Not Here

I'm not so sure about this one, just so you know. It was the only idea that I could think of, so yeah. It's my first action scene/sequence thing, so that should be fun. I wanna see how fast I'm able to get your heart pumping, like a real writer. Oh, and if you're a guy, hit me up, kay, because I wanna see how many guys would be interested in a Channy fic.

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"Remind me why we're here again?" Chad asked, his voice coming out strange because of the clothespin clipped to his nose.

Sonny shoved aside some debris and slowly made her way through the murky sludge, Chad following behind her.

"Because," she said exasperatedly. "I lost my great-great grandmother's locket, and the man at the junkyard said that it probably ended up here."

"I still don't see how a solid Aztec-gold necklace would end up in a sewer," Chad mumbled, adjusting his goggles. "Or why you made me wear army cargos."

"It got lost down here after the storm," Sonny said, shining her flashlight along the walls of the tunnel. "And they look cool on you."

"Well even if it did get washed down here, we're never gonna find it," Chad huffed as he made the dark green water ripple in the shadows cast by his flashlight. He seemed slightly mollified by her last comment, however. "That thing's like four inches in length, Sonny, how are we ever gonna find it?"

"We'll keep searching until we do," Sonny said through gritted teeth. "That necklace is my most prized possession, Chad. It's a part of me."

Chad fell silent after that, and they searched for her necklace for about an hour before he started to get woozy.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked gently, setting her flashlight down and helping him to the edge of the water. He plopped down onto the wall's ledge, holding his head between his hands to keep it from lolling.

"I feel dizzy," Chad said faintly.

"Here," Sonny said, and she removed the clothespin from his nostrils. Chad's eyes widened and he clasped both his hands over his nose and mouth. Sonny rolled her eyes.

"Don't be such a priss, Chad." She said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. "The smell will go away in just a few minutes, okay? I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Give me my clothespin," Chad said mechanically, reaching for it. In response, Sonny tossed it over her shoulder, where it landed with a plop in the murky slime behind them. Chad began to cry.

"Chad!" Sonny said, startled. "Really!"

"Why'd you make me come down here anyway?" Chad said, stomping his foot and splashing the both of them slightly with unknown sludge. "You said we were going on a treasure hunt!"

"Yes, well, we are hunting for my treasure." Sonny said meekly, watching fat tears leak onto his cheeks. "And besides, I wanted somebody to come with me, because I was scared."

Chad made a noise between a laugh and a sob. "Really, Sonny, you – afraid? I just can't picture it."

"Well, rats are my biggest fear," Sonny informed him. "And I hear there are a lot of them down here – that's why I got somebody big and strong to come down with me and frighten them away."

With this, Chad's chest puffed up and he practically strutted ahead of her, picking up his flashlight and waving it around majestically. Sonny gave a tired sigh.

"You are such a child," she grumbled, low enough for only her to hear, and followed after him.

They searched for the longest time without a single glint of gold. And those two searched everywhere. Even the metal detector they brought along didn't pick up anything, save for a few wedding bands and loose change.

"We must have been through the entire city," Chad groaned, looking around for a place to rest his sore legs.

"Oh, I don't know, Chad," Sonny replied, sitting down atop a large, spiky boulder. "Los Angeles is one enormous city. Hey," she said, looking down suddenly. "This rock is cold."

"A dirty, enormous, stinking city," Chad said, ignoring her last statement and wrinkling his nose. "Just look at all the trash down here!" He said indignantly.

"Well you are the one, the one that lies close to me, whispers 'Hello, I missed you quite terribly,' I fell in love, in love with you suddenly, now there's no place else I could be but here in your arms…" Sonny sang unexpectedly.

(A/N: Oh yeah, I don't own this song, HelloGoodbye does, go look them up, they're pretty sick.)

Chad cast a surprised sideways glance at her. "Hey, you're pretty good Monroe." He said with a slight grin on his face. "Where'd you learn how to sing like that?"

"Oh," Sonny blushed. "I don't know, I just like to sing, I guess."

"That song was called 'Here', by HelloGoodbye, right?" Chad pressured her, seeing that she was having a shy moment.

"Uh-huh. It's stuck in my head for some reason," she told him, still blushing quite a bit.

They stared at each other for a moment, and both of them could tell that something was about to happen. However, just then, they heard a noise creak through the entire passage, and they both jerked their flashlights about, trying to see the source.

"Wh-what was that?" Sonny whispered, slipping off her jagged boulder and moving closer into Chad. Chad usually wouldn't have minded this one bit, but right now the girl smelled like sewage, and she'd dropped his beautiful clothespin into the dark waters.

Chad shined his flashlight around a bit more, and then came to rest it on the boulder. "Sonny," he said slowly. "Is that rock - glowing?"

Sonny released him to get a better look, and suddenly gasped and jumped back. Chad swore he heard a low rumbling sound as the light turned off and the water began rippling.

