"Maybe I am losing my shit…" Jason mumbled to himself in a hushed tone. His voice laced with confusion and dread, but his face remained monotonous. "Maybe, I have brain cancer… I hope I have brain cancer."

He's probably just fooled himself, letting his mind and possible brain cancer play a game on him. It will make sense in a way, he did sleep with his phone near his head and he did smoke for years. Not to mention asbestos! He's sure that at some point at time he was near the thing, although to be honest, he's not entirely sure what asbestos is… But it probably gave him brain cancer.

In a way it would be easier to believe he suffered from a terrible illness and that imagined things or at the very least hearing them, were just symptoms. It would be easier because it's better than the other possibility, the one he won't even admit to consider out loud because it's too far from reality, too abnormal.

He'd lost patients before, it came with the game, and Richard was dead. End of the story. As much as the man didn't want to believe it, it was reality, and sometimes reality sucked.

"Maybe saying Tartar sauce is a common thing — Like in SpongeBob"

Still, with everything he believe or didn't believe, he quietly, and mostly remorsefully, backtracked towards the area he'd left Richard's body, the area he heard the voice come from.

He tried to reason with himself as his footfalls softened upon reaching the scene of the crime — or at least what would have been the scene. His heart started to beat a little faster. What he'd seen before him was chilling — used medical supplies and torn clothing — but no corpse.

"Jaden?" A voice echoed through the woods.

Jason immediately broke out into goosebumps, and tingles shot down his spine. His heart raced and tears began to form against his will. The paramedic felt his heart contract inside of his chest —each beat faster than the last like the pounding of a war-drum.

"There you are!" Exclaimed an overly excited voice from behind. It sounded so familiar, "For a moment I thought they'd got you"

At this point, his sight was blurred, he was crying, but he had no time to determine if the tears were those of anger, fear or something else as Jason felt his blood run cold and his mind begged his body not to turn. However, the will of the body overcame the power of the mind. And, in turn, Jason faced Richard just two meters away from him. The same Richard that had been dead moments beforehand, alive and shirtless. A smile seemed to be plastered across the others demented face, as rivers of scarlet dripped from the bloodied space in his upper abdomen, where the chest-drain had been forcibly pulled out.

The first-responder stumbled and fell onto his back, as trembling arms and legs attempted to further the gap between himself and the not-so-dead patient. His brain has been unable to process the information presented to him as the other man had went full Lazarus on him. However, the exit was soon blocked by the trunk of an old oak. He tried to press back against the wooden frame ,hoped the need to escape would give him enough power to break down the tree with the simplest push, but as always, Jason was just an unlucky bastard.

"Oh…" Richard said weakly, "I understand what this must look like, but I guarantee you, I have a reasonable explanation."

His voice seemed to soften, and lose the harshness it had gained from his previous bout of laughter.

"I was dead and now I'm not, but…" Richard said, looking rather miffed as feet brushed over the grass with each footfall. He walked slowly towards the other man, gesturing for him to calm down with his hands, "Okay, I really can't explain because I don't know how this whole not dying thing is happening, but if you would just trust —"

Richard could barely finish the sentence as the fight or flight instinct activated inside of Jason brain, resulting in the later Jason bolted. His breathing erratic as his pulse fluttered inside of eardrum. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, causing his entire body to shake from a mixture of fear and adrenaline.

He has seen dead people, but never dead people that aren't dead.

Looking back at this moment, Jason use it as a reminder about self-care. For him self-care is about sitting in bed and watching Hollywood Medium with a pack of 24 nuggets. Apparently this kind of self-care dos not help you ran faster than any blood covered resurrect jack at the middle of the night in the woods, but exercising twice a week will.

Richard had caught up with Jason and so the man tackled him to the ground as soon as the chance was offered. But, the moment that Jason was knocked to the ground, something changed and he went wild, searching for an escape from his new prison, trapped on all angles, by the others arms, legs, and upper body. Jason fought with everything he had, letting out an emitted animalistic cries of rage.

"Please!" Begged Richard, "Jaden, please Just calm down!"

He pleaded, as his grip on the wild man beneath him tightened, suppressing the others strength, and pushing him further into the ground.

"You're going to hurt yourself. Calm down, Jaden!"

"Let me fucking go —YOU BRAIN-EATING-FUCK!" Jason managed to scream.

"Language!" Snapped Richard, in a mothering tone. Which made the paramedic feel like he'd been scolded by a teacher. A terrifying one. But even when his parents were alive, Jason didn't give a rat ass about their scolding, and it won't change now, so he gave a series of colorful curses that made his but it made him feel a bit better but did not help him get out of detention.

Honestly, Richard didn't know how long he'd been out, but he was pretty sure that it was far too long, going by the Jason's reaction. These woods were no longer safe, and the man who shot him must be nearby, if not watching them through the gaps in the trees. Richard was worried, because there was no way of telling where the other man was, not with the leafy coverage, the foliage, and the dusty mist. He swallowed, and looked down at Jaden. He couldn't leave Jaden, because they would find him, and with all the noise he was making, it would be soon. His options were limited, but there was one thing that was sure to help them — an option that was left only for extreme measures.

Richard let go of one of Jason's hand and switched his hand to the EMT neck, pressing him to the ground by applying pressure on his neck.

"Jaden, I'll let you breathe only if you calm down," He stated impatiently, the demanding tone in his voice never wavering. However, the action seemed to make everything worse as Jason didn't calm down at all, but instead attempted to fight off the other before his vision could fade to black. Jason tried to unlace the others fingers from his neck, growing hungry for air as the darkness returned to his vision. His body soon falling limp too, as his mind sunk into oblivion.

