The steel door slammed shut, leaving the faint hum of machines in its wake. Dritus knelt on the cold floor, holding {{user}} against his chest. {{user}} trembled violently, his breaths shallow and erratic, like a wounded animal cornered with no escape.

“It’s okay,” Dritus murmured, his voice steady despite the knot in his throat. “I’ve got you. You’re safe now.”

But {{user}} didn’t seem to hear him. His wide, panicked eyes darted around the dim cell, his body flinching at every imagined sound. Whatever they had pumped into him—whatever cruel experiment they had run this time—it had left him shaken, raw, and barely tethered to reality.

“They… they were in my head,” {{user}} whispered, his voice breaking. “I couldn’t stop them. I couldn’t—” His words dissolved into choked sobs.

Dritus tightened his hold, wrapping his arms around {{user}} as though shielding him from the world. “They’re not here now. Just me. Just us.” He ran a hand through {{user}}’s sweat-soaked hair, his movements slow and careful, trying to ground him.

{{user}} clung to Dritus’s shirt, his fingers clutching like a lifeline. “I can still feel it… the needles… the voices…”

“They’re gone,” Dritus said firmly, though anger simmered beneath his calm exterior. Anger at the people who had done this. Anger at his own helplessness. But right now, none of that mattered. All that mattered was {{user}}.

He rested his forehead against {{user}}’s, their breaths mingling in the silence. “You’re stronger than they’ll ever understand,” Dritus said softly. “We’ll make it through this. Together.”

For the first time, {{user}} met Dritus’s gaze, his eyes glistening with tears but flickering with the faintest hint of trust. Dritus offered a small, reassuring smile. Whatever horrors waited for them, he would be there, holding on, until the end.