"It's an eye!" she shrieked, and without further ado, grabbed his wrist and tore down the tunnel, swishing aside the filthy sludge and trying to find an exit. They leapt over muddy trash and splashed through some unidentified substances, hearts pounding the entire time. Their joined hands began slipping from the sweat that was starting to pour out from them.

"An eye?! You mean it's alive?!" Chad screeched, still not getting it. Sonny ushered him along, pulling him faster and faster through the disgusting garbage. Chad was gasping before they had even run half a mile. She could hear it swishing after them, slowly, stealthily…hungrily. As she looked back, she saw it's ugly scaly head crop up out of the water and give them what she was sure was a grin. Terrified, she tugged harder on Chad, trying to make him go even faster through the water than they already were. They hurtled through the passage and turned the corner, skidding to a stop when they saw a circle of light beaming down from above.

"Yes, it's alive!" Sonny yelled at him, waving her arms. "And it's following us! My guess is that we smell like dinner to him!"

At that point, Chad had what seemed like a mental breakdown. He opened his mouth and let out a high-pitched girlish scream. Despite her utter horror, Sonny couldn't resist rolling her eyes. She shoved him roughly towards the stepladder that led out and pushed him upwards by the butt. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that Chad made no kinky remark.

She could hear it behind her now, and she turned slowly around while her heart stopped beating. There it was, all thirteen, scaly feet of it, with its glowing yellow eyes and awfully sharp teeth and horribly putrid breath…Sonny screamed too as it lunged at her, making an earsplitting hissing noise as it descended down upon her. Foolishly, she covered her head with her free arm, as the other one was wrapped tightly around the stepladder. This is it, she thought. I'm done for. Ohh, I don't wanna die!

Sonny waited for a moment, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes just in time to see a shadow swish down past her, and land straight onto the enormous crocodile's head. She was absolutely shocked to hear Chad's voice call out to her; "Sonny – run! I got this! Ow!" Her heart pulsing in her throat and her adrenaline rushing through her veins, she scrambled up the stepladder and into the daylight, taking in huge gulps of fresh air and trying to control her heart rate.

Has anyone ever told you how hard it is to control your heart rate when the love of your life is wrestling a giant crocodile?

"Chad!" she screamed, sticking her head back into the sewers. "What are you doing?! Get back up here! NOW!"

"Kinda – ugh! – busy!" Chad returned, although his voice cracked in several places. "Go get help!"

"No, I'm not leaving you!" Sonny shrieked, and a few frantic tears grew in her eyes. "Grab my hand – quick!"

She could see the perspiration mantling on his forehead as he swung lunged for her hand. The crocodile snapped at him, and just barely missed, tearing off a piece of the three named star's clothing. Chad gave an impressive manly yelp, and somehow his sweaty palms managed to connect with Sonny's. She heaved on him with all her strength, using her core muscles to pull him out of the sewers. There was a scuffle as he landed on top of her, and then he rolled over and appeared to be quite unconscious.

The angry crocodile roared beneath them, then sunk slowly back into its murky habitat and slithered away through the water, leaving nothing but a trail of bubbles behind him. Sonny breathed out a sigh of relief, and then turned back to Chad.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly. He groaned in response. She winced.

"I'm sorry I dragged you down there. I never meant for this to happen." She gave a dry laugh. "What could I ever do to make it up to you, Chad?"

He opened his eyes the teeniest bit, and lifted his head off the ground. His mouth protruded weirdly, and Sonny guessed he was trying to pucker his lips.

"Really, Chad? Really?" she asked, slightly disgusted. (BUT NOT FOR THE REASON YOU THINK, PEOPLE) "Here? While we're all covered in slime and goo and we smell like a hundred year old trash can?"

"Here in your arms," Chad managed to sing quietly, and she couldn't help but melt at that. So, she bent down and gave that boy the best kiss he deserved. While holding his hand, however, she felt something hard and metal clenched inside his fist. Curious, she pulled back to see what it was and gasped.

"It's my locket!" she cried in delight. "Wow! Chad, where did you find it?"

"It was in-between that stupid lizard's teeth," Chad said, lifting himself up into his elbows to look at her better. "Does that earn me another one?" he asked eagerly, looking like a two year old again. Sonny beamed at him.

"Well, as long as we're here…" she said, and they did indeed stay there for quite some time before they let the paramedics take them to the hospital.

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Solid gold treasure? Crocodile chases through the sewers of L.A? True love? Not my usual stuff, huh? Well, you can blame this dammed INFLUENZA because I am a poor, sick, delusional girl who is slowly rotting away in her own bed and cannot understand what she was writing. (Unless you liked it.) And to make sure you don't panic, no, it's not the dreaded H1N1, but I am still DYING HERE from lack of white blood cells or whatever the hell it is that made me sick. Which I should probably know, since I am in biology. But anyway, please review, I'm almost done with the challenge. The next one will be called Not There and will probably involve some sort of time warp. Bye! :D