Once in a blue moon, a frightening recollection of the tragedy forces its way up to Headquarters before any of the five Emotions can so much as gasp at its arrival. Except while in sleep, Riley has found ways to eliminate the presence of these Memories from the projector and send them back to Long-Term, which is problematic, but has long since been accepted as an unfortunate thing that was bound to happen. They figure, if they can somehow hide their individual coping schemes from Riley, she can very well keep similar secrets from them. It remains as yet another one of Headquarters' innumerable mysteries.

The ever-present threat of flashbacks keeps the Emotions on high-alert throughout the day. Disgust, who is still very sensitive toward the subject of the accident, assumes command of the Console for the remainder of Riley's waking hours, should a flashback occur. She, surprisingly, remains as one of the quickest to react when the display turns its swift shade of violet, but is able to do little more than urge Riley to feel sick.

"I'm sorry," she often repeats to the others in regards to her behaviour. "I know I'm supposed to fight harder to keep those Memories up here in Headquarters for a moment, but…i-it's just so…"

Difficult.

The others know. They can agree. Joy is always mindful to assure Disgust that her reaction is actually quite logical and that she needn't feel so ashamed to drive. It tends to distract Riley for a brief moment or two, giving Sadness just a few seconds more to scramble to touch it. Riley, however, is very fast – she wants nothing to do with the Memories of the accident while they frighten her.

Neither does Anger, who frequently admits this to the others as well. Flashbacks infuriate him. They come when they are least expected and can thwart the success of an entire day. When they arrive, his immediate hair-trigger reaction is to banish them deep into Long-Term Memory, which can often devastate the team's progress.

"I know it's ass-backwards," he confesses at times. "I'm setting us back. But look, I can't help it. I just want them out of our head so…so fucking badly. It's been way too long. I just want things to go back to normal."

Joy is very patient with all of them; Anger is no exception. She assures him time and time again that they can all agree with the way he feels, and that even if it does hinder their progress by a certain degree, he is only trying to help. He only wants the exact same thing Riley wants…and that, after all, is what serving Riley in Headquarters is all about.

It is this sentiment (and perhaps an overabundance of caffeine) that keeps Fear going these days. He is exhausted in every sense of the word. While Joy, Disgust, Anger and sometimes Sadness vigilantly monitor activity from Long-Term during the day, Fear has taken many responsibilities upon himself at night while Riley sleeps. Dream Duty has become a harrowing ritual now that it's been divided into multiple shifts per night. One of the other four Emotions take the first quarter of every dream; Fear takes over from the midpoint of Riley's sleep cycle until morning, observing her dreams with one hand hovering over the control panel at all times, in the event a flashback should somehow override her progressively passive dreams. Fear has a firm belief that the long phase of splitting Dream Duty shifts into two halves is coming to an end, however. Since their efforts to process the event first began, nightmares relating to the accident are becoming increasingly rare.

Not that their departure will relieve him from these long, stressful periods of sleeplessness. The chronic ache of his own trauma keeps him awake at night; closing his eyes only induces the same darkness that had swallowed him so long ago. Sometimes, especially when fatigue gets the better of him, he can never really be sure he ever left it. Dreams, when they came to him while he was locked away in the Subconscious, were very vivid after all, and he fell for them every single time. He'd dream that he was home again, or that Joy had come to his rescue, or that Mom had come to kiss him goodnight…

That's why to this day, he frequently approaches the others, be it Anger while he cruises the content of the daily Mind Reader, or Disgust while she preens herself to perfection, or Sadness and Joy while they are in mid-conversation, gently taps them on the shoulder, and musters up the courage to ask, "Am I still dreaming?" or, "Is this actually happening?" or, "Are you really you?"

Their supportive answers don't always satisfy him for long. There is really only one guaranteed force that can bring him back to a familiar plain of reality. If things don't change while he bears down on his fingers, he can nod and assume he must be awake. But if he isn't given the chance to sneak off to his room to attempt to wake up from the dream he isn't having, he knows he can always talk about it with one of the others.

Discussing the subject of suppressed trauma with others has been helping Riley, after all.

Over the course of the last year, Fear and Sadness have become very close friends, due to the nature of their new, shared responsibility. Therefore, especially while on their long expeditions through the corridors of Long-Term Memory together, he talks with Sadness the most. Sadness, comparable to an angel of healing, was the one to suggest the winning method for processing Riley's traumatic Memories, one by one. And while she and Fear walk, Sadness listens very carefully. She even listens to, and fully comprehends, the frequent silence, if Fear has nothing at all to say.

