Slenderverse One-shots

Revisiting Burned Halls ⊗ MH

A03 Request: Angst/comfort where Tim gets a flashback and has a panic attack, and Jay comforts him.

CW: Description of a panic attack

Why had he agreed to come back here? It had been bad enough when Alex had forced him to look at it for a 'film location' and that had been years ago. Tim looked at Jay, watching as his new partner strode ahead with a camera in hand. What did the man even expect to find here?

"More medical records?" It was possible, though unlikely. How his own had even survived not only the fire but the sands of time was something less than believable. "With them in that condition... maybe they were saved and printed off?"

"Hey, let's start checking some of the rooms." Jay spoke up as they turned down a new hallway.

His footsteps halted, though the taller man didn't notice. Tim swallowed, suddenly feeling much more nervous about things. Taking a deep breath, he followed Jay down the all-to-familiar hallway. How many times had he walked down this same stretch of hospital? How many if he included what had been ripped from his conscious memory?

Subconsciously, he drifted closer to one of the rooms. The metal door was warped and barely on its remaining hinge. He drifted into the room in a daze. Suddenly, this wasn't a burned out room with scorch marks and peeling paint. There weren't leaves covering the filthy hard floor and the equipment wasn't rusted and trashed. Suddenly, he was seeing it as it had been: a sterile, too-bright room filled with equipment and a chair where he'd be sat while they questioned him and collected things to run tests.

A ragged breath wheezed from his lungs. Tim's memory was spotty throughout his childhood but these sessions had remained clearer. Every invasive jab of a needle, them holding him down so they could observe his reactions to what he was seeing. How they'd sit there behind masks and clipboards, filling the room with the sound of ink scribbling on paper. All while he screamed and cried out at things they couldn't see.

His body felt like he'd been dunked in ice water. Suddenly, despite the warm air, he felt chilled to the bone. Tim shivered and tried to catch his breath. He rolled the sleeves of his flannel down with trembling hands in an attempt to warm up. Only for it to feel like his body was suddenly on fire seconds later.

The used to shove medicine down his throat. He'd always refused to take it. The stuff was nasty and typically didn't work—especially at first. The trials of medication usually resulted in worse symptoms. Was it any wonder he'd fought tooth and nail to escape? Clawing at the walls until his fingers bled all while things he'd presumed were hallucinations, which some truly were, had been out to get him.

His ears were filled with distant ringing. It was different than that staticy sensation that thing brought with it but the white noise was still deafening. Tim's vision tinged white at the edges and the room felt like it was tilting and spinning as he slumped to the floor. Nausea and the feeling of suffocation blinded him at first to the reality of the time and place he was in.

Tim was so deeply out of it at first that he couldn't hear Jay calling to him, the man's voice raising more and more in alarm when Tim didn't respond. Even after he managed to hear and process what was being said, his vocal chords felt paralyzed. He stared widely at Jay as the man crouched in front of him, for once turning off the camera and setting it aside.

"Tim? What's wrong?" He didn't know how many times the question had already been repeated but given the look on the man's face, it had been a few.

Another shudder went through him. Tim leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to minimize the rocking movement the room seemed to be making; it helped a little. He focused on trying to take deep breaths, gradually regaining the feeling of his previously numbed legs and arms.

Jay's body pressed against his side. "Hey, uh, it's alright... Um, do you? Is there anything I can do to help?"

He shook his head slightly, regretting it as a wave of dizziness returned momentarily. Tim had experience with panic attacks before, he knew how to ride them out. Still, Jay's presence was somewhat comforting, even if he didn't know the man very well just yet. The warmth of the man's body heat and ever so slight weight at his side was rather grounding. Once he felt as though he could stand, Tim used the wall to push himself back to his feet.

"Let's get out of here." Jay grabbed the camera and rose as well. "Do you need help?"

"I got it." The words sounded breathless and despite them, he could feel Jay leaning close to help steady him.

Tim blinked and gave him a brief look of gratitude before half closing them again. Together, they gradually made their way to the exit in relative silence. The fresh air and walking had helped clear his mind, though Tim still felt rather tired from the experience.

"...You wanna talk about it?" Jay cautiously breached the topic.

"Just... bad memories of this place... 'm fine."

"Okay..."

Guilt weighed on him. Jay did deserve an explanation at some point. Maybe it would also make the man understand why Tim had gotten so worked up over coming here and having his medical records shown online.

He let out a slow breath. "I'll tell you back at the hotel... Can you drive?"

"Yeah, yeah of course." Jay took the keys offered in a still shaky hand. "Let's just get you back so you can rest. We... we don't have to come back here if you don't want to anymore. I'd get it."