Fic: Returning to Innocence - Painting a Picture
Fic: Returning to Innocence
Chapter: Painting a Picture
Author: yogurtpo3
Take a sad song, and make it better...
- The Beatles, Hey Jude.
“Barney, would you like to tell us what happened in the last two weeks?”
Barney turned to hide his face into the pillow, refusing to look towards the psychologist.
After being alerted to Barney’s regression, the police department had agreed to postpone the mandatory interview for a couple of days, although they did remind the group that whoever had attacked Barney was still on the loose and every delay in gaining potentially useful information could mean more danger for him. Barney himself had only displayed reluctance to talk about the subject and had either pretended he didn’t hear them or completely panicked at any attempts the group themselves had made to bring it up. Other than that, he had been healing and adjusting well once they had realized he required the same attention and encouragement one needed to give a child. In the past days he had been speaking out more and had even been happily smiling and laughing at times with them. In particular he had developed an attachment to Lily, the kindergarden teacher probably being the most comfortable out of the group with interacting with him on this level. Now she sat with him as a source of comfort and familiarity whilst the police assigned psychologist conducted the interview. She had introduced herself as Amy, a child psychologist, whom they thought would be more fitting given Barney’s delicate mental status. However, Barney was still shutting down as Amy attempted to question him.
“Nobody knows where you were... can you tell us?” Amy tried again.
No answer.
“Did... someone hurt you Barney?”
A whimper. Then... silence.
“It’s okay, nobody’s going to hurt you now, this is just between the three of us, okay?”
Barney only shut his eyes tighter, and reached out his hand towards Lily. She took it into her own, gently squeezing in comfort.
“No more,” he finally mumbled, sniffling.
Amy smiled and reached over to her bag.
“Okay Barney, no more questions then. How about we draw some pictures? Do you like drawing pictures?” she asked him, taking out a pad of white paper and some coloring pencils and markers, placing them onto the table before them. Barney didn’t respond, but Lily felt his hand shifting, contemplating. Finally he peeked out at Amy.
“Lily likes drawing...” he told her in a small voice.
“Oh, she does?” Amy prompted, smiling at him to continue. He shyly buried his face again and remained silent for a few moments before seemingly coming to a decision.
“She’s an artist,” he told Amy, now fully turning his head to face her. “Dogs like her paintings... but birds don’t.” Lily stifled a giggle, affectionately ruffling his hair while the psychologist gave them both a puzzled look.
“What about you Barney?” she prompted him again. “Can you draw something for us?”
Barney bit his lip, turning to look at Lily nodded at him in encouragement.
“I don’t know what to draw,” he answered, pouting. Amy looked at him, putting on an expression of deep thought. “Hmm... how about you draw us a picture of things you like? What’s something you like Barney?”
Barney thought for a moment, before breaking into a grin.
“I like my friends,” he exclaimed, lifting his hand that was intertwined with Lily’s, as if for confirmation.
“Okay, how about you draw us a picture of your friends then?” Amy suggested, picking up a pencil and offering it to Barney.
Barney smiled, letting go of Lily to take the pencil and start drawing on the pad of paper. He began with five stick figures, two of them in dresses. Then he drew smiling faces on all of them. Picking up the brown, he proceeded to draw some hair onto one of the girls.
“Who’s that?” Amy asked him as he colored in concentration.
“It’s Robin,” he answered simply, now picking up the pencil to draw a gun in the brunette’s hand. “She likes guns,” he explained, “because she’s Canadian. Which is really uncool. Not liking guns, being Canadian. But Robin’s cool... and not just for a Canadian. She’s the second most awesome person ever,” he finished, now using a red pencil to color a dress for Robin.
He continued to draw the rest of the group, introducing each one to the Amy as he drew them. When he got to Lily, he smiled brightly at her before drawing a paintbrush into one of her hands and a credit card in the other. “She likes shopping,” he shrugged nonchalantly when Amy questioned him about it.
After he finished all five, himself included, he moved on to draw James and Loretta, then suits, and stormtroopers, cigars, scotch, Bob Barker and a laser tag gun. Lily was beginning to worry that next on the list would be boobs when Amy finally took the paper from him.
“Wow, that’s beautiful, Barney,” she exclaimed, “you sure like a lot of... interesting things!”
Barney giggled and shyly leaned into Lily again. Amy flipped the pad over and placed a fresh piece of paper before him. “Now how about we draw something we don’t like?” she suggested. “What don’t you like Barney?”
Barney paused, deep in thought, before picking up the pencil again. Slowly, almost painfully, he drew a rectangle, then another rectangle outside surrounding it, and finally two circles on the bottom.
