Hello... Well, this is already finished, and just needs to be posted. Probably will be posted one chapter every day. Um... Yeah.

CO-WRITTEN WITH A FRIEND.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

THE title comes from a Rixton song!

God bless!

Morning sun filtered down on the cars moving across the street. Ravens hung onto the roof's edge, cackling boldly.

Rob left for his second cup, not to mention grabbing one for Flash. Galen and Rhiannon had left a few days before for a hunt – and Rob and Flash had stayed to take care of one there. Normally, Rob preferred hunting with only his brother, it seemed more correct, as it felt more like being Custodes Noctis. Of course, so much had changed, since The Hunt, and now living with half a heart. Hey, but it had proved to be good for a few sarcastic jokes that had earned incredulous looks from his older sibling.

Yet, circumstances had prevented hunting together this time. Now, their ghoul was pushing daisies, and Galen's werewolf a few hours away was nearing its end.

He stopped his train of thought when he saw Becci. "Wow," he breathed.

"Rob! You like it? Can you guess the theme?" she was asking enthusiastically, already starting to make the coffees.

Rob's eyes flicked down then back up, "Yeah." He shook his head. "What's the theme?"

Becci giggled. "Medieval."

"Nice."

"Here!"

Smiling, Rob took them, and went back to the shop, the ravens following in after him. He took a sip of the drink, and set Flash's down on the counter.

A brief discomfort blossomed in his chest, uncomfortable pulses with each beat of his heart. He hummed, and shook his head, ignoring it.

Flash came stalking around one of the shelves, a contemplative frown on his face. "My keys-they're missing. Again. I'm pretty sure it's those birds," he growled as he came to a stop and pointed out one of the windows.

"You blame them for all your problems, Flash," Rob grinned brilliantly. He took another drink, picking up a book from the desk and slamming it shut with one hand. He'd picked up one of Galen's books, something he'd never read before surprisingly enough, and for a while it had used up some time where he couldn't find something else to do.

Flash grunted and shrugged, moving toward one of the coffees on the counter. "Yeah, because all my problems are their fault. Unemployment? Their bad!" He waved a hand in the air to emphasize what he was saying.

Rob laughed. He gulped down more of the strong beverage, before setting it on the table. They were pretty much just waiting for someone to come in today. Rob had to wonder why business was so slow today, but maybe it was because, by now, everyone had figured out Galen was out of town.

His heart squeezed in on itself, turning into a ball of throbbing pain. He shook his head, frowning.

Flash-who was still ranting about birds-didn't notice. He kept talking, up until the point he was pacing back and forth, really just ranting to himself.

Rob placed a hand over his heart. His breathing was becoming shorter, until his lungs felt as though being compacted inside of him. Back muscles tightening into painful knots, his hands shook, until the cup slipped through his fingers. "Flash..." Rob groaned.

Flash glanced over at Rob and stopped his pacing, then realizing something was wrong. Of course, being that he had no idea what it was, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do. "What? What's going on?" he asked, his voice half between worried and more worried than just kinda worried.

Rob made a soft noise, both hands clutching at his chest - slate blue eyes searched for Flash's, panic settling beneath their depths. He took a wobbly step backwards, legs turning to heavy weights under him and sending him falling backwards. His back collided against a shelf of charms and amulets, which fell crashing on top of him.

Flash's eyes widened, and for a moment, the shop was silent... that is, after the amulets and charms finished falling all over the floor. Flash blinked, and the whole world seemed to come back to reality.

"What the...?" Flash blurted, charging forward and pulling the shelf off of his friend, and then pulling Rob off the floor. Flash started half-panicking. He didn't have any idea what was going on... and being friends with Galen and Rob... well, the first things on his mind were all magical things that he had no idea how to deal with.

"Not good." Flash mumbled as he literally kept Rob from falling right back onto the floor. Galen was a state away-leaving Flash alone to deal with whatever "this" was. "I'm calling an ambulance," Flash stated between curses as he clumsily retrieved his phone with a free hand.

Pain. Sweet oblivion didn't seem to come for Rob. At least, not soon enough. Yet, he knew what that would mean at this point - he forced his eyes to stay open as long as he could, it would only make things worse, Flash was already panicking.

Agony burned across his torso, and he tried to catch his breath. Fear and confusion took their place on his face. "G'ln?"

The strangest look crossed his face. "Help me?" he squeaked with all the air his malfunctioning organs would grant. Normally Galen healed him. What happened? Was his brother okay? Had Rob done something? Was It back?

Was Galen dead?

"Galen's fine, you're gonna be fine. You better be fine," he growled out, trying to keep the worry out of his voice as he spoke.

With one foot, Flash pulled over a chair, lowered Rob onto it, then dialed 9-1-1. He vaguely thought that when Rob was better, he'd be livid that Flash had called an ambulance, but what was he supposed to do? Meanwhile, his free hand hovered over Rob's shoulder and Flash cursed the feeling of uselessness that seemed intent on eating him alive.

Finally, the call was picked up. The operator asked him the oh-so-familiar, "What is your emergency?" question. Flash related it quickly, between curses and through frustrated desperation. The operator calmly told him to remain calm, paramedics (Who don't get paid enough) were on their way. Meanwhile, the woman began asking what EXACTLY was happening.

At that point, Flash was forcing himself to stay calm, because he knew that he had to-because one of them had to. Flash was on his knees next to Rob, just repeating that everything was gonna be okay, and to keep breathing. Meanwhile, he was wondering if that was actually the truth at all. His mind was racing, and he started to wonder if something had happened to Galen, and he was dying, and therefore, Rob was dying too-and that thought terrified Flash. He couldn't live with the thought that he might be watching his friend die.

Rob's heart fluttered, and for a terrifying moment he realized he could feel it weakening. People said death would just come at you, but from his experience, he seemed to feel every second it crept closer.

His head fell backwards, his neck exposed as he gasped. He leaned forward again, his body trembling. He curled in on himself, pressing his upper body against his legs with bone-crushing strength. His arms were shoved even closer, as if he could reach his heart, perhaps he could lessen the burning.

Chest cramping, and his heart continuing to spasm.

And he screamed.

So, what'cha think? Want more?