"Tartar sauce…" Sighed Richard in annoyance. He slowly got up, and looked down at the titan of a man. Richard bent down once more, and picked up his fallen comrade, placing him over one shoulder, before collecting the medical bag with the other.

A while later, a painful itch around his neck got Jason to open his eyes. At first, he was so disoriented he didn't even notice the tremor of the ground, but then he gave himself a little shake and pulled himself together. It didn't take him long to realize that it was the backseat of a car. However, it wasn't his car. More importantly, the man seated in the driver's seat was Richard.

The 'I used to be dead but now I'm better' Richard.

He suddenly felt dizzy again, as fear flooded him. A storm of memories from before he woke up in the foreign car flashed in his mind. Jason tried to sit up, but his hands were tied, and his tall figure didn't quite fit in the small clown car, so the moment he'd came down slamming his head against the side door.

The noise of Jason's struggle made Richard turn around, jerking his head to peer into the back seat.

"Oh, Jaden. You're up," He said, all too cheerfully, but Jason just eyed him angrily from the backseat.

Richard sighed, and adjusted the center mirror in order to get a better view of the back seat, "Well, I know what this looks like, and I'm sure this must be a very frightening experience for you, so, just to be clear, I'm NOT a kidnapper and this is NOT a kidnaping situation," He chittered.

"So RELEASE ME!" Snapped Jason in an irritated tone.

Richard swallowed hard, and used one hand to rub the back of his head with his left hand, "Well, here is the thing…I can't release you, because you saw too much. But again, it's not a kidnapping since I'm doing this for your own good. Believe me…"

Jason looked Richard dead in the eye, albeit, through the reflection of the mirror, then intensifying his struggled against the bonds that bound his limbs. 'Like hell this ain't a kidnapping,' Jason thought to himself. He's not dumb. That is EXACTLY what a kidnapper would say.

Richard sighed as his fingers drummed against the steering wheel, 'this wasn't going as planned,' he thought to himself. But, the man wasn't surprised.

"Jaden, just relax-"

"The name is Jason. If you're going to fucking butcher me, at least know my goddamn name!" Jason shouted in frustration.

"I am not going to butcher you…" He scowled in a rather hurt tone, "And, I'm sorry I got your name wrong, Jason. My name is Richard. I find it kind of formal so you can use a nickname, if you like…"

"Dick…" Mutter Jason.

"I prefer Rich or Richey but suit yourself. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable, Jay," Replied Richard in a chipper tone.

"It's not what... Never mind," Jason sighed, and looked out the window, from his position he could only see that dark starry night the moon, and the treetops, "Where are you taking me?"

"We're going to meet my friend, he's running from them, like me and you, and I'm helping him so he's going to help you."

Jason looked at Richard confused.

"Who are they?" He asked, still trying to work his way around the overused of pronoun.

Richard gave Jason a quick glanced, and intensified the tapping on the wheel.

"I... I can't really say."

"You don't know who is chasing you?"

"I know, but you can't," Richard admitted.

Jason blinked at him, his faced shifted into a frown, "Is this a prank?" he asked, looking around for a camera, "Are you an actor?

"What? I'm not an actor," Replied Richard. Jason was not pleased with this answer and launch into in another wild attempt to free himself.

"Jason, you'll hurt yourself," He warned

"Bite me, SpongeBob SquareJaw," Barked Jason.

Richard inhaled, "The only thing I can tell you is that they are the bad guys, and my friend and I are the good guys"

"Good for you, dipshit, now for fuck sake, release me."

Richard pouted, but spared a glance back at Jason, "I hope you got it all out of your system because we're here."

He got out of the car, and a moment later he opened the door near Jason's head.

"If I untie your legs, you won't ran away? Because I'll hate to strangle you again," He asked with an arrogant smile.

"God hates a smartass," repaid Jason.

"So you're in trouble," said Richard, "and you get more bonding time." Despite Jason's objection, he picked him up on his shoulder and carried him to a shabby hut in the middle of the forest that was straight up from a horror film. Faint light coming through the window painted the ground around the cabin in dull colors.

"I'm back! And I brought someone special!" Richard called out as he kicked open the door. He placed Jason on a plastic chair then walked to the other room and leaned near the door, looking at someone. Jason could only see the other persons shadow on the wall. Jason looked around. It was a shitty setup, two chairs, a table that was clearly broken and didn't fall apart only by being pressed to the wall. A few candles that dyed the room in soft light, and some water bottles and canned food in a blue duffle bag on the floor. That was it.

Richard shifted. From the doorway a boy, around fifteen or sixteen years old approached him. He looked tired and unamused by Jason's presence. He had dark circles around his blue eyes that peaked out from beneath black, messy hair. He wore jeans, and a big red sweatshirt that didn't flattered his muscular build.

"What is this?" Asked the teen, pointing a finger Jason.

"This is Jason, he tried to help me when they attacked me," explained Richard from the other room. He reappeared, now wearing a long blue shirt. "Jason, this is Tim."

"So you kidnapped him? Asked Tim, craning over to look into Jason raging green eyes.

"I did NOT kidnap him!" protested Richard. "It's not kidnapping if I did it for his own good."

"Bullshit! You did kidnap me!" snapped Jason. Tim jerked back and sat on the other chair.

"Richey, let him go. We have enough problems. We don't need to add him to the plate."

"Thank you!" Said Jason with relief. At least the kid wasn't a lunatic. He then looked at Richard. "You heard the kid, release me, you maniac."

Richard didn't even look at Jason. "What about them? He asked.

Tim closed his eyes and let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "We can't help everyone."

"Tim, they'll kill him," said Richard. The corners of his mouth sank a little.

Tim got up and looked Richard in the eyes. "If the Court of Owls catch him, then it's his problem, not ours."