A.N.: Updated at last! It's a day later than planned, but oh well. I made it eventually!

On the subject of updates, I feel like an apology is in order. Having just decided to commit to twice-weekly updates, I think I'm going to have to pull back to once a week, with a second update if I manage to write a lot. I feel sucky saying that, because they're not exactly long updates, but unfortunately medical problems are interfering.

As I mention on my profile page, I have epilepsy. Normally this isn't an issue for writing, but a few months ago I had a fall due to a seizure and injured my wrist. It hasn't ever really healed, and basically, it's reached the point where it hurts pretty much constantly. This has, irritatingly, had a knock-on effect on my typing speed, and I'm currently waiting on the results of an MRI scan to tell me what's wrong with it. My GP has warned me that one of the possible outcomes will be that they'll want to operate. I'm rather hoping they won't, but if they do, that will make writing a LOT harder for a while. So, this is really just a heads up in case I suddenly find myself trying to type one-handed for a month or so and can't update as often. (Also: MRI scans are super annoying. Although having to lie completely still in a pretty uncomfortable position turned out to be a pretty apt experience for while I was writing this. My previous MRI was ten years ago, so the memories were rather hazy!)

Anyway. The chapter! I'm not as 100% sold with parts of it as I have been previous chapters, but that could just be because it took so dratted long to write out. Once again, let me know what you think, and I apologise for any OOCness! I do try to keep things as IC as possible.

Sunday, 2:45pm

All in all, it wasn't a good day. It had started out bad, and sort of dived downwards after that. Now, it was barely mid-afternoon and he was lying in a fragile, painful cradle of splintered wood, trying not to move too much in case it collapsed around him. Somewhere over to his left Koushiro was similarly trapped, with his partner. He couldn't even see Patamon to know if he was alright.

To top it all off, he could feel the beam under his chest starting to move. Not a lot but he was definitely aware of the fact his shoulder was lower than it had been a few minutes ago. He hadn't said anything to Koushiro. To judge from the occasional creaks from that direction, they were both in the same boat.

Neither of them had been talking much. If his guesses were correct, they were both too preoccupied with making sure they didn't move and dislodge something vital to keeping them in relative safety.

"Do you think Taichi got the message?" he managed at last.

"I'm sure of it," came Koushiro's reply. "No doubt he simply didn't think to send a message in return before setting off. It would be very much in character."

How long do we give it?" Takeru asked, not wanting to fully voice his real fear - what if the larger beams collapsed before Taichi arrived?

"I'm not sure," Koushiro said. He sounded as tense as Takeru had ever heard him. "It's… It's not the easiest of situations to extract ourselves from without help."

"How's Patamon? Does he look like he's gonna wake up any time soon?"

"He just looks like he's sleeping. I'm sure he's fine, Takeru."

They fell silent again. It wasn't as though there was much to say. After a moment, something by his head shifted. He turned slightly, then froze as he heard it hit the floor below with a splintering sound. What would go next?

"Was that you, Takeru?" Koushiro asked. There was the faintest of quavers in his voice.

"Something fell," he replied. "I don't think it's very stable, is the problem. One of the beams is slipping. Not fast or anything, but I don't think it's gonna hold forever."

Silence.

"Hypothetically speaking, if the primary support beneath you were to collapse and, you were to fall a moderate distance with assorted debris, would that be likely to make you fear for your life? Naturally I don't foresee that situation arising, but, as… call it a thought experiment-"

Takeru sighed. "I can see the ground, Koushiro. It's not that far. I mean, if I think about it, yeah, falling is not gonna be good at all. It's really going to hurt. But… if you're asking if I'd be scared enough to get home? I'm not. That's kind of the whole problem."

Koushiro didn't reply. Takeru didn't blame him. There wasn't really anything to say. All they could do was wait and hope that Taichi arrived before gravity won out.

Takeru lasted another five minutes or so before the silence became unbearable.

"How's Patamon looking?" he asked.

"Still asleep," Koushiro replied. "I would tell you if anything changed, you know."