“That’s.. interesting...” Amy prompted. Barney pouted, looking to Lily for support.
“It’s a bus.”
“A bus?”
“He had a bus accident a couple of years back,” Lily filled in for him. “Luckily it was right outside the hospital so help got to him pretty fast.” Barney nodded.
“I thought Ted was dying so I didn’t see the bus,” he added sheepishly. Amy smiled at him.
“Well I’m glad you got better,” she comforted. “Now, is there anything else you don’t like besides buses?”
Barney picked up the pencil again, drawing other shapes and figures, taking the time to color in some and leaving others as mere scribbles. Amy left him to doodle, occasionally asking him questions, but generally letting him express himself when he wanted to. Lily watched with interest, a wry smile making its way to her lips when she saw him draw a subway train, and remembered the time Barney had been stuck on one after he had finished the New York marathon. Her heart broke slightly when she saw an airplane, and he informed them that he didn’t like people saying goodbye and leaving. And her interest was definitely piqued when he drew a figure at a news desk, sans pants, with a brown haired girl next to him that looked suspiciously like one brunette reporter they all knew very well (and he made sure to point an arrow at the man, not the girl). He also drew an assortment of other items, including a torn suit, a large hand made to look like a turkey, which made Lily feel slightly guilty, and a mechanical bull (though they couldn’t really tell until Barney told them what it was). Lily had begun to wonder when Amy would stop him when she suddenly felt him tense up, hand trembling as he picked up a large black marker, hovering hesitantly over the piece of paper. He drew in a shaky breath, pushing the marker roughly onto the paper and drawing a large stick figure, covering all his other drawings on the page. Almost in a trance, he began to paint hard black strokes onto the page, gripping the marker so tight Lily could see his knuckles turning white. Unable to stand the turmoil radiating from her friend, she reached over to snap him out of it, but Amy stopped her, signaling for her to leave him be a few moments more. It was only when Lily could no longer make out anything on the page except for the overwhelming darkness that he finally stopped, throwing down the marker to glare challengingly at the paper, heaving in exhaustion.
“Who is that, Barney?” Amy asked now, placing one hand under his chin to turn his head and shift his focus from the drawing to herself. His eyes glanced over into hers for a split second, before darting wildly around the room, almost as if in fear. Letting out a despairing sob, he leapt onto Lily, face burying itself in her, fingers digging painfully into her back, desperate, scared. Gently she wrapped her own arms around him, taking care not to hurt him.
“Barney,” Amy refused to let him shut down, lifting up the dark-filled picture and turning his face away from Lily’s shoulder with her other hand to make him face it.
“Who is this Barney? Why don’t you like this person? Did he hurt you?”
He sobbed loudly, breaking down into tears, and struggled to turn away, but the psychologist kept her grip on him, shaking the picture again for emphasis.
“You drew him Barney, who is it? Who hurt you?”
Barney whimpered, stopping his struggles when he realized how futile they were.
“No more... I don’t... I can’t...” he begged instead.
“I know this is difficult Barney, but you’re safe now. This person... he can’t hurt you now, okay? You’re safe now. But we need to know more about him so we can catch him and make sure he doesn’t hurt you or anyone ever again, okay? Can you help us Barney? Please? Can you tell me who it is?”
Amy released her grip on him and he quickly turned his face back into Lily. She could feel the trembles running through his body, each gasp of air he struggled to take as he heaved, the tears now soaking through her shirt and she reached up to massage the back of his neck and run her fingers through the hair on the back of his head in comfort.
“Ry....” It was a silent mumble into Lily’s shoulder, almost inaudible, “R...Ryan...”
Amy bit her lip, nodding slowly and scribbling softly into her notepad, though her eyes never left him.
“Thank you Barney,” she told him, smiling sadly at him, at the pain she had to cause her patient in order to obtain the necessary information. “Can you tell me anything else about him?” she tried now, knowing it was probably a futile exercise, but trying nonetheless. He shook his head, still unwilling to lift away from the comfort and safety of Lily’s shoulder.
“No more... no more please...” he whimpered instead, and she nodded.
“Okay Barney, no more, I won’t ask anymore,” she reassured him, then turning to Lily, “I think that’s all we’ll be able to get out of him today, thank you for your time,” she said to her, bidding farewell before gathering the paper and pens from the table into her bag, purposely leaving Barney’s drawing of the things he liked for him, and exiting the room.
Once they were alone, Lily tried to pull Barney away from her to look at him, but he held fast, refusing to let go. Giving in, she lifted herself onto his bed, wrapped her arms around him again, and stayed with him until he fell asleep.
