The Yin-Yang Complex

Examinations

Sebastian sat grumpily on top of Caitlin's medical table, which was covered in wooly white cloth. She crouched by his side as she was about to draw blood, and he hated it. He couldn't look at the needle as it neared him. He stared somewhere else and held his breath as he felt a prick on his leg. He tensed up completely, "don't like needles?" Caitlin asked him. She could practically feel how un ok he was with all of this. He meowed in response, the cleanliness and pristine whiteness of this room took the edge off his nerves. Everything had a place and it was in it. It made him feel happy inside. Barry entered the lab with a goofy smile on his face. Sebastian just blinked at him. He was humiliated, he would rather die than be in this position right now, relying on Barry didn't feel right, he wasn't supposed to go to Barry, or anyone for help, they were supposed to hate him, all of them.

Barry could sense Sebastian's discomfort as Caitlin pulled out the needle and returned to her desk with the blood sample, to start typing up notes. "What's up? You don't like needles?" Barry asked the same question Caitlin had asked merely seconds ago. Sebastian meowed and shook his fluffy little head with pride. Barry rolled his eyes and knelt down beside the table, next to his feline brother, "you know, you can admit when you're afraid," Barry smiled gently at the cat, who simply laid down and rested his head on his paws, "it's not a sin to feel emotions," Barry tried to coax Sebastian into giving some sort of response, but the cat simply just stared at him blankly. Sebastian wasn't sure what it was, but in that moment, when he was staring up at his brother's smiling face, he felt so happy, he could feel his cold dead heart fill with love and happiness. It was overwhelming, Barry said such a simple sentence, such a meaningless line, but to Sebastian, it meant the world. He didn't reply, he just stared, as much as he wanted to, he couldn't get close to Barry, it would be better if they were apart. It meant that Barry was safe from Sebastian, that Barry couldn't be hurt by his own brother again. Barry sighed in disappointment and gently ran his thumb over the cats forehead, causing the feline to close its eyes. He felt the need to be closer to his brother, to become friends again, but he was beginning to doubt it would ever happen. He stroked the cat's soft fur between his ears and up the centre of his face, without Sebastian protesting once. Before the cat could stop it, he felt a deep rumble echo through his chest and into the air around him. He felt his whole body relax and go limp when Barry stroked him, soothing his anxiousness. Any discomfort he had felt with physical contact was washed away with relaxation. It felt so peaceful that he was purring. Barry felt excitement burst in his chest, Sebastian was purring, which meant he was happy and content. He felt hope building in his chest, he was going to be friends with his brother again, he was going to mend their relationship and that was a promise. After a long while Sebastian's breathing became shallow, and slowly he stopped purring. Barry felt waves of joy and excitement rolling across his chest. Sebastian was asleep, he was comfortable enough to fall asleep in Barry's presence, whilst being petted. If that wasn't a step in the right direction, then he didn't know what was.

"Is he asleep?" Caitlin whispered as she swivelled round in her chair, her eyebrows furrowed together. Barry nodded his head enthusiastically, he was so proud of himself, and he took his hand away from his brother slowly, trying very hard not to wake him up. Caitlin silently awed, she was happy for Barry, this was a chance for him and his estranged brother to finally bond after so long. She could tell Barry really wanted to become closer with him, to have a real friendship.

"On second thought, can we just keep him like this?" He asked, nearly silently. He must admit that he was tempted, but that was too easy.

Caitlin chuckled lowly, "no Barry, we need to fix him and all the others like him," she reminded him softly.

Barry pouted, "but he is so adorable," he looked at the sleeping face of the cat, it was pretty darn cute, "and so much more tolerant, if I even tried to come this close to him whilst he was human, I might as well be dancing with death," he snorted lightly.

"I can imagine," Caitlin smiled warmly at the pair, "but maybe now he will let you closer to him," she whispered softly.

"I doubt it," Barry sighed as he stared at the form of the sleeping cat, he sat gently on the floor and rested his head into his hands. It was late, but Barry couldn't quite bring himself to move, everything felt serene and perfect, almost unreal. He could feel his eyelids drooping and his own breath begin to shallow. Before he knew it, he too was asleep.

Barry didn't get to sleep very long, he was jolted awake when a low grumbling cut through his ears. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around, Caitlin was concernedly looking down at Sebastian who was exactly where Barry had left him. The cat was still asleep, but his hackles were raised and he was growling. His furry little body was violently shaking, his claws were fully extended and his paws looked as though they were gripping onto the cloth for dear life. Barry looked up at Caitlin with concern, "is he having a bad dream?" He asked.

She nodded her head sadly, "I amn't surprised, I guessed that he would probably suffer from that kind of thing, it is very common in victims of domestic abuse and acts of violence," she felt her heart clench, Sebastian could sometimes be a major Asshole but, for the most part, his heart was in the right place and he sure as heck had been through his fair share of traumatic experiences.

Barry felt misery and worry claim him, he glanced at his brother, his normally large fluffy ears were pinned to the side of his head in terror and his tail was flicking from side to side, "should I wake him up?" Barry asked.

"No, don't, you shouldn't wake up someone whilst they are having a nightmare, it would be better just to let it pass" she shook her head, but she wasn't too sure, you weren't supposed to wake up those having a nightmare, even though Sebastian looked like he was feeling genuine terror and it was very difficult to watch.

Sebastian's eyes snapped open, his furry body still trembled as he scrambled backwards from Barry, terror griped his lungs and his heart, his hackles were raised and a vicious hissing escaped him. Barry was shocked, he had never seen or heard Sebastian sound so terrified and cornered, Barry raised his hands in surrender, "whoa, it's just me, I won't hurt you," he kept his voice soft and light as he spoke directly to the quaking cat, "I promise," he maintained eye contact with Sebastian, making sure he knew he was safe. The feline slowly came to, he blinked and took in his surroundings, taking deep breaths to calm himself, he began to use a grounding technique to bring himself out of the fear that gripped him. He glanced up at Barry, and with a flick of his tail he jumped off of the table with shaky legs. He held his head high as he trotted away from both Caitlin and Barry. His gut churned, he didn't like the fact hey had just seen him so vulnerable, he needed to be more careful.

"That boy is a piece of work," Caitlin huffed as she continued her work.

"Yeah," Barry mumbled as he stared at where Sebastian had disappeared. He had no idea how affected Sebastian was by his past. Guilt crushed him, he should have been there for him.