He gritted his teeth. It was all very well for Koushiro to say that. Tentomon was still safely in the digital world. He hadn't been one of those nearby when Sora made her quick stop to fetch Patamon and Gabumon. It wasn't Tentomon who had worn himself to the point of exhaustion and then been trapped, unconscious, in a strange world. And it wasn't Koushiro who had to just lie there, fighting instincts which screamed at him to go and make sure his partner was okay.

What was Koushiro thinking? They'd known each other five years - longer if you counted the condensed months they'd spent in the digital world - and in all that time, Takeru had never been able to understand him half so well as he did the rest of the Chosen Children. Mostly, he was ashamed to realise, because he only really talked to him if there was a problem with the digital world. He didn't even have the excuse of not seeing him very often. Koushiro often hung out with Taichi, playing video games. He was almost always there when Takeru dropped by to talk to Hikari. And he couldn't help but remember that, despite the fact he near enough blanked the older boy half the time, Koushiro had been second on his list of people to ask for help. What kind of person was he, to only pay attention to someone when he needed a favour from them?

"I'm sorry," he found himself saying.

"For what, Takeru?" Koushiro replied. He sounded surprised.

Thinking quickly, he said: "Well. You're right. I don't need to keep asking the same thing." He'd make up for being a bad friend later.

"It's okay. I know I would be just as worried were it Tentomon in the same situation. Concern makes people act differently. Less rationally. I will admit, it's one reason I wish Taichi had sent a message. I'm worried about him."

Takeru blinked. "You're worried about Taichi?"

Koushiro sighed. "Not only Taichi, of course. Obviously I am extremely concerned about Yamato and Hikari. But I also know what Taichi is like when he worries. He acts irrationally. Sometimes that can cause more problems. You remember that time in the Digital world, when Hikari got sick?"

"Of course," Takeru replied. He was pretty sure he could never forget. Aside from everything else, he'd as good as been made responsible for someone else's life at the age of eight. It had been a pretty formative experience.

"Well. When we were separated, Taichi was so worried he walked us until we dropped, trying to find her. Even when Agumon fell over from exhaustion, he wouldn't listen to reason. He's grown up a lot since then, but I saw the same expression on his face when he realisedTailmon had come back without Hikari. He hasn't gotten any less protective of her. And we really don't need him to do something stupid here."

Takeru looked up at the hole in the ceiling. The sky was still awash with blurry stars. Aside from the odd creak of timber, everything was silent. They were about as alone in this place as it was possible to be. He hadn't even seen any wildlife here, aside from the giant bird and its rider, which had attacked him. Koushiro was right. Taichi was the only one still uninjured and free in this place. If anything happened to him, they would have to wait for midnight before Sora had a chance of coming back - and that was assuming she'd ended up somewhere close enough to be of use.

"Takeru?"

"Patamon!" Takeru cried, relief washing over him. It took all his self-restraint to keep still. "Patamon, are you okay?"

"Don't move, Patamon," Koushiro said. "We're in a rather tricky situation at the moment, and it is vital that you remain still."

"Koushiro?" said Patamon, sounding confused. "What happened? Why are you here?"

"I'm still working on that one," Koushiro replied. "For the moment at least, the only important thing to know is that we are in a very precarious location which is liable to collapse, so it is imperative that you do not disturb the rubble surrounding us."

"Okay… I think I understand. But where's Takeru? I heard his voice but I can't see him."

"I'm not far, Patamon," Takeru called. "I'm… we're all stuck. If we move, this lot will collapse. But I'm okay, I promise."

The relief was overwhelming. He had been worried, yes. But he hadn't realise how worried until he'd heard his partner's voice. It was so much easier to be optimistic when he had Patamon. So much easier to push his doubts away, and believe, firmly, that everything would turn out fine. All they had to do was wait for Taichi.

Sunday, 2:30pm

Mimi blinked a few times, shading her eyes with a raised hand. The portal had taken her to an open, sunny meadow, littered with flowers. Smiling wryly, she looked at the television set behind her. I knew I should have brought a hat.

Palmon ought to be nearby. It would be good to see her partner again. She hadn't been to the digital world much recently. Moving back to Japan, it turned out, had meant a lot of studying to catch up with her classmates in some subjects. Particularly as she had exams to look forward to in order to get into Senior High school the following year. She'd started to wonder if it would have been better for her to finish her education in America after all.

