Chapter 1

Story requested by bg52598

The temperature had dropped a very low -30 degrees and Rigby had been dragging Mordecai around the freezer for hours. His lungs were burning and his vision was blurry. The cold was getting to him. The raccoon let out one last sigh before finally dropping the blue jays legs. Weakly stumbling over to a pile of boxes, he carelessly tripped over a small ice block and fell to the ground. His eyes slowly closed. I guess it's fate for me to die in this freezer, he thought, serves me right for being a dumb jerk and getting us stuck here. Just as the raccoons eyes closed, he heard a small noise, and jerked his head up. Peering ahead, he saw the door slowly open, and jumped up, feeling a sudden burst of energy. He raised his fists when he saw three figures emerge through the cloud.

He heard a small whimper. "Do we have to look in here?" Pops

"Well, it's the only place we haven't looked" He heard Skips answer.

"Those two are so dead when I find them. I told them specifically NOT to grill the hotdogs, and what do they do? Grill them of course" Definitely Benson.

Rigby slowly lowered his defenses, his eyes widening. He ran to the three on all fours with a smile.

Benson frowned. "Rigby? What are you doing here?" He looked past Rigby. "And where's Mordecai?"

"I'll explain later Benson, but we got bigger problems"

Benson glanced back at Skips and Pops before looking back at the raccoon. "What do you mean?"

"A few hours ago, me and Mordecai went down here to look for more hotdogs because I accidently burnt the ones you gave me and the door closed and I broke the thermostat and...and..." Rigby took a big breath and pointed behind him. "Just follow me" He turned.

Benson shrugged to the others before following Rigby through the freezer. They passed piles of boxes, some filled with meat, some completely empty.

"Are we there yet?" Skips asked

Rigby slowed his pace. "Yes"

Benson, Skips and Pops went around the racoon as he knelt down next to the unconcious blue jay. Bensons eyes widened.

"Mordecai?"

The blue jays eyes were closed, his hands folded on his chest.

Rigby glanced up at his boss. "He's been unconcious for a couple of hours now, and hasn't woken at all" He sounded worried, looking back at his friend.

Benson pulled a phone from his pocket. "I'm gonna call an ambulance. Although Mordecai has been unconcious for a couple of hours in a freezer, he could make it" He walked to a nearby box, dialing the number.

The more Rigby looked at Mordecai, the more he began to realize the raccoon believed himself to be an idiot. Somehow, the blue jays face reminded him. Probably from all the times he has yelled at him that 'you can't fix this' or 'you ruin everything'. Mordecai was right. He did ruin everything. Rigby placed a furry hand on the blue jays arm as Benson walked up with a grim smile.

"Ok, they said they'll be here in about 5 minutes"

The three nodded, but Benson didn't sit. He was looking at Mordecai.

"We need to take Mordecai out of here to meet the ambulance"

Rigby stood. "I'll carry him"

Benson shook his head. "Skips'll do it. Besides, your too exhausted from all of this"

With that said, Skips gently picked Mordecai up and carried him bridal style, leading the way, with Benson and Pops following behind. Rigby walked up besides Skips, glancing at Mordecai every few moments. Skips noticed this but didn't look at the raccoon.

"He'll be alright Rigby. The ambulance will be here in a few minutes"

Rigby sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't worry. But he's been in that freezer for two whole hours. What if he..."

Skips didn't try to finish the sentence, comment, or even reply. Rigby sighed.

As they passed through the door, Rigby noticed a block of wood holding the door open. He mentally face palmed as he followed Skips out. The ambulance hadn't arrived.

The four sat on the park steps in worry and hope. Benson sat on the top step, comforting a scared Pops, while Skips and Rigby sat on the bottom steps, Skips still holding Mordecais body. Rigby glanced at Mordecai, then at Skips.

"Can I...hold him?" He asked, a tinge of red rising in his cheeks, the words sounding weird in his mind.

Skips nodded and passed the blue jay to him. Rigby held Mordecai in his arms, being as gentle as possible. He was cold to the touch, but the bright sunshine was helping a bit, melting the ice off his feathers. Rigby was heating up by the suns rays.

Soon, the ambulance arrived, with two guys getting out. They went round the back and turned to the group.

"You Benson?" One of men asked, pointing at the gumball machine.

Benson nodded and moved off the step. "Yes." He turned to Rigby and took Mordecai from his arms. Turning back around, he walked off the step and gave the blue jay to the man, while the other guy got out a stretcher.

When they stretcher was layed out on the ground, the man let the blue jay slip from his grasp then they picked it up and put it back in the truck. One of the men closed the doors, then they went round to the front. The four watched as they sped away, the sirens fading as they got to the gates.

They all sat in silence...

Rigby looked up. "We should go to the hopsital"

No one moved, glancing from one person to the next.

"Well? Who's gonna go?" Benson finally spoke up. "Pops?"

Pops nervously shook his head as Skips moved to sit next to him.

"Skips?"

Skips glanced at his boss. "I'll look after Pops"

Benson shrugged. "I guess I'll go." He turned to the raccoon. "Come on Rigby. Let's get to the hospital"

Rigby walked next to Benson as they went to the truck. Pops and Skips watched them leave, then Skips stood up, helping a shaken Pops inside.