Mass Emotions

Calming Down

"Virgil! Virgil! I need you to wake up and tell me what happened. Where's Roman?"

Slowly Virgil turned his face upwards as his eyes struggled to focus on a concerned Logan. He was still at an enlarged size, but for some reason he was lying flat on the ground. He tried to think back to why, but all that came to mind was a blackened haze and the faint sound of screaming. Virgil's ears ringed as he began rising to better look at Logan.

"Virgil, are you alright? You seem disoriented and may be suffering from a possible concussion. Can you tell me anything as to why you're currently in this state?"

"I-I'm not sure. My head's all fu-fuzzy."

Once Virgil was back up and resting on his knees he took a moment to collect himself. Whatever had just happened knocked the wind out of him and he was sore all over.

"Listen, I don't mean to rush you but I need to know where Roman is."

"What do you mean? Roman's right....here?"

Virgil went completely white as he frantically looked around him for Roman. He tried to call out, but his throat tightened. In a flash the memories were flooding back in intense waves. Suddenly, his heart started pounding and he collapsed forward in pain. Feelings of nausea overwhelmed him as he began to shake vigorously. Virgil was experiencing an anxiety attack as his body began to remember the pressure of Remus's boot suffocating him underneath it. His mind was filled with the screams of Roman pleading for Virgil to help him. Then only darkness remained as he had lost consciousness.

"Virgil I need you to look at me."

"I can't, I-"

"Yes you can, now look at me. Focus on my voice and turn towards me."

"I-I'll try."

Meekly, Virgil looked up at Logan. He had his arms outstretched and was walking towards him. As he rested his hands on Virgil's face he smiled and spoke again.

"Good, now I need you to keep looking only at me and breath deeply. In and out, in and out, keep it up."

Virgil did as he was told. He could feel the tightness around his chest begin to fade, but he continued to shake. His eyes filled with tears as he kept thinking back to the moment Roman was snatched from his arms and how he was unable to save Roman. He closed his eyes in frustration.

"Virgil! Don't stop now. Remember you're safe, you have nothing to fear here. I'm here for you know."

"I-I couldn't save him Logan. It was all so su-sudden and even though I had the ability to do something...I couldn't muster any strength. Be-because of me Ro-Ro-Roman's gone!"

"This is not your fault, none of this is your fault. You are currently experiencing an anxiety attack so your mind and body is responding to past fear and trauma. What you need to do now is look at me and continue breathing deeply in order to calm yourself down."

"I-I lost him Logan! Don't you understand that, it was because of me that Remus found us and took him. How can I calm down when who knows what he might be doing to him right now?"

"We will rescue him, all of us together, I promise."

"What can I even do to help when I'm like this?"

"You can get bigger."

"What?"

Virgil snapped his eyes open again at Logan's shocking remark. Did he just tell Virgil to get bigger in his current state? Was that supposed to be some kind of joke...no Logan didn't really tell jokes, especially in serious situations like this. Does that mean he was being serious?