Title: A Day of Sun and Pain

Pairing: John/Chas

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

Rating: I'd say a 14-A

Summery: A sequel to a Night of Blood and Iron. John and Chas get in a car accident.

Note (Important, please read): You may wish to know now thatthis is now sort of beta'd. By me. I added in quite a few things, changed around some words, put a bit more into the last scene and I've broken it up a little bit. I'm thinking about writing a little extra in at the end there, full of slashy goodness as per several people's requests. This is though, only a consideration, I'll see if anyone wishes the pass the motion.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Newton.

Prologue

The sun was just leaving its final tentative touches on the loosely gathered clouds when a step resounded in the evening silence behind the boy lying sprawled on the patio.

He had been there all afternoon and evening, trying to lure the chipmunks to take little pieces of bread from his hands. Each time one poked its head over the side of the porch, he'd wait with bated breath and nary a movement. The little mammal would sneak forward and snatch the morsel from him then scamper away.

He almost had this last one, the shyest of the lot. It was sitting at the very edge of patio, ready to run if the boy moved even an inch. Its dark, quizzical eyes had the boy transfixed as he waited with a most unchildlike patience to feel the tiny paws on his hands one last time. That is, until the step behind him ruined it.

"Mom!" he cried in anguish as a chipmunk streaked away into the gloom of the falling shadows. "I almost had him!"

The last of the sunlight fell gently on his mother's face as she smiled in apology at the boy scrambling to his feet. She reached out a hand to her youngest son and gently smoothed down his rampant curls.

"I'm sorry dear, but it's far past your bedtime and we have to be up early tomorrow to get back to the city and be ready for school on Monday."

At the mention of school, the boy's eyes widened and a tinge of fear entered them. In the last light of the dying day, his face appeared to be sunken in shadow, his eyes barely visible, but the fear was there.

"No," he said with a little shake of his head, "I'm not going back, not there."

She sighed. "Chas, dear, we've talked about this. Mr. McKauly says that it must have been the afternoon sunlight, it'll be fine, I promise."

Her words had quite the opposite effect on him than was intended. At the mention of Mr. McKauly, full blown fear entered his eyes and his little body began to shake violently. "No! I never want to see him again!" With that he ran into the rented cabin and flung himself onto his bed, small hiccupping sobs muffled by the pillow he was pouring out his terror to.

He soon felt the warm, soothing hand of maternal love smoothing back his hair and a voice murmuring soft condolences until his tears abated. His mother continued to run her hand through his soft curls until his breathing had slowed into the steady rhythm of sleep, then knelt by her son's side and began to pray.

"Out! Out! The both of you!" She shrieked at the two rampant children running in circles around the cabin. "Go get in the car!"

"But Chas thinks that it's his turn to be in the front seat, when it's actually mine. So we agreed that whoever could finish going into all of the rooms ten times the fastest gets to sit in the front." Josh looked up with wide, guileless, innocent eyes that didn't fool his mother one bit.

"Chas thinks it's his turn to sit in the front because it is his turn. No more running out of either of you, go get in the car."

Sulkily, with many glaring backward looks, the brothers walked towards the car with dragging feet that kicked up dust which immediately went to the wind blowing off the mountains.

Chas stuck his tongue out at Josh as he got in the front seat. He had nearly gotten in an insult when the boy's young, but formidable mother wrenched open the door and tossed the last bag in beside Josh.

"Sit," she said with a glare, "and no talking."

For the most part they did just that, sat and watched their mom starting up the car and muttering about blessed silence as they started on their way back to the city. When the light was just right though, they could make faces at each other in the windows and mirrors. Conveniently, the light was just right quite a bit that day and there was a lot of stifled giggling going on between the back seat and front.

Chas had the most perfect face that he was going to use next. He could move his eyes in opposite directions - just like that Disney character he couldn't remember the name of – and he considered that his trump card against his brother. He knew that Josh was wild with envy since he couldn't do it. He had it all ready to go just as the sun and trees were lined up to get optimal face making light, then he saw from the corner of his eye a women walking down the street.

A woman with a peculiar light in her eye and a melting face. His world went cold and dark in almost an instant, the only emotion that resounded through his body was fear, and that he had in abundance; which only grew as he noticed something hiding in her shadow. Something magnanimously ugly and large. He screamed and threw himself as far from the window as he could, which meant right into his mother.

A squealing of breaks, a shattering of glass and a low cry of despair was all he heard but he could see his brother's face in the window. The sunlight was just right to make a face at him, and he could see the visage below Josh's brown curls. It was twisted with terror. That was the last thing he saw before swimming down into darkness.

He felt a terrible pain in his head when he woke up, but the first thing to mind and out of his mouth was: "Mommy?"

A female face appeared above his own, but it wasn't his mom's. In a haze of drugs and pain, he tried to place her.

"I'm sorry Chas, your mom isn't here right now, she's…" said his aunt in a voice that trailed off into uncertainty.

Something was wrong, but he couldn't wrap his mind around anything, it was all one big blur.

"Why not?"

"I - " She swallowed. "She doesn't want to see you."

He stared at her in black incomprehension. Why wouldn't his mom want to see him? She'd never liked hospitals, said they were too white and smelly, and filled with people Darwin would have hated. But why wasn't she here?

His aunt cleared her throat slightly. "I'm – I'm sorry Chas, but it's because Josh didn't make it."