He used the clipped obscenity for once in his existence and, ignoring a soft gasp of surprise from Satoshi, looped his arms under the thief and dragged him inside, shutting the door with his foot. It felt like something was lodged in his throat- he set the Kaito down slowly and placed two fingers at his jugular vein.

~ Please, Dark, please…~ He prayed and closed his eyes, steadying his hand. There was movement under his fingers, light and weak. A long shaky breath he didn't know he was holding escaped from his lips. He leaned over his oddly pale mirror. ~Hypothermia…get it together Krad, it's not stochastic calculus…

'If patient is wearing wet clothing, the first priority is to remove said articles'…~ Touching his shirt, then a pocket of his jeans he found they were both soaked and clinging to his other half's form. Gritting his teeth, then relaxing them, he swallowed- why was he shaking? Dark would be fine.

Just fine.

~Alright Hiwatari let's get to work.~ The bluenette turned his back on the blonde and walked into the deepest recesses of his mind.

~You're on your own for this, Krad. Call me when it's over.~ ~How kind of you.~ He started at the black boots and socks, turning on the fake fireplace and leaving them to dry. As he removed the purple and white t-shirt Dark's arms hung nerveless, and his head lolled to one side, creeping Krad out thoroughly.

He threw that into the dryer and after mustering up the courage, took off the cargo pants and added them as well. Luckily his black boxers were dry so the blonde wrapped him in two blankets and…well, dragged him over to the fireplace. But not too close, he didn't want to warm him up too quickly or the shock would kill him.

The angel crouched on his haunches next to him, and as the thought about what to do next, involuntarily began tucking the edge of the blanket under Dark's body.

~He will still be cold on that side though, and I shouldn't move him any more…~ He still felt oddly weak and Satoshi's heart was pounding in his chest loudly.

~Maybe I should just…~ Satoshi interrupted ~No! Just…think of something else.~ Krad caught the movement of his hand and jerked it back, embarrassed.

~Any suggestions?~ As Satoshi remained silent he continued ~It's not like I want to, Master. But it is…necessary. I will not let him die.~ Even saying the word left him feeling hollow. After the initial moment of hesitation he lay down next to his talkative, reckless, exhausting other self, curling his warm body around him.

His head resting on the slab of muscle that was Dark's shoulder blade, he finished quietly, ~ …Because no matter what he has said and done, he is my child's father.

I… am bound to him in a way I do not fully understand. ~ He could hear Niwa's heart pumping loyally away, his ribcage expanding and contracting infinitesimally.

The thing that truly bothered Krad was the silence. You knew Dark was really in deep trouble when his lips stopped moving. ~Now you're even.~ Satoshi observed, glad he hadn't seen anything. ~Hmm?~ The heat from the fire was making him sleepy. Well, that and the fact he'd only had dinner half an hour ago.

~When you almost hit that pillar? Now you've saved him.~ Rai suddenly trotted into the room and, seeing Dark, promptly broke into a run, yelping furiously. "Rai!" Krad scolded, rolling over just enough to stare at his familiar. ~Ah, yes. ~ The black fox-creature lowered its ears in shame and walked over quietly, watching as his master rested against the enemy once more. He hopped up on Krad's hip and slipped down into the space between the two of them, making his way to Krad's chest. "You're probably going to be squished." He warned him, stroking his ears. Two blue eyes stared up at him trustingly and blinked. "Nyuu."

A shiver ran through the Niwa's body and Dark unconsciously pressed closer to the heat from the White Wings. Rai, luckily, was protected by his master's arms, whom had foreseen the danger. "See?" A small happy squeak emitted somewhere from the bundle of fur. Krad snorted through his nose in amusement at Dark's movement- he would probably run away from Krad if he was conscious now. White Wings was still mad, after all, but barely.

It was funny how a brush with death could change that so quickly.

They lay together in front of the fire for nearly an hour and a half, Krad comfortably somewhere between dozing and consciousness, Rai squished contentedly between them, when Dark started to wake up. It started as tiny twitches in his legs and worked up to a quick change in breathing-Krad barely had time to remove his head before purple orbs opened wide, searching. "What…? Where am I?" His voice rasped and he winced, massaging his throat. "At my apartment."

Krad answered simply, moving away from him, nearly trembling with relief. His familiar slunk around and leaned loyally on his thigh, staring warily at Dark.

He didn't understand why Dark's scrape with death had affected him like this. But he did know he never wanted it to happen again. Perhaps their fighting in the future should have limits… The Kaito checked up on his other half quickly ~Daisuke?~ At first nothing, then a feeble ~You're such a jerk.~ Dark smiled a little, glad the redhead was all right. "Krad?" Yellow eyes met his, but they were no longer filled with anger. If he didn't know any better he would say Krad looked scared. "Yes?" He licked his lips, which were dry and cracked. "Why did you…I mean, why didn't you just…?" "Leave you?" Krad suggested, and he nodded. "Just a whim." After thinking for a moment he added "It's difficult for me to hate you as you deserve when you keep brushing elbows with death, Mousy." He stood up and reassured quickly,

"I'll get you something to drink." coming back and handing him a small mug. "Thanks." After a few gulps the blankets moved and he pulled them self-consciously against his chest. "Any particular reason why I'm stripped to my underwear?" A blush rose in his face as he finished the sentence. He hadn't noticed until then.

"Of course. You're clothes were soaked. We're lucky your boxers were dry." Dark snorted. "Tch. You probably just wanted to drink in by awesome body." He said; already back to stroking his own ego. "Yes, because it's just in my nature to throw people out of my apartment, then wait until they're unconscious and strip them." Krad rolled his eyes to complete the sentence, then pushed golden bangs out of his eyes and continued seriously "You have some explaining to do."

Another wave of the shaking, weaker this time, passed through the cat burglar. "I know." He noticed that Krad had sat down next to him, leaning against his back and facing the other way. Somehow, his heat was reassuring. "Riku's getting suspicious. She's told Daisuke she'd going to leave him if he doesn't tell her the truth about the Phantom Thief on their next date, about a month from now." All this talking was making him tired. And irritating the headache between his temples. He took a swig of water.

"So he wants to tell her then, but he's beating himself up 'cause he knows I want to be there when our kid is born." Speaking of that day put butterflies in his stomach and a knot in his throat. He swallowed and continued "But I know she's his scared maiden, and I want him to be cured. I mean, I've got two choices-miss the day he's born and see him in the next generation, or…" "Be there for that month and never get passed down." Krad finished with horror.

In the Hikari line it didn't matter whether you married your sacred maiden or not- Krad had once even been the result of a rape. But it was a different story for Dark.

It was tied in to his way of restricting their prosperity. Dark rolled his head so he was looking right at Krad and asked in a lost tone,

"What the hell do I do, Krad?" his purple eyes confused. The blonde turned to him, folding his legs to one side gracefully, slowly. "I…"

He didn't know what to say.

Whoo! Long chapter!Review, and thank's to all yall for reviewing so far!