A/N- I'm so happy that this story is quite popular! It was an older idea, actually. One that I found lurking in the back of my nerd book. I figured it sounded interesting, and I'm thankful that it is and I'm not just crazy! Song lyrics are from the song "Everything Fades" by Poets of the Fall. I love this band, and Sorryll I know you do too! Everyone else listen to them, because they're very good.

Silly thoughts of small deeds
Everything that once answered your needs
The thoughtless but kind
The caring but blind
Everything fades away

Night was quickly descending upon the city, covering the building in a blanket of darkness. Cassian was sure that the street lights were being lit by now, and that he should probably return to the underground hideout he'd been living in before the nighttime crowd of drunks were kicked out of the pub. Yet, there he stood, staring in confusion at the younger man who was averting his gaze.

"…What…what do you mean they'd kill us?" he found his voice, although it was noticeably wavering.

"I mean exactly what I said." Jizabel stated quickly, glancing over his shoulder as though to be sure they weren't being watched. Cassian felt his stomach flutter,

What are you going to do? He's back now; alive. Does it really matter how or why? This is what you wanted right…?

"Alright, Cassian?" the doctor must have been speaking the whole time while he was wrapped up in his thoughts.

"Huh?" was all he could saying, feeling just a bit stupid. He'd almost expected Jizabel to snap at him just as he would have when Cassian had first become his assistant. Repeating himself was one thing the younger man never liked to do. Instead, his voice was soft and calm,

"I said, whether you're coming or not I need to leave this place. Now." The last word was definitive. This was his only chance, the decision that could rewrite what could have been, should have been two years ago. A decision that would allow him to reveal every hidden thought and feeling to Jizabel…or the one that would send him spiraling into the nightmare that was DELILAH for a second time.

Everything fades away, come turning of the tide
For your love, I'm sorry
For your pain, don't worry
Everything fades away
Everything fades away

Cassian had never remembered the other man as being particularly healthy. He knew that he'd had multiple surgeries as a child to keep him alive, and it certainly showed after they'd finally come to a stop outside of a broken window.

Jizabel leaned over, hands on his knees, gasping for air. Cassian toppled into him, not expecting the sudden stop. They'd been running all over DELILAH's previous headquarters for ten minutes, sprinting through the winding hallways. Passing the different rooms flooded Cassian's mind with memories.

"Hey! What the-," he asked, quickly pulling Jizabel from the ground by the arm. His body was so light and frail. "…sorry about that."

"It's…alright…" Jizabel continued to gasp, coughing once or twice. Cassian found himself awkwardly rubbing the other man's back until he stood up, straightening his necktie.

"You know that there were plenty of exits back there, right?"

"We can't use those," his voice was returning to normal, "someone could be…watching." Cassian watched him pull himself onto the windowsill, and quickly disappear from sight. He quickly followed his former superior, landing less than gracefully on the cobblestone outside.

The doctor was almost laughing having watched Cassian fall out the window. Cassian frowned, not actually angry in the least. To see a smile pass over those lips was enough to make him forget the pain of landing on the hard street.

The musty city air was not much better than the mildew inside the building. They were in a back alley now, perfectly blending in with society. For a moment, under the street light, Cassian finally could get a good look at the new Jizabel.

Everything about him was the same, and yet everything had changed. His hair was still long, and his skin still porcelain. His eyes were still amethyst in colour, and his body was still frail. How was he different then? If he looked and acted the same could he be alive? No, the dead don't come back- Cassian cut those thoughts off. He was not going down that path again, that and the headache that came with it. It did not matter how in that moment in time, all that mattered was that Jizabel was there, and he'd gotten his second chance.

"Cassian," he said softly, "I want to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"…Why did you come here today?" the question had Cassian taken aback. He didn't even know why he'd went to that building, or why he'd went on that day. That day, two years ago-

No!

"I…I couldn't even begin to tell you." Cassian smiled lightly, shaking his head. "even if I knew myself…"

All I'm saying is don't give up when you're getting so close
saying is don't give up, it's the right way you chose