Title: I'm Fine

Author: InvisibleBrunette

Rating: T

Notes: I don't even know.

Disclaimer: As much fun as these guys are to play with, they belong to Ken Ishikawa.

There was one thing that Ryoma Nagare could attest to at that moment and it was that was he was tired.

So tired that a small part of him was worried that if he didn't get a least a little sleep he would pass out on the floor. But he was a Nagare and Nagares didn't pass out from a little sleep deprivation.

The dinosaurs had also been more persistent lately as well, attacking at all hours of the night, which in turn made Musashi too wound up to go to sleep once they reached their shared dorm. And once the Getter Three got pilot like that, there was no amount of threatening that could shut him up.

It was so bad one night that Ryoma finally left the room leaving Hayato to deal with their comrade's hyperactivity alone, while he tried to get some sleep in the Eagle's cockpit. Though it seemed he had finally gotten to sleep, Saotome's employees were in the hanger doing their work and shouting to hear each other over the equipment and Michiru was standing over him and lecturing him about sleeping in his cockpit.

So once again, Ryoma found himself inside the empty dorm. He didn't know where his teammates were, and quite frankly, he didn't give a rat's ass at that moment. He simply dropped his pillow back on the bed and fell face first into it.

But as luck would have it, he was barely on the verge of slumber when Hayato was shaking his shoulder.

"Get up, Ryo. Saotome wants us immediately."

As it turned out, it was only for a simple debriefing that Ryoma felt could have waited, but Professor Saotome would hear none of it, and the next thing the Getter One pilot knew, he was sucked into testing some weapons for him again and then Michiru was calling them to lunch.

"Ryo, you've been picking at your food for the past ten minutes." Michiru commented. "Are you sick?"

Before he could answer, Hayato's palm was brushing his forehead and was gone before Ryoma could knock it away.

"No fever." Hayato commented, his voice as disinterested as always.

"I'm fine." and just to prove that he was, he tucked into his lunch with a gusto he really didn't feel.

Michiru was satisfied at that, but he could still feel Hayato's eyes on him.

After lunch, Ryoma, along with Musashi and Hayato were once again summoned by Saotome for another test run of the Getter, and on a normal day, he would jump at the chance, he found himself slinking over to the Getter Eagle after the professor chewed him out for trying to weasel of out of it.

"You sure you're up for this, Ryo?" Hayato's hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm fine, Hayato." Ryoma jerked away from his friend's touch.

And he was, for a little while at least.

The test flight started out smooth. They flew laps around the compound and combined and separated, but somewhere along the way, and looking back on it later, Ryoma couldn't figure out why, he fell asleep mid-air.

It was only the screams of Hayato and the others that snapped him out of his doze in time for him not to nosedive into the ground. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough to stop himself from crashing completely. On the bright side, at least Ryoma had been able to walk away with only a few scratches and bruises.

Hayato, with Musashi on his heels were the first to reach Ryoma just as he was climbing out of the cockpit.

"Ryo! You're not hurt, are you?" Musashi asked when he was in earshot. The shorter pilot reached out and steadied Ryoma when landed on the grass, and while normally he wouldn't appreciate that kind of gesture, this time he was grateful, otherwise he would've landed face-first on the ground.

"What were you thinking!" Hayato demanded, grabbing the front of Ryoma's jumpsuit. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Knock it off, Hayato!" Ryoma forcefully knocked the other man's hands. "It's not a big deal!"

"Not a big deal? Did you miss the part I just said about getting yourself killed?"

"I said I'm fine, Hayato!" a declaration that would have been far more convincing had his vision started to fade around the edges and not started to tip over.

Musashi once again swooped in, lending another steadying hand.

"Get him inside, Musashi." Hayato turned his backup them. "I'll go deal with Saotome."

Ryoma was stunned. Hayato never volunteered to deal with the Professor on his behalf. Ever. In fact, he was pretty sure that the Getter Two pilot got a sadistic glee out of hearing him getting yelled at.

He didn't have long to dwell on it, because Musashi was leading him back to the compound and towards their barracks.

He wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed, it couldn't have been too long but Musashi was steering him to his bed, chattering away, and leaning down to help him take off his boots before Ryoma waved him off.

"I've got it Musashi."

"Ya sure?" The shorter pilot tilted his head in a way that reminded Ryoma of a puppy. "I don't mind one bit!"

"Yeah. Go on, I'm fine." He waited until Musashi left before he stripped down to a plain sleeveless tee shirt and striped boxers and finally, finally slid into his nice, comfy bed.

Ryoma was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

And then suddenly, he was restrained.

The white lights all around nearly blinded him, but not enough that he wasn't able to make out the silhouettes of those who had him tied down.

Dinosaurs.

Ryoma tried to free himself, but no matter how much he tried to twitch so much as a single muscle, he could not move anything save for his eyes.

What do you want from me?! He tried to say, but it ended up coming out as a long moan.

The Dinosaurs took notice of him, whispering to each other, and laughing those horrible laughs that would haunt him until his dying day.

"This will be much more fun with you awake!"

Ryoma felt his stomach clench. What would be more fun?

And then one of those terrible clawed hands drew nearer with something silvery in its grasp. As soon as it touched his skin, he knew exactly what it was. A scalpel.

Fire exploded where the small instrument cut through his flesh, starting from his right shoulder, down to his sternum, then moving on to his left shoulder and repeating the incision and finally starting from the bottom of the "V" he had cut, the dinosaur dragged the scalpel down and over his belly. And finally, through all the pain- Ryoma found his voice.

A scream.

"Ryo!" a voice cut through the pain, and he latched onto it. "Ryoma!"

"Haaaaya..to…"

"Yes! It's me! Wake up!"

Suddenly he was back in his bed gasping for air. Hayato was there, hands gripping his shoulders.

"Hayato.." Ryoma let out a strangled noise that sounded suspiciously like mix between a sob and a laugh. He wasn't on some table with his innards on display. He was home.

Hayato gave him a half-smirk and gave his shoulders a comforting squeeze. "You okay now?"

Ryoma closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the Getter Two pilot's shoulder.

"Yeah…" he agreed in a voice that sounded like gravel. "I'm fine."

The end.