Oliver Davis was not having a good day; in fact, it was rather horrible. From the moment he woke up everything had seemed to go wrong. He asked for tea- all they had was decaf. He had to give a lecture- all of the girls tried to hit on him at least once. They had a case- it was just some complete idiots trying to be funny but only being a waste of time and brain cells. And to make matters worse he got a headache around four and it still hadn't left yet by the time he got back home around six. All he wanted to do now was go somewhere quiet and away from idiotic people and just read.

As he trudged upstairs and towards his room, he passed by Gene's door that had been left open. Not wanting to stop, but being unable to stop himself despite his desire he walked into his brother's room. And almost tripped flat on his face within seconds upon entering. It seemed the cleaning lady hadn't come in yet, or she had but hadn't done a thorough enough job, considering the fact that he had almost tripped over a discarded shirt. Shaking his head at his brother's less than tidy habits he stooped to pick the garment up only to freeze as soon as his fingers touched the fabric, instantly thrown into a vision.

He was walking down the side of a lake. The night air was cool and crisp. Crickets chirped in the background and a smile sat on his face as he enjoyed nature. He had one more stop to make in this town before he had to return to Tokyo for a few weeks and then it was back to England.

To be honest he wasn't ready to leave Japan. He had felt drawn here and the fact that he hadn't found out yet what it was that had called him to this place frustrated him. But he had promised mother so back to England he had to go. He only hoped-

Light. Bright light that burned his eyes, the sound of tires screeching on asphalt and then...

Pain.

His body went airborne, the feeling of weightlessness an odd contrast to the pain that he felt. This pain only got worse as his body lost its fight with gravity. He rolled once. Twice. Three times until his momentum finally slowed.

As he lay trembling in pain, he heard a car door open, the sharp gasp of a woman before an outbreak of panicked muttering.

'please help me.'

He tried to speak, to move... To do anything that would get the attention of the woman, hoping that she would help stop the pain.

The woman paced, her muttering growing more frantic before she walked to the boot of her car and grabbed something. Unable to see what it was -as he was currently trying to breathe through a particularly vicious bout of pain- he startled when a thick woolen blanket was draped over his body.

Alarmed and breathless from the pain of the weight settling in his injuries he tries once again to speak. The only thing that came out was a groan.

Shrieking the woman reflexively kicked out and her shoe caught his side with enough force that had him seeing stars. Momentarily stunned he was unable to do anything as she rolled him into the water, after making sure the blanket had been properly secured.

Ice cold water enveloped him and numbed his senses. His last thought before darkness clouded his vision was...

'I don't want to die.'

"-liver. OLIVER!"

With a gasp Oliver regained his senses. Dimly he registered that Gene's room looked like it had been hit by a tornado. Books were flung haphazardly; loose pages littered the floor. The dresser had been destroyed causing an explosion of clothes.

"Oliver!"

Dazed Oliver turned towards the voice. It was his mother whose face was creased with concern. Oliver wondered if he was going into shock.

"Oliver please say something!" His mother pleaded her eyes wide in both fright and concern. "What happened? Why are you crying?"

He was crying? Oh. So that's why his face was wet.

Hah Gene would get a kick out of this. Gene would make a big deal about Oliver 'finally' showing emotion that isn't boredom or contempt. As Oliver thought this his heart clenched and fresh tears slid down his face.

"Gene." His voice was so ragged it was a mere whisper.

Luella looked even more alarmed at this turn of events. Martin and Lin, who had both come running when the ruckus had started, traded tense looks. Dread settled heavily in their gut.

"What about Gene?" Martin asked hesitantly, his heart in his throat.

"He...I saw..." Words failed Oliver for the first time, it was like they had lodged in his throat and would not come out.

"What did you see Noll?" Lin's voice stopped his spiraling thoughts.

"I... I saw him die."

A tense silence settled over the group as everyone digested the words. For a few moments all Oliver could hear was the pounding of his own heart, but then he heard his mother take a deep shuddering breath, her shoulders shaking in a silent sob. Oliver watched as she started to sway on her feet, but was steadied by Martin.

"Wh-what do you mean?" Luella whimpered from Martin's arms. "You m-must've seen it wrong. Eugene isn't dead. He... he can't be d- he is just in Japan, isn't he?" When no one answered her plea, she turned to her husband. "Tell him he's wrong Martin. Tell him!"

Martin didn't say anything, he just stared at his remaining son with tears in his eyes. As he held Oliver's gaze his own searched for the answers he so desperately wanted.

"Martin, I think you should take Luella-" Lin started to say but was cut off by the woman in question.

"No. NO! My son is not dead, I tell you! He's not! Oliver why would you say such a thing? Why are you lying to me?" Her voice had risen and her body shook with the force of her sobs. "You stop this right now young man."

Oliver turned away, knowing that he should probably feel something -anger, grief, denial- anything other than the bone deep numbness that had settled on him the moment his vision had ended. Why couldn't he feel anything? What was wrong with him?

"Oliver."

Oliver looked up his blue eyes meeting Lin's grey he felt something within him break. Ah. There was the pain.

Lin's eyes widened and he darted forward to catch his young student as the boy crumpled to the ground. Immediately he felt for a pulse (previous experiences from when Noll used his powers making this almost second nature) and sighed in relief when he found one, weak though it may be.

