Author's Notes: I cannot believe it took me this long to get this chapter up, especially since it was written before the second, third, and fourth chapters! (A few scenes aside which I added in when I typed it up, of course.) Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and to everyone who is still reading this story. I was out of town for most of June, that is most of the reason it took me so long. I can't promise I'll be quicker in the future because I'm moving in a month into my own apartment to a place an hour and a half away from where I currently live. So... I will try my hardest, I promise. If you are still reading this, please send me a review!! The more I get the more inspired I am to write more, lol.

A very special thanks to Charli for beta'ing! You're awesome! Now update your fic, wouldja?

Chapter Five

Sitting on the cold concrete in the basement of the high school left Lucas feeling chilled, especially with his hoodie wrapped around Nathan's leg. He didn't think much of it as the two thought up every question possible to keep each other awake and talking. They'd managed to go through their favorite meals, books, colors, fruits, actors, actresses, cartoons, and movies without even looking at each other.

"What's your favorite movie trilogy?" Nathan asked, ignoring the throbbing of his thigh and the lightheadedness he was feeling from the blood loss. Both were completely unaware of how much time had passed and how many times people had tried calling Nathan's cell phone hoping desperately that he would answer.

"Movie trilogy?" the blond repeated. "Uh... Probably Back to the Future. I've always loved those movies. Or maybe Lord of the Rings... I don't know."

"Haley hates Lord of the Rings," Nathan commented. "She thinks they changed too much from the books."

"Yeah she's a purist. Every minor difference made her so mad. She almost walked out of the second movie, I had to hold her down practically to make her stay." The two chuckled a bit. "What's yours?"

"Indiana Jones, definitely."

"Oh really? See, I didn't like the second movie, I didn't think it was very good." Before he could say more, a deep shudder went through Lucas' body, eliciting a deep cough from his chest. Nathan shot him a concerned look.

"What?" Lucas asked self-consciously, uncomfortable under the other's gaze.

"Are you okay?" Nathan replied, his voice scratchy and filled with pain.

"You're asking me if I'm okay," Lucas questioned, irony in his tone.

"Yes I am. Here, maybe you should just wear my jacket," the younger Scott offered and shifted his position so he could take off his blue leather jacket.

"Don't move!" the blond snapped, pushing Nathan back against the wall. "Your leg will start bleeding again."

"You just had your spleen removed barely over a month ago," Nathan insisted. "You could catch pneumonia down here."

"Since when are you the expert on splenectomies?" Lucas snapped.

"Haley did some research on it when you were in the hospital. She mentioned that you would be more susceptible to certain bacteria and illnesses, and pneumonia was one of them. So just put on the jacket—"

"NO! If you take it off, you're at a higher risk of going into shock. Leave it on."

The two fell silent for a minute, their thoughts unreadable to the other. Lucas couldn't help but think that even in a life-and-death situation, he and Nathan still found things to fight about. Nathan's thoughts, however, went down a different path.

"It's kind of weird," he said finally. "Here we are, looking after each other like real brothers would." He looked over at Lucas, whose gaze was suddenly on the floor. He didn't reply to what Nathan had said.

"I used to really want a brother," Nathan admitted. "I didn't care if he was older or younger. He'd just... be someone I could chill with, someone who would understand how I felt about... about things."

"I wonder then why you didn't want me for your brother," Lucas commented a bit sourly, his gaze still fixed on the concrete. "It must have been for the same reason Dan didn't want me for a son."

Lucas coughed again, once more from deep in his chest and failed to suppress and shiver. Nathan merely turned back to his injured leg, thinking about how Lucas must have felt his entire life knowing he wasn't wanted or loved by his father—that he'd been the dirty little secret swept under the rug. Had Lucas looked at his brother he would have seen the remorseful look on Nathan's face. But he never saw it.

Keith had found a spot near a police officer's station, where he could hear what was going on from the radio. Now Keith, Dan, Deb, Karen, and Haley all stood there, trying to hear something while also keeping a lookout for the boys. Fewer people were coming off the buses and each time the bus would leave, Karen only became more distraught. Deb was holding her, somehow managing to stay strong even through her tears. Keith said nothing to any of them, just stared sullenly at the parking lot, willing either of his nephews or, preferably, both to come strolling up. Dan focused all his energies on eavesdropping on the police radio.

A loud cry caught Karen's attention and she saw Haley pushing her way through people. Karen rushed to meet her and pulled her into a bone- crushing hug. Haley was trembling and her entire face wet from her tears.

"Where is Lucas?" Karen finally asked, pulling away slightly from her son's best friend.

Haley sniffled. "I don't know," she admitted, her voice cracking. "I was supposed to meet him in the cafeteria, but I was in the library returning a book first. He was probably in there when—Karen, I'm so sorry."

Karen looked distraught but assured Haley it wasn't her fault. She gently led the girl out of the crowd, where Deb, Keith, and Dan were all waiting.

"Where's Nathan?" Deb asked immediately, fearing what Haley's answer might be.

"And Lucas?" Keith added.

"I don't know," Haley answered, starting to cry again. "I haven't seen either of them since this morning... But they were both probably in the cafeteria." She took a minute to catch her breath and looked back up at the four adults. "Have you seen anyone else? Peyton or Brooke, or Jake?"

