This was semi-inspired by SailorWednesdayMercury, whose sweet depiction of Alan and Anne's sibling love made me want to try my hand at writing them as well.

It was bad enough that they'd been chased by not one, but two monsters, but when Tom had accidentally triggered a smoke-filled booby trap their party had been split in half. Now Tom and Suzie were nowhere to be found while Alan and Anne tried to make their way through the basement of the abandoned factory.

Being the children of detectives, one would think they might have developed nerves of steel by now. Anne was as brave and bold as they came, and Alan was normally pretty laid back. But this basement was like nothing they'd ever faced before, and the absence of their other two teammates only served to make this a more harrowing experience.

Anne shivered, leaning back against a wall; at first she and Alan had been walking side by side, but now he was several steps behind her.

"So much for all that you're just a girl, you can't keep up with me macho bravado," she snorted when he finally caught up with her. Alan shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's the point? All we're doing is going in circles," he said. "I tried to get in touch with Suzie and Tom on Chan Comm but they're not picking up."

"I called Henry, but it sounded like he and Stanley were in a jam themselves. And the younger kids are too far away," Anne said. "And it'll be getting dark, soon."

"Better change the batteries in the flashlight, then." Alan dug in his pocket, then blanched with embarrassment. "...except I didn't bring any."

"Nice going," Anne grumbled. "We better hope these will hold out for-"

As if to spite them, the flashlight's bulb flickered and died out, leaving them in almost pitch darkness. Anne buried her face in her hands with an exasperated groan.

"What else could-"

"Don't. Just don't." Alan sat down against the wall with a sigh. "Well, we've really done it now. We've got no light, we're stuck in here with no way out, there's no windows, our brother and sister are missing and we can't contact them..." His voice suddenly broke. "It's over, Annie, we're done for! Who's gonna think to look for us down here? We'll never get out, we'll never see Pop and the others again!"

Before she could ask what had gotten into him all of a sudden, he burst into tears, and it truly scared her. Her laid back, quick-thinking brother reduced to a sobbing wreck on a cold basement floor...Anne sat down, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Alan..." She forced a smile. "Come on, you're mixing up the roles! The girl's the one who's supposed to cry, remember?" she teased; he didn't answer, just shook his head and hugged his knees to his chest. She pulled him into an embrace and he buried his face in her shoulder, soaking the fabric of her shirt with his tears. The truth was she was as scared as he was, and she almost wanted to cry as well.

"I'm scared, too, Alan," she admitted, stroking his hair. "I'm worried about Tom and Suzie, and I don't want to think of what's lurking down here...but we can't give up hope."

Alan's weight shifted against her as he fell into a sort-of leaning position, one arm around her waist and his head leaning against her chest.

"Don't leave me, Annie," he finally managed to get out between sobs, Anne simply held him closer in response, resting her head against his.

Tomorrow, Alan would be his old self again and deny ever having been scared at all. Anne would never breathe a word of this to anyone. They'd tease each other about who was freaking out about ghosts in the basement.

But for now, they allowed themselves to give into fear and despair as they clung to each other for warmth and security.