Alex hung up his phone with a sigh.

He was disappointed. Ian had promised to be there and he hadn't been. This wasn't the first time; it had happened a lot with his job. But that didn't make it hurt less. Alex thought mournfully. He wasn't mad at his uncle. He simply loved him too much for that.

Ian was a strange man. Cautious, meticulous, thoughtful, strong, impulsive, caring, he was everything Alex needed and yet Alex sometimes felt he didn't truly know him. He was incredibly calm in crisis; like the time Alex's lead rope had snapped while they were rock climbing. And yet when he walked in the grocery store he was always watching, thinking, calculating, eyes darting everywhere in an almost paranoid manner. His uncle was a well guarded man and to most he would have seemed perfectly normal. But Alex was closer to Ian than anyone had ever been, and he saw everything. He didn't know what it meant, but he would've given anything to find out.

His uncle was almost like a father, a lot like a best friend, and the only person in the world that Alex could always count on to do whatever was necessary for him. Ian had proved it more than once. Like the time he beat up those three men who tried to kidnap him when he was seven. (Alex never had found out why they wanted him) Like the time he ran into a burning middle school because he knew Alex was in there. Like the time he stayed up until 2 in the morning helping Alex with his homework. Like the time he jumped off a cliff to grab Alex when his lead line snapped in a climb. Ian had been there for Alex so many times….now it always hurt when he wasn't.

If Ian had to be there, Ian would be there. Alex knew that and it was enough for him. He could endure this disappointment just like he had the others. He might not know everything about his uncle, but he loved him and that was enough….

4 hours later.

Ding Dong. The doorbell rang a solemn gong and Alex shot to his feet. He knew it was Ian, he had come just like he said he would! Looking back Alex would wonder why it never occurred to him that Ian would have just unlocked the door with his key, but at the time anticipation clouded his thinking. He dashed into the hallway that led to the door and stopped in his tracks. Red and blue lights bounced off the white walls and Alex's heart went cold. His footsteps were slow and halting as he slowly seemed drawn to the front door. The hallway seemed a mile long as he walked towards those foreboding colored lights. His cold fingers reluctantly opened the door.

"I'm sorry there's been an accident" Alex heard a gruff constable say with startling clarity. He vaguely heard the words "dead on arrival" and "nothing could be done" as he felt himself slipping into grief filled obscurity. The red and blue lights were still turning as Jack took over with the constables. Alex's eyes filled with hot tears, he knew nothing but pain as he fled from those damn lights. He cried his first and last tears for his uncle and he uttered just one whispered word.

"No…"