Author's Note: I'll make a deal with those of you who like my fanfic. If someone finds (or makes) some good Piers and Claire fan art, I'll post 5 chapters in the same week. I'll also do a cute Christmas special.

Piers wandered through the airport, searching hopelessly for any sign of which way to go. He was astounded that he had passed through security without a hitch, but now, he was frantically seeking his flight gate. To him, everything looked the same, causing him to literally run around in circles. In the midst of his distress, Chris had found him, dragging him towards the gate like a child. Piers couldn't help but to feel embarrassed, knowing that he had to come and find him. He hated feeling useless, mentally beating himself up as he followed behind Chris.

"Don't worry about it." He couldn't see Chris's face, but knew he was giving him a warm and gentle smile. "To tell you the truth, I have a horrible sense of direction when it comes to places like this. I had to get Claire to show me where our plane was."

"She's here?" Piers was now walking right next to him.

"She's not coming with us if that's what you're asking. She just wanted to see us off. I thought it was a good idea, and now you won't have to worry about calling her." He gave him a slight jab in his ribs, playing around. "Besides, now you can give her a goodbye kiss." Before Piers had the chance to make a snappy come back, they had arrived at their destination. The rest of the team was ready and waiting on them.

"You guys better hurry, or you'll both miss the flight." Claire was to the left of them, slumped over on a column. "And you said I was the one that was always late." Chris grinned slightly at her remark.

"I've already told you bye. I'll let you and your boyfriend here have your own time." He walked over to the rest of the team, advising them to go ahead while he got his ticket checked, leaving Claire and Piers alone to plot their next move.

"He's still watching us." Piers observed.

"I know. Want to mess with him?" She stared after Chris with an evil look in her eye.

"Depends on what you have in mind." Claire got up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. Before she had the chance to back away, Piers grabbed her, holding her in a sort of steel trap hug.

"Can't... breath..." He smiled and loosened his grip. He gave her a quick peck on the top of her head and pulled her away to gaze warmly into her eyes. As he released her and left, he heard her mutter something to herself. All he could make out from it were the words "damn" and "good". He quickly boarded the plane and found his seat next to the rest of the squad. Right as he sat down, they all gave him a creepy stare. Piers shifted in his seat, feeling uncomfortable. It finally got to the point where it was too much for him to bear. "What?!"

"Nothing. Never mind." Some of them replied, turning back around.

It's going to be a long day. I can feel it.

"This is the spot, Captain." The team gathered around Chris.

"Alright. John and Rick, I want you to scope out the surrounding area. Corrie and Piers, you two head into the sewers. See what you can find. Me and Carlos are going to gather more information about the B.O.W. sightings. Everyone report back in thirty." They all separated into their teams of two, leaving the others to go start on their current task. Piers and his new partner, Corrie, headed to the nearest manhole cover. They made their way into the depths of the city, grumbling and complaining to themselves all the while.

"It smells like shit." Corrie closed his eyes and made a gagging noise. His eyes were watering from the stench.

"Well, we're in a sewer. I wonder why." Piers said in annoyance. Corrie just laughed off his comment.

"Touche." They continued walking, making conversation occasionally. For the most part, everything was nice and quiet. "This mission might be easier than anticipated. Doesn't seem to be anything unusual down here." Corrie's words echoed off the walls.

"How do you know that?" Piers had been on edge the whole time.

"Normally, we would have found something by now. A secret lab or some giant, mutated creature, but nothing so far." Corrie was walking with a spring in his step, glad to have what he thought was an easy mission.

Piers let him walk a few steps ahead of him, still on alert regardless. He could tell something was wrong, and his intuition was right. They came to a dead end, a construction worker's body lying mangled and mutated on the ground. "Chris. Bad news. We found a body down here. Looks like some sort of construction worker."

"Ok. We're on our way." Chris said from the other line. Piers had just enough time to look up from the ground to dodge the enormous mass that came at him. Corrie wasn't so lucky, being struck and thrown against one of the walls.

"Corrie!" Piers skillfully dodged another attack from what he guessed was the thing that had killed the construction worker. He made his way to Corrie's side, lifting him up and carrying him to what he hoped to be safety. "Chris! This is Piers. We've encountered enemy personnel. Corrie has been injured and is unconscious. Requesting immediate aid." He tried his hardest to sound calm and collective, but that was easier said than done.

"Piers, we're on our way. We're trying to get to you as fast as we can." Chris had traces of stress in his voice.

Piers held out for as long as he could, firing at the monster to slow it down. The words Chris had told him kept repeating themselves in his mind. "Remember, your not a one man army. We're all a team. Regardless of how good you are, you are not expendable. None of us are." Those words gave him hope and strength in the time he needed it most. "They're coming for us. They'll be here." He reached a point where he had to set Corrie against a wall, fending off the creature as best he could. Just when he thought it was over for them, backup arrived. Chris and the others were moving in, shooting the creature in it's knees.

"Captain!" Piers could barely see his face in the dim light.

"PIERS! GET DOWN!" He didn't have enough time to comprehend his words, before he was thrown across the room, hitting the wall with bone crushing force. He wasn't the only one who had backup. The world faded to black and the last thing Piers heard was the sound of gun fire and Chris yelling out his name.