At least she was at the same Junior High school as the others. Of course, it had been one of the things she had been the most insistent about with her parents, seeing as they were uprooting her in order to move halfway around the world again. If they were really going to change their minds about living in America just as she finally started to settle there, she had demanded that they at least let her return to old friends. It was hard enough keeping track of her extensive social circle as it was.

She frowned, remembering why she was there. It was doubly good that she was back, really. What would have happened if she'd still been in America when all this had kicked off?

"Palmon, where are you?" she called.

Past the meadow was a line of trees. She sighed, and set off down the hill, letting her hand trail through the wildflowers. It would be nice to sit here for the afternoon, relaxing in the sun. She'd missed sitting with Palmon, letting the hours go by without anything to bother her. Unfortunately, for the time being at least, that didn't appear to be an option.

First, it had been Takeru who had called, asking if she'd been having nightmares. He hadn't really explained much. Just enough to make her worried, and then he'd hung up. She'd put it out of her mind until the next day though - too busy studying to hold much else in her thoughts. Then Miyako had called, not long after lunch, and warned her that she was in danger. That there was a chance she would disappear in her sleep.

It wasn't really the sort of news she'd been expecting, if she were perfectly honest. She'd had to get Miyako to explain it all twice. And then, before she could decide whether or not she should explain it all to her parents, or simply announce that she was staying over at Sora's apartment as a cover, Jou had called with even more bad news.

Now, here she was in the Digital world, having stopped by Iori's apartment so he could open a gate for her. At least she'd been able to calm the poor boy's nerves. He'd been even more out of the loop than she was. It must be bad, if they haven't even had time to get us all together and explain what's going on, she thought.

She didn't have to walk all the way to the trees, at least. Before she was halfway across the meadow, Tentomon emerged from the trees, flying ahead of Palmon and Gomamon. She waved excitedly. It couldn't be all that bad now that everyone would have their partners with them, could it? Surely nothing was too big a challenge if they could work together. They'd done it before, after all. Several times over.

"Mimi!" cried Palmon, running into her open arms. "I missed you! You hardly ever visit any more."

"I know, Palmon. I'm sorry. I promise I'll make more time when all this is sorted out." She smiled at her partner. "Maybe I can bring my books and study here, instead of at home! Oh, it will be so much easier in August."

"Well, I think we should be more worried about helping the others for the moment," said Tentomon. "I know I don't plan on leaving Koushiro's side until this is all over."

Mimi's face fell. "Oh dear," she said softly. "Jou didn't tell you?"

"Tell us what, Mimi?" Gomamon said. "I thought Koushiro was back in charge of his laptop again."

Mimi shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I don't really know how to tell you this Tentomon, but you're going to have to wait a while to see him. You see, Jou called me a few minutes ago, and told me that somehow Koushiro, Takeru and Patamon got pulled back into this strange other world again, and we don't know where they are or what happened to them."

She winced as the three digimon cried "WHAT?" more or less in unison.

"So far most of the others are at Taichi's apartment," she said. "I was on my way to pick you up when Jou called. Maybe they know something more than that now. That's why we have to get over there as quickly as we can."

Tentomon nodded. "Then we'd better hurry up and get out of here," he said. "Oh dear, I do hope Koushiro hasn't gotten himself in danger."

Sunday, 3:10pm

They had been lying in silence for a few minutes when Patamon announced that he felt strong enough to fly.

"Are you sure?" Takeru asked. "I don't want you to wear yourself out any more on my account."

"More importantly, it's no good you flying up into the air if that will bring the whole of this crashing down," Koushiro pointed out. "Can you get you of there without disturbing anything?"

Something clattered from the direction of Patamon's voice, and Takeru held his breath, releasing it only when he heard Patamon's triumphant "Aha! I told you I could do it!"

"Okay, that's good. Now you need to fly out onto the roof and look out for MetalGreymon. He should be easy enough to spot from a way off," said Koushiro.

