A/N Alright, so this is a new story, written to replace the recently completed Separation Anxiety. The ages are a bit different - Nate is 18, Shane is 21 and Jason is somewhere between 18-23, I'm not sure.

Nathan Walker had been missing for three months; gone, off the record with no traces, no leads concerning his disappearance, and then, one day, without any warning, he was back. Not back at work, not back at his usual haunts, just…back. The hunt for him had almost been closed, nearly dismissed and Nate had been a couple of weeks from presumed dead by those who still held on to even a glimmer of hope, people like Shane Grey. Until Shane got a call – got the call that changed everything. Again.

"Hello?" Shane answered the phone, his voice tired and hollow, tone mimicking the way he felt and looked. Nate had been his best friend and even though he hadn't known Nate the longest by any stretch of the imagination, he cared for Nate more than almost anyone who knew him. Needless to say, after Jason and Nate's direct family, it was Shane who was hit hardest by the disappearance and, in the end, it was Shane who had filed the missing persons report.

"Shane, it's Jason."

"I know." Shane nodded, automatically recognizing the voice.

"They found Nate."

"What?" Shane nearly dropped the phone, his response barely the ghost of a whisper, his jaw falling and the color draining from his face. "Where? How? When? Is he alive? Is he ok?"

"Slow down." Jason's voice was calm, quiet and patient. He didn't sound excited, and that scared Shane. "One question at a time."

"Is he alive?" Shane went with the most important question on his list, the one that would make all of the others either matter or seem indifferent, depending on the response.

"Yes." Jason's words permitted Shane a sigh of relief, and he lay back on his bed.

"Where did they find him?" Shane asked.

"It's twisted." Jason paused. "They found him in New Mexico."

"Tell me the whole story, Jason." Shane could tell that things were going unsaid – after all, New Mexico itself wasn't as twisted as Jason had made things seem.

"He was in a brothel, Shane. The report said that police found him in a routine bust…it was a lucky break, really, but it wasn't good. I mean it was good that they found him, but not how they found him."

"What was it like?" Shane asked, concerned and worried for his friend.

"Apparently they had kept him one fucking room – they kept all of their 'employees' in solitary rooms with one wrist attached to a long chain so that they could reach the bed, the bathroom and such but not get out."

"Oh my god…" Shane gulped, trying hard not to picture Nate in the situation. "And…how is he?"

"I haven't seen him yet, they just got him back to New York about an hour ago, that's when they called me, up until then only his family knew. From what I've heard, he's in pretty bad shape – I mean physically he's going to be fine, but he's even more underweight than he was before, he's exhausted and he has a lot of, well, bruises and injuries from, um…customers." Jason winced just saying the word and Shane felt like throwing up just thinking about it. This was Nate, his Nate, his best friend, the boy that he had refused to give up hope on.

"And…mentally?" Shane asked cautiously, not sure that he even wanted to hear the response.

"Not good." Jason shook his head. "He hasn't said a fucking thing since they got him out. They said that he seems completely calm; no panic attacks, no screaming and no signs of hallucinations, but his mom said that he seems just...empty."

"No." Shane shook his head. "Not Nate."

"I don't know, Shane, really, I don't." Jason bit his lip, trying not to cry as he spoke to Shane. "Look, the label and his friends are being notified of his return, but they are limiting visitors pretty strictly."

"How strictly?" Shane asked.

"Mostly just his family – I can't go." Jason paused. "But you can."

"Wait, why me and not you?" Shane asked, confused.

"Because you filed the missing persons report." Jason shrugged. "I don't understand it, it's some sort of technicality in everything, but apparently they mentioned you and Nate didn't show any signs of objecting – then again, he's not really showing signs of any emotion. They asked me to call you and let you know that if you so choose, you can go see him during normal visiting hours, which are ten to noon and four to seven."

"Oh." Shane bit his lip. He wanted to see Nate, wanted to have proof for himself that his friend was alive, but he wasn't sure that he could stand seeing Nate without his normal life, without his previous animation and visible creativity. "I - I'll go this afternoon." Shane checked the clock. It was one in the afternoon, so he had a few hours to compose himself. It didn't matter, he realized, if he didn't want to see Nate. It wasn't his choice, really. Nate was his best friend and right now, he was scared, weak and alone; it was Shane's responsibility to be there for him, even if it wasn't something that he wanted to do.

"You should," Jason nodded. "And…you know, when you're done, will you tell me everything? I want to go see him but I don't want to put that kind of pressure on anyone right now. His family has enough to deal with without me begging them for visitation rights."

"Jason, you know if you asked I'm sure they'd let you visit."

"I know," Jason nodded. "I just don't feel like it's the right time to ask yet."

"If you're sure," Shane nodded. "I'll tell you everything, I promise."

"Thank you." Jason sounded grateful for Shane's promise. "And Shane…be careful with him, ok? I want him back, I miss him."

"I know, Jason. I do too."

"God, I thought that he was dead, Shane." Jason sighed. "I'm not even sure that I deserve to see him – I gave up on him, almost everyone did; everyone but you."

"Don't beat yourself up." Shane shook his head, even though Jason couldn't see him. "It's not in my nature to lose hope on anything or anyone and there were some times where even I was sure that I would never see him again."

"Do me one more favor?" Jason asked, his voice sounding pained.

"What?" Shane questioned.

"Don't tell him. Please, don't tell him that I lost faith in him, don't tell him that I thought he was dead; as much as I deserve whatever contempt he would feel towards that, I don't think that I could handle it."

"Don't worry." Shane shook his head. "I won't tell him anything like that."

"Thank you. I have to go, but Shane, you take care – and don't forget to report back."

"I won't forget. Thanks for the call." There was no goodbye, just the clicking sound on the other end of the phone that let Shane know Jason was gone. With that, he dropped the phone and grabbed his pillow, pulling it close to his chest, trying as hard as he could to take in all of the information that he had received through the phone call.

Nate was back. He was alive, he wasn't going to die, but he was broken and empty and Shane didn't know whether it would be worse for Nate's body to be broken or his soul.

A/N I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter, let me know what you think!