Next Chapter: My Brother's Keeper
Chapter: Painting a Picture
Author: yogurtpo3
Take a sad song, and make it better...
- The Beatles, Hey Jude.
“Barney, would you like to tell us what happened in the last two weeks?”
Barney turned to hide his face into the pillow, refusing to look towards the psychologist.
After being alerted to Barney’s regression, the police department had agreed to postpone the mandatory interview for a couple of days, although they did remind the group that whoever had attacked Barney was still on the loose and every delay in gaining potentially useful information could mean more danger for him. Barney himself had only displayed reluctance to talk about the subject and had either pretended he didn’t hear them or completely panicked at any attempts the group themselves had made to bring it up. Other than that, he had been healing and adjusting well once they had realized he required the same attention and encouragement one needed to give a child. In the past days he had been speaking out more and had even been happily smiling and laughing at times with them. In particular he had developed an attachment to Lily, the kindergarden teacher probably being the most comfortable out of the group with interacting with him on this level. Now she sat with him as a source of comfort and familiarity whilst the police assigned psychologist conducted the interview. She had introduced herself as Amy, a child psychologist, whom they thought would be more fitting given Barney’s delicate mental status. However, Barney was still shutting down as Amy attempted to question him.
“Nobody knows where you were... can you tell us?” Amy tried again.
No answer.
“Did... someone hurt you Barney?”
A whimper. Then... silence.
“It’s okay, nobody’s going to hurt you now, this is just between the three of us, okay?”
Barney only shut his eyes tighter, and reached out his hand towards Lily. She took it into her own, gently squeezing in comfort.
“No more,” he finally mumbled, sniffling.
Amy smiled and reached over to her bag.
“Okay Barney, no more questions then. How about we draw some pictures? Do you like drawing pictures?” she asked him, taking out a pad of white paper and some coloring pencils and markers, placing them onto the table before them. Barney didn’t respond, but Lily felt his hand shifting, contemplating. Finally he peeked out at Amy.
“Lily likes drawing...” he told her in a small voice.
“Oh, she does?” Amy prompted, smiling at him to continue. He shyly buried his face again and remained silent for a few moments before seemingly coming to a decision.
“She’s an artist,” he told Amy, now fully turning his head to face her. “Dogs like her paintings... but birds don’t.” Lily stifled a giggle, affectionately ruffling his hair while the psychologist gave them both a puzzled look.
“What about you Barney?” she prompted him again. “Can you draw something for us?”
Barney bit his lip, turning to look at Lily nodded at him in encouragement.
“I don’t know what to draw,” he answered, pouting. Amy looked at him, putting on an expression of deep thought. “Hmm... how about you draw us a picture of things you like? What’s something you like Barney?”
Barney thought for a moment, before breaking into a grin.
“I like my friends,” he exclaimed, lifting his hand that was intertwined with Lily’s, as if for confirmation.
“Okay, how about you draw us a picture of your friends then?” Amy suggested, picking up a pencil and offering it to Barney.
Barney smiled, letting go of Lily to take the pencil and start drawing on the pad of paper. He began with five stick figures, two of them in dresses. Then he drew smiling faces on all of them. Picking up the brown, he proceeded to draw some hair onto one of the girls.
“Who’s that?” Amy asked him as he colored in concentration.
“It’s Robin,” he answered simply, now picking up the pencil to draw a gun in the brunette’s hand. “She likes guns,” he explained, “because she’s Canadian. Which is really uncool. Not liking guns, being Canadian. But Robin’s cool... and not just for a Canadian. She’s the second most awesome person ever,” he finished, now using a red pencil to color a dress for Robin.
He continued to draw the rest of the group, introducing each one to the Amy as he drew them. When he got to Lily, he smiled brightly at her before drawing a paintbrush into one of her hands and a credit card in the other. “She likes shopping,” he shrugged nonchalantly when Amy questioned him about it.
After he finished all five, himself included, he moved on to draw James and Loretta, then suits, and stormtroopers, cigars, scotch, Bob Barker and a laser tag gun. Lily was beginning to worry that next on the list would be boobs when Amy finally took the paper from him.
“Wow, that’s beautiful, Barney,” she exclaimed, “you sure like a lot of... interesting things!”
Barney giggled and shyly leaned into Lily again. Amy flipped the pad over and placed a fresh piece of paper before him. “Now how about we draw something we don’t like?” she suggested. “What don’t you like Barney?”
Barney paused, deep in thought, before picking up the pencil again. Slowly, almost painfully, he drew a rectangle, then another rectangle outside surrounding it, and finally two circles on the bottom.
