A/N, I´d like to give the host fanfic a try so here we go. I hope you like this chapter; please comment/review if you think I should continue.
I do not own any of the characters, all credit to the original author.
"Excuse me… What are you doing?" Ian called out to the huddled figure on the floor. There was no response. Instead it curled up tighter and started rocking back and forth on the hard stone floor. Ian moved closer to get a look at the face. In the gloomy passageway he had to bend down to see who it was. Ian peered into his hooded face and saw with a shock that it was none other than Jared, the newest recruit. He was staring straight ahead and tears were slanting down his cheeks.
"Uh, Jared…?" Ian gazed down, swinging his arms like a metronome. He suddenly felt awkward and unsure of what to do with himself. In front of him was a man whom he had only briefly met some days previously. And now he was sitting on the floor in the storage room sobbing silently. It was enough to make any guy uncomfortable. Ian almost laughed at the thought of what his brother Kyle would do in this situation. But Ian was, as he told himself on countless occasions not like his brother. There was someone who needed comforting and Ian was standing next to him. He looked around the room for any obvious reasons for Jared´s distress. There were none. Softly he lowered himself onto the ground until he was sitting across from Jared. They were uncomfortably cramped up in the narrow corridor.
"So you´re the new guy, right?" Strong start, Ian found himself thinking. "The one who arrived a week ago with your little brother in a jeep,"
"Not my little brother," Jared had stopped his rocking and he was gazing intently at Ian´s feet. Tears were still glistening on his cheeks.
"Not your little brother?" Ian was confused, but still relieved that he´d finally got a response.
"Jamie is her little brother," Jared´s voice was quiet. The way he said her made Ian feel there was something more to it. And it wasn´t hard to guess what.
"Did you… Did you lose someone to them?" There was a tense silence, then;
"Yes." Tears were brimming in his eyes again.
"Oh, I´m sorry." He should have known. Everybody had lost somebody. Almost everyone had made their way to Jeb´s band of survivors by the skins of their teeth. And Jared´s losses were just more recent than the others. He was still staring at Ian´s feet and Ian himself didn´t have much to say so they sat in silence for a while.
"Ian! Goddammit what are you doing down there?" The voice of Jebediah Smith came floating down the corridor. Ian jumped to his feet and Jared dried his eyes on his sleeve as Jeb´s face swam into view.
"I sent yeh down a good half hour to-oh…" He had caught sight of Jared on the floor. His expression softened as he glanced back questioningly to Ian.
"I should probably get the…yeah…" He hefted a sack of flour onto his shoulder and started off down the corridor. Looking back, he saw Jeb kneeling down by Jared and speaking in a voice too soft to be heard. Best leave that kind of stuff to Jeb, was his last guilty thought as he rounded the next corner.