! P-PAPA!” He would cry out, his body weak and scarred from all the shit Miranda put him through. He would catch glimpses of them, but they would always walk away, further into the maze.
After ages of running, he would finally see them, standing at the exit of the cave, waiting for him. He would run, and run, and run, but the path to them would stretch longer.
And as he finally reached them, a mass of black raven feathers would pull him back into darkness.
He hadn’t had that nightmare ever since moving in with Ethan and Rose a couple months ago. Before that, he had the nightmare at least once a week, and even after literal decades, he never got used to it.
But tonight was…different.
He had the nightmare again.
But instead, he was finally in his current adult form, but was still weak and covered in cuts and bruises, like Miranda was still experimenting on him after all this time.
But he wouldn’t hear his mama and papa…
He would hear Ethan and Rose.
Ethan’s loving, affectionate words, Rose’s little babbles and giggles, attempts at speaking futile, but adorable nonetheless.
They would echo, overlaying the pulsing sounds of the megamycete.
And thus the chase would begin.
He would see Ethan lovingly holding Rose, and as he finally caught up to him he would turn the corner. Out of sight.
It felt like a game of cat and mouse, like Ethan was toying with him. No, his own mind was toying with him.
“ETHAN! ROSE! G-GOD DAMN IT SLOW DOWN!”
He felt tired, like his whole body was about to collapse, but he had to keep going. He had to find Ethan and Rose.
And he finally saw them, waiting at the exit for him, he ran, but as he ran they felt further away. He ran faster, and faster, and faster. He lunged and reached a hand out for them, and he felt the familiar bundle of black feathers pull him back.
Away from his new family.
——
Karl jolted awake, he was fine. He was in bed, his body was fine, everything was fine. He let out a shaky breath, burying his face in his hands, he let out a long swallow to hold back a sob.
“You’re fine…you’re fine…” the ex lord repeated to himself. As he turned to Ethan’s side of the bed, he noticed Ethan was…gone.
Ok, don’t panic…he was probably in the bathroom. No biggie.
But the bedroom door was slightly ajar, and he saw no bathroom light on. This worried him, as Ethan was practically blind as a bat in the dark, and always needed the light on to do anything.
He moved instantly, making his way to Rose’s room, maybe Ethan was in there? Maybe she woke up and he went to soothe her?
But he entered Rose’s nursery, he saw that Ethan wasn’t there. So was Rose.
Ok so both of them were missing.
He stumbled out the room, breathing beginning to pick up. He looked everywhere. Guest room, bathroom, basement, kitchen, living room. But they weren’t anywhere.
It’s like they completely vanished. Did Ethan decide to play a prank on him? No he wouldn’t, that’d be way too out of character for him…
…
Did Miranda take them…?
I mean sure she was dead, but that could be highly doubted. Ethan literally told him about how Chris put like 67 rounds of bullets in Miranda when she disguised as Mia and that bitch still got back up.
No, no, no, no, of course she did this. Of course she had to ruin the first good thing he had going for him in years. Of course she took his family.
He fell to his knees, his breathing began to pick up so fast he wasn’t actually able to get a full breath, he could feel the cadou in his chest wriggling and squirming around.
The metal objects in the house began to rattle around as his panic attack got worse, some fell on the floor, some began to float a bit, but it was very unstable.
He didn’t even realise he was crying.
——
Rose was babbling happily in her stroller as Ethan walked slowly. Rose had woken up Ethan earlier and wouldn’t go back to sleep, so he thought a small walk would do them both good.
He didn’t worry about waking up Karl, he always slept like a rock, remembering how one time Ethan accidentally smashed a glass and he didn’t even stir, which he teased Karl about the next morning.
“Ok sweetie, we’ve circled the block three times. How about we head back home now?” He heard a whine come from the stroller but eventually a small babble of agreement. Ethan let out a small chuckle.
They made their way back to the house and up the driveway, but as Ethan went to unlocked the door he heard a rattling noise coming from inside.
The noise of rattling metal.
Shit, Karl!
He instantly unlocked the door, only to be greeted by the sight of Karl on his knees in the middle of the hallway, clearly having a panic attack while sobbing. Every metal object around him was rattling heavily, causing an unpleasant noise.
Rose quickly began to cry due to the noise, however Ethan was too busy focused on the sight in front of them. “Karl?! KARL!” Ethan dropped to his knees in front of him, shaking Karl’s shoulders to get his attention.
“E-…t-than…?!”
“Yes! Yes, it’s me.” He pulled the older man against his chest, rubbing his back softly. “Shh…shh…it’s alright…just follow my breathing…”
Karl sometimes got panic attacks. Sometimes if he saw something that reminded him of Miranda, or if he sometimes dwelled on memories from his childhood too much. He himself didn’t know what they were at first, but Ethan quickly helped him through them.
He felt Karl wrap his arms around him tightly and bury his face into Ethan’s shoulder, but heard him slowly calming down as the metal objects began to rattle less. Yet the sobs still remained.
“Oh Karl…shh…shh…it’s okay…I’m here…” he whispered softly, gently lifting the ex lord’s face to meet his, gently pressing a kiss to his forehead. Rose was no longer crying, but now just looking at her Dad and Papa curiously.
“I-I…I thought you…Rose was…I thought she took-“
“Hey…hey…it’s okay…Miranda’s dead…we’re safe, we’re okay.”
They pressed their foreheads together, sitting in silence for a small bit, no words needed. And once Karl’s tears subsided, Rose began to babble and reach out for attention.
Ethan chuckled. “See, Rose is just fine…now, wanna help me put her to bed?”
…
Karl let out a shaky laugh.
“You bet I do…”