"Tim is right over there, with his parents. They're still waiting for his older brother to come out."

Haley looked to where Dan had pointed and saw Tim with a middle-aged couple who seemed to be clinging to him for life. She'd never before seen him cry, but it was a day of many firsts.

Tim saw her approaching and broke away from his parents gently. The two were never close friends; in fact the only reason they hung out in the same circle was because Haley was dating Nathan, Tim's best friend. But as they approached each other, they both hugged each other wordlessly.

"Have you seen Nathan or Lucas, or--??"

Tim shook his head. "I haven't seen them since I got out of the building."

Haley pulled away from him. "But you and Nathan were sitting together at the lunch table right? With most of the team?"

"Well yeah, but... it all happened so fast, Haley. I don't know. Once the gunfire started, we all just ran for the door. When we got out, that was when we realized that they weren't with us."

"Who wasn't with you?" Haley asked, wiping her eyes. "Nathan? Lucas?"

"Yeah, both of them. And Jake wasn't there either." He sounded distraught. "I didn't notice if they got hit or not... I just assumed everyone was behind me."

At these words Haley only started crying harder. Tim put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey look maybe they just stopped to help other people. Lucas would definitely do that, and Nathan is a leader. He's probably hiding a bunch of people right now, and all three of them are probably fine."

Haley nodded but she didn't believe him. The chances that her boyfriend and her best friend were hurt had just gone up.

Peyton could barely see through her tears as she sat by the phone, the TV in front of her on. It didn't really matter what channel she was on; every major station was covering the shooting. Several teams of police, many from different counties, and a SWAT team were surrounding the school, and they didn't seem to know what was going on inside the school. There was some footage at the library, and Peyton had seen a lot of students there she recognized. She had been relieved to see Haley, some of the girls from the squad and most of the basketball team, but she didn't see Brooke, Jake, Lucas, or Nathan. She couldn't help but think that they were dead.

The different news stations were reporting different numbers of students dead and injured, and they kept changing every fifteen minutes, sometimes getting higher and sometimes getting lower. At the moment the station she was watching was reporting 25 dead and at least twice as many injured.

"I shouldn't have ditched class," she whispered to herself, staring off into a daze. If she hadn't left the school she would have been there when everything happened. She would have had a chance at being able to help, to know where her friends were and if they were all right.

Peyton sniffed and picked up her phone, once again calling Nathan's cell phone. Neither Lucas nor Jake had one and she didn't know if Brooke would answer hers if she saw it was Peyton. For the hundredth time she got no answer, and for her this seemed to confirm all her fears.

The brothers had been in the basement for almost three hours. They had run out of conversation and now the room was disturbingly quiet. Lucas took that as a good sing since they heard no gunfire or screaming.

He was glad that his hoodie had stopped Nathan's leg from bleeding, but he knew that once Nathan was moved it would only start up again. The younger Scott was fairly alert, although obviously in a lot of pain, while the older one was coughing too much for comfort and was starting to worry that he was getting pneumonia.

Finally, after having shaken himself awake a few times and noticing that Nathan was doing the same, he realized they were in the same situation as earlier: they needed to get out and get help.

"All right, I'm going to see if the coast is clear, okay? We need to get out of here," Lucas told Nathan as he rose shakily to his feet. "Don't go anywhere."

"I'll try not to," Nathan smiled weakly. Fatigue was starting to hit him and he was having a hard time fighting it. "Hey, be careful, okay?" He looked worried. They had no way to know where the gunmen were, if they were even still in the school

"I'll try to be," Lucas said before disappearing around the corner. Nathan felt a pain in his leg and wondered what his dad would say. He'd be out of the game for a little bit, would probably need physical therapy. He eyes began to droop and, forgetting the dangers, didn't fight it and gave in. He couldn't have been out for very long when he heard someone shout his name.

"Nathan!" Lucas was back and was shaking him. "Come on, we need to get out of here." Nathan forced his eyes open as Lucas draped his brother's arm around his neck. Slowly Lucas stood up, allowing Nathan to move at his own pace. Nathan nearly fell over at the sharp pain flowing through his leg and he could feel the blood oozing out of the wound gain. Lucas caught him and together they hobbled up the stairs and into a long hallway on the main floor.

Two cops entered the hallway and rushed towards the boys, one calling for EMTs in the third hallway from the west entrance and a stretcher.

"Two stretchers," Nathan insisted as Lucas erupted into a coughing fit.

"I'm okay," the blond insisted when he'd recovered.

"He just had his spleen removed and we sat in the basement on the concrete for three hours."

"You boys are both rather cold," the shorter officer said, placing his hands on their arms.

"My brother is catching pneumonia!" Nathan insisted. "He's highly susceptible to it without his spleen. And look, he was bleeding pretty heavily from his head, he got grazed by bullet. He could have a concussion; we were both having trouble staying awake down there."

"Change that, I'm going to need to two stretchers," the first officer spoke into his walkie-talkie. After another minute, some paramedics were running their way with two stretchers.

"You boys are brothers, you said?" the second cop asked. Lucas looked tentatively at Nathan, who nodded firmly.

"Yes, officer, we are. Nathan and Lucas Scott."

TBC