“That’s.. interesting...” Amy prompted. Barney pouted, looking to Lily for support.
“It’s a bus.”
“A bus?”
“He had a bus accident a couple of years back,” Lily filled in for him. “Luckily it was right outside the hospital so help got to him pretty fast.” Barney nodded.
“I thought Ted was dying so I didn’t see the bus,” he added sheepishly. Amy smiled at him.
“Well I’m glad you got better,” she comforted. “Now, is there anything else you don’t like besides buses?”
Barney picked up the pencil again, drawing other shapes and figures, taking the time to color in some and leaving others as mere scribbles. Amy left him to doodle, occasionally asking him questions, but generally letting him express himself when he wanted to. Lily watched with interest, a wry smile making its way to her lips when she saw him draw a subway train, and remembered the time Barney had been stuck on one after he had finished the New York marathon. Her heart broke slightly when she saw an airplane, and he informed them that he didn’t like people saying goodbye and leaving. And her interest was definitely piqued when he drew a figure at a news desk, sans pants, with a brown haired girl next to him that looked suspiciously like one brunette reporter they all knew very well (and he made sure to point an arrow at the man, not the girl). He also drew an assortment of other items, including a torn suit, a large hand made to look like a turkey, which made Lily feel slightly guilty, and a mechanical bull (though they couldn’t really tell until Barney told them what it was). Lily had begun to wonder when Amy would stop him when she suddenly felt him tense up, hand trembling as he picked up a large black marker, hovering hesitantly over the piece of paper. He drew in a shaky breath, pushing the marker roughly onto the paper and drawing a large stick figure, covering all his other drawings on the page. Almost in a trance, he began to paint hard black strokes onto the page, gripping the marker so tight Lily could see his knuckles turning white. Unable to stand the turmoil radiating from her friend, she reached over to snap him out of it, but Amy stopped her, signaling for her to leave him be a few moments more. It was only when Lily could no longer make out anything on the page except for the overwhelming darkness that he finally stopped, throwing down the marker to glare challengingly at the paper, heaving in exhaustion.
“Who is that, Barney?” Amy asked now, placing one hand under his chin to turn his head and shift his focus from the drawing to herself. His eyes glanced over into hers for a split second, before darting wildly around the room, almost as if in fear. Letting out a despairing sob, he leapt onto Lily, face burying itself in her, fingers digging painfully into her back, desperate, scared. Gently she wrapped her own arms around him, taking care not to hurt him.
“Barney,” Amy refused to let him shut down, lifting up the dark-filled picture and turning his face away from Lily’s shoulder with her other hand to make him face it.
“Who is this Barney? Why don’t you like this person? Did he hurt you?”
He sobbed loudly, breaking down into tears, and struggled to turn away, but the psychologist kept her grip on him, shaking the picture again for emphasis.
“You drew him Barney, who is it? Who hurt you?”
Barney whimpered, stopping his struggles when he realized how futile they were.
“No more... I don’t... I can’t...” he begged instead.
“I know this is difficult Barney, but you’re safe now. This person... he can’t hurt you now, okay? You’re safe now. But we need to know more about him so we can catch him and make sure he doesn’t hurt you or anyone ever again, okay? Can you help us Barney? Please? Can you tell me who it is?”
Amy released her grip on him and he quickly turned his face back into Lily. She could feel the trembles running through his body, each gasp of air he struggled to take as he heaved, the tears now soaking through her shirt and she reached up to massage the back of his neck and run her fingers through the hair on the back of his head in comfort.
“Ry....” It was a silent mumble into Lily’s shoulder, almost inaudible, “R...Ryan...”
Amy bit her lip, nodding slowly and scribbling softly into her notepad, though her eyes never left him.
“Thank you Barney,” she told him, smiling sadly at him, at the pain she had to cause her patient in order to obtain the necessary information. “Can you tell me anything else about him?” she tried now, knowing it was probably a futile exercise, but trying nonetheless. He shook his head, still unwilling to lift away from the comfort and safety of Lily’s shoulder.
“No more... no more please...” he whimpered instead, and she nodded.
“Okay Barney, no more, I won’t ask anymore,” she reassured him, then turning to Lily, “I think that’s all we’ll be able to get out of him today, thank you for your time,” she said to her, bidding farewell before gathering the paper and pens from the table into her bag, purposely leaving Barney’s drawing of the things he liked for him, and exiting the room.
Once they were alone, Lily tried to pull Barney away from her to look at him, but he held fast, refusing to let go. Giving in, she lifted herself onto his bed, wrapped her arms around him again, and stayed with him until he fell asleep.
Next Chapter: My Brother's Keeper