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Chapter 4

"And do you remember that time John got stuck in the tree? That was hilarious!" Alan laughed shortly.

"That was when he tried to save Potato Pie from the tree, right?" Gordon asked, watching the path in front of him carefully-he had one too many cuts and bruises from booby traps earlier. But the clocks were forever reminding him for his need for haste.

"Yeah-Pie was such a cool cat-remember when he clawed grandma's curtains up? Boy was she pissed that day." He laughed again at the memory.

Gordon half listened and offered rare comments. Alan had been recounting old family stories for the last two hours-it was the 'life flashing before your eyes' in slow motion. As much as Gordon would have enjoyed this conversation in a much less dangerous environment, he had to focus all his waning energy on the task before him. When he had bashed his head earlier it had completely disorientated him. His body was tired, having been up almost a whole 24 hours before this on a rescue, and whatever kind of rest he had gotten while unconscious was not helping him any. He was physically and emotionally exhausted, which meant he was walking straight into traps that he could have easily avoided had he been rested.

He stumbled and fell, his ankle twisting. He hissed painfully and grabbed hold of the wall to pull himself up.

"Gordon?"

"I'm fine Alan." Gordon replied, grimacing as he put weight on his ankle. His tiredness showed through and Alan picked up on it immediately.

"Your hurt Gordo-your hurt bad."

"It's a twisted ankle Alan. I'm fine." Gordon said.

"Yeah, but add it to everything else… I'm sorry Gordo…" Alan trailed off quietly.

"For what?" Gordon asked through clenched teeth as he continued on stoutly.

"For everything. For not being with you-God Gordon! Its awful every time I hear something happen, and thinking this could be it, this time you could die, and I wasn't there to help-"

"Shut up Alan!" Gordon snapped, then tried for flippancy. "Besides, I'm the one who should be worried about you."

Alan remained silent for a long time. "How long left Gordon?"

"Don't you have a clock in there?" Gordon asked.

"If I did would I be asking?"

Gordon supposed it was all part of the game, locked in the dark, knowing your going to die, but not knowing how long you had left. That thought made Gordon quicken his pace as he said. "There's plenty of time Alan. Plenty of it."

"Don't bullshit me Gordon! I'm not a baby! How long?"

Gordon winched at his brother's tone. He knew just how much Alan hated being babied. But if his brother didn't know… Gordon didn't want to worry him. He looked at the clock closest to him. "9 hours 6 minutes." He said softly.

He heard Alan take a deep breath. "Yeah-plenty of time. You know where your going, right?"

Gordon had been avoiding this from the beginning. He bit his lip. He had never been a convincing liar, not really. Innocence he could pull off-outright lies… no…

"You don't." Alan said. "Your walking blind. Shit Gordon!"

He was trying so hard to contain his fear. Gordon's heart clenched and he vowed he would kill the Hood when all this was over. But first he had to get to Alan. "I'll find you Alan. I promise I will." He said reverently, quickening his pace.

"I know you will." Alan said, his voice miserable. "But will it be in time?"

Gordon's frustration bubbled over. "Don't say things like that Alan! I will find you! It will be in time! I am not going to let you die!" he didn't know if he was saying it for Alan's benefit or his own. He took a deep ragged breath. "Besides, dad would kill me if I let anything happen to you."

He was straining for his inner calm. But he couldn't reach it. There was too much pressure. He had to get to Alan-he had 9 hours to do it. He didn't know where Alan was-he could be on the other side of the damn maze for all Gordon knew. His mind was in a whirl, anxiety twisted his insides into knots. All he wanted to do was curl up and wish everything away. But he couldn't.

Alan was counting on him.

And Gordon was beginning to think he couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry Gordo." Alan said, cutting through his agonising thoughts. "I know you'll get here on time."

Gordon closed his eyes against the onslaught of tears, stumbled again and fell. He prayed to a god he had stopped believing in when his mother had died that Alan's trust was not misplaced.

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