It has been a long, grueling course. The routine must be performed on foot, which, of course, is very slow and tiring, but it saves them from having to force Riley to recall anything up in Headquarters. They work down here perhaps once or twice a week while she sleeps, unaware of their absence or their influence on her Long-Term storage. Fear brings along a map the five of them worked on forever ago, highlighting where each traumatic Memory was being stored. Sadness brings her extensive knowledge of Long-Term Memory, and her very special touch.

Together, Fear and Sadness seek out recollections of the accident, altering them from frightened to sad.

With each Memory that Sadness touches, a lost fragment of peace is restored somewhere deep in Fear's core as he watches each orb change from violet to blue. He can't help but wonder if Riley can feel the same soothing relief as it takes place before his eyes.

Sadness and Fear return to Headquarters very early one morning, thoroughly exhausted, but at least able to agree that they'd had a productive evening. Both are surprised to find Joy waiting for them by the Console.

She smiles at them, softly inclining her head to one side, and she tells them that they are doing a remarkable job. Fear shyly wrings his hands and Sadness offers up a flattered little grin. But Joy doesn't stop there. She beckons them near with her finger, and points down to the Console.

There is a light bulb tucked into its center that Joy is responsible for; its radiance transforms the bluish fill of the morning air surrounding it.

Riley has graciously accepted its presence.

The last time Riley looked up to the signage of the rink, it had triggered a violent flashback that nearly crippled her in front of her teammates. But when she made to startle and scream at the vision as it burst before her eyes, it came out of her in a way she wasn't prepared for.

It came out in tears.

She cried, and cried, and cried. And her teammates embraced her all at once. Some even cried with her. They put their arms across her shoulders and lead her into the rink like a wounded soldier. And then, they all talked, revealing that Riley had not been alone in her suffering.

Somehow, it had helped. Somehow, it had been the first step toward preparing her for today.

The rink is vacant. The ice, which was being swept while she changed into her skates, is now smooth and glossy. Everything is still. Silent.

Though if she squints, she can vividly paint the memory of where her parents had been sitting overtop of the empty bleachers. If she closes her eyes, she can listen to the memories of that fateful game…she can hear cheers from the friends and family of both teams, the sounds of hockey blades as they scored the ice, the crack of wood against the puck they were fighting over.

She opens her eyes again, and she is standing on the ice for the first time since she witnessed the accident. There are tears in her eyes.

Riley glimpses a corner and feels threatened by a flashback.

But then, she feels as someone's imperceptible hand curls around her own. It is clad in hockey gear.

"…This is for you," Riley whispers to her.

"No," she seems to reply, in a voice that isn't really there, "this is for you."

A smile inches across Riley's face as she pushes herself forward on the ice.

She graces the perimeter of the rink with abandon.

Free from her subconscious fetters at long last.

To everyone who followed, responded and enjoyed this story: Thank you so, so SO much for your support! It's been an absolute pleasure to share my inspiration with the Inside Out community.

Huge special thanks to those who sent along their fan-art and to those who offered their thoughts in the reviews. For real, you guys essentially helped drive the plot toward the end when I started to struggle with one of two conclusions. Would not have made it this far without all of your help, feedback, criticisms... *heart* So thank you, a MILLION times! If you have any questions at all I totally welcome them.

***TINY UPDATE: I've decided not to post the alternate ending. Too much of a departure from this one and won't resonate the same out of context. I may possibly upload it as a separate one-shot in the future! But as of today...this story is complete. Gaaah~ ***

So, I will now be focusing on Passed On, the other IO fic I've started, which is admittedly a lot more light-hearted than this one. I am also working on a new fic exploring the "black console" concept a bit more...which is admittedly a *LOT* darker than Subconscious has been, haha. It may or may not surface in the next few weeks. I'm still not sure where I'm going with it.

And, I may or may not be involved in an IO collaboration of sorts that I'm fairly excited about. :'D Busy busy busy...muahaha ;3

In other words, you will all see me around one way or another, if not posting Inside Out fanfiction, than I'll probably be reading yours. :)

You are all amazing. Enjoy some other fanfics out there and please keep being amazing! I am so proud to be a part of this fandom because of readers, writers and artists like you.

~KQSimply