"Oh my- Oliver!" Luella screamed, a pang of guilt hitting her as she saw her son fall. She shouldn't have said that to him.

"Lin, take him to the car, and fast. Luella, call the hospital and let them know we are coming." Martin commanded trying to turn his nervousness into action.

"But-"

"Luella. Now is not the time to argue. Now go."

As the two left, Lin carrying Oliver in his arms as he did so, Martin was left alone in Gene's room. With tears in his eyes and his heart feeling as if it had gone through a shredder, he took a quick glance around the room. When he caught sight of a picture that had fallen on the floor, he had to stifle a sob as he looked at Gene's happy face and teasing grin.

"My boy..." He whispered thickly.

When Oliver opened his eyes and was met with the sight of white walls and the smell of disinfectant, he immediately knew he was in the hospital. Why he was there was another question entirely. As he racked his memory for an answer, he had flashes from the vision.

Pain. Cold. Darkness.

EUGENE!

The lamp on the bedside table started to rattle as his breathing picked up and the lights started to flicker in time with his heartbeat.

"Oliver, calm down." Lin was beside his bed in a second, his hands on Oliver's shoulders.

"He's gone Lin. Gene is-" A sob escaped Oliver's lips and stole his breath.

Lin, although not normally one for physical affection, drew Oliver into a hug knowing that the boy needed something grounding at the moment. Lin's own emotions were all over the place but that didn't matter at the present time. He would have to deal with them later, preferably when he was alone. Right now, Oliver needed him.

He had already sent his sheik to see if they could find Gene but they hadn't gotten back to him yet, which didn't give him much hope.

Lin walked into Oliver's hospital room, (the twit had tried to sign out AMA only to be caught by Luella who had ordered him back in bed and to stay there until told otherwise by a licensed professional) while finally looking at his missed calls and texts. There were a few from Madoka and some from various people that he worked with in BSPR, but the one that caught his eye was an unknown number.

Checking the date that they called the onmyouji felt a jolt of something in his gut. That was the same date that Oliver had his vision of Gene's...departure. Not sure of what exactly connected the two events, but feeling deep down that they were connected somehow, he walked over to his student's bedside.

"Oliver,"

Oliver looked up, his face blank and rather impassive before looking back down at the book that was his hands. "Hn."

"Do you recognize this number?" Lin handed over his phone and watched as Oliver looked at it with disinterest at first and then he seemed to do a double take before looking at it closer.

"I don't recognize the number but..." Oliver trailed off as he snatched his phone from the side table. Scrolling through his notifications he found what he was looking for. "I got a call from the same number just a bit before you did."

"Interesting." Lin thought for a moment, a spark of hope igniting in his chest. He looked up at his young charge. "I wonder if your parents got a mysterious call as well."

"It's possible." Oliver hummed in thought before dialing his father's number. "Father I have a question."

"Well hello to you too Oliver." Martin's voice was a tad sarcastic. "What can I do for you?"

"Did you or mother happen to get a call from an unknown number within the last two days?"

"A phone call? Well, I'd have to check with Luella but I think I remember seeing a missed call from an unknown number yesterday. Why what is this about?"

Oliver frowned; his brow furrowed in thought. "I'm not sure yet."

"Well in any case, keep me posted, will you? And remember to stay put. You need your rest." With that Martin hung up before Oliver could say anything more.

Inwardly sighing at his parent's mother henning he looked back to Lin. "Father has also received a call, and he's checking with mother as well."

"It must mean something. If it had just been one or two of us then it could probably be put down to chance but all four of us, and on the same day..." Lin left the sentence hanging, unable to bring himself to say Gene's name. "It must mean something."

"Yes, but what?" Oliver asked, his voice pensive.

"Well why don't we just call the number back?" Luella's voice made the two look up. They hadn't realized that she had entered the room.

"We can't just call a random number mother," Oliver scoffed lightly. "Who knows who would be on the other end of the line."

"We won't know unless we try Oliver." Luella gave her son a look.

Oliver just gave a sigh before scrolling through his recent calls. Clicking on the number he waited as the phone rang.

"Hello this is Ava Lionheart speaking how may I help you?"

Brow furrowing in confusion at the voice on the other end. It was definitely a girl's voice, and definitely American, but it sounded accented as if she were from the south.

"Miss Lionheart, this is Oliver Davis, I received a call from this number yesterday. I was just calling back to see what it was you wanted." Oliver's voice was perfectly polite but there was a hint of coolness in it.

"Oh! Right, hold on a moment. I have someone who wants to talk to you. He's in the bathroom right now." There was a muffled knocking and some words that were too low for Oliver to hear before a very familiar voice came on the phone. "Noll?"

Oliver's breath caught, and if he hadn't already been sitting down, he would have fallen at the shock from hearing that voice. "G-gene?"

JG: Few things before you leave! 1) As you may have noticed, this chapter begins before Gene was brought back (around the time he was hit by the car) and continues until after Gene's call. 2) I am so sorry for the delay in updating. I got sucked into the Katekyo Hitman Reborn fandom and was distracted by that for a bit so my muse was a bit tied up in other things. 3) Hope you enjoyed this chapter even if it was a little on the short side!

aaaannndddd that's it. Birthday girl out! PEACE.