"And don't fly too high!" called Takeru, craning his head to try and see his partner. "You don't want to attract any more attention." He closed his eyes, and added in barely more than a whisper: "Don't get hurt again because of me."

He wasn't particularly reassured by the silhouette his partner made, flying out through the hole in the roof. It wasn't a smooth flight at all - he could tell that Patamon was still exhausted, and ought to be resting, not going in search of help. But what alternative did they have?

"He'll be alright," came Koushiro's voice. "He wasn't underneath much more than a little light debris, and he can sit on the roof outside."

"I know," Takeru replied, shifting the weight on his shoulder slightly. He winced as he felt the beam beneath his chest slip a little more. Moving had been a bad idea, then. The trouble was, there was only so long a person could physically remain motionless before fidgeting happened simply as a sort of reflex.

The next sound came from where Koushiro was. He heard the other boy curse softly, and mutter "Where are you, Taichi."

At last, Patamon reappeared over the hole in the roof.

"I can see them!" he cried. "They're flying over the woods. Just hold on a little longer!"

"Yeah, we're doing that Patamon," Takeru said, smiling weakly. "Tell them to hurry up, would you?"

Patamon flew off. A moment later they heard him shouting Taichi's name repeatedly.

Of course, Taichi arriving in time was one matter. Getting down was something more of a challenge. Patamon led him into the engine shed, his voice echoing around the large space. Takeru could see a flickering light illuminate the ceiling as the drew closer. He could tell the moment that Taichi saw them by the string of expletives.

"Well that's really productive, Taichi," Koushiro remarked shortly.

"Good to hear you too, Koushiro," Taichi called up. "Just… just give me a minute, okay? I mean, when you said about stuff collapsing I figured it would be on top of you. I never figured I'd get here and have to play pick-up sticks."

"Can we save the arguing for later?" Takeru said. "I'm pretty sure we don't have long before this comes down you know, and I'd rather we didn't end up underneath it."

"Let me take a look," came Tailmon's voice. "I can get up there without disturbing any of it."

There was a short silence save for the light pattering of Tailmon's feet as she climbed to whatever vantage point she had spotted. Takeru saw a flash of pale movement in that direction, and two pale eyes reflecting the scant light.

"I would like to make it clear at this stage that making any plans for escape which involve feats of athleticism or agility on our part would be ill-advised. Neither of us are in a position where we could perform such acts." That was Koushiro again.

"Well I can see that," said Tailmon. "Hmm. It's too small a building for MetalGreymon, and you're both too heavy for me to lift. If Patamon could digivolve into Angemon he could fit, but he can barely fly as it is."

Something creaked ominously from where she was speaking. Takeru winced.

"Okay, and it's not going to be possible for me to get any closer. I think you're going to have to go out the way you came in."

"I suspected you would say as much," Koushiro said. Takeru could hear the resignation in his voice.

"Just one problem there," said Taichi. "How exactly is that going to work?"

Koushiro sighed. "Agumon will need to evolve into MetalGreymon again, and you'll need to find either a rope or something which serves the same function. Fly above the building and lower it down, and we can hold on while you pull us clear."

"Koushiro, I thought you were smart. That's about the dumbest plan I've ever heard!" Taichi replied. "That's… that's the kind of idea-"

"-that you would suggest?" Koushiro snapped. "I agree entirely. Unfortunately, we lack the time to come up with a viable alternative."

"Uh, guys, maybe we should just get on with it." Takeru said. "At this rate we won't need a plan because it will have collapsed anyway."

As if to underline his point, something clattered to the ground nearby. He closed his eyes a moment, then looked over to where Tailmon was standing. The lamp-like eyes had gone.

From underneath, he could hear Taichi moving around. The light of the torch cast long shadows everywhere. It was maddening. He wanted to move. His whole body was stiff with aches and stillness, and he couldn't even see what was going on. Trying to work it out by what he could hear was beginning to drive him to distraction.

"Here." Tailmon's voice came from the ground. "This was piled up near the wall. There should be enough to reach into the hole in the roof."

"Great!" said Taichi. "Just hold on you two. MetalGreymon is waiting outside. We'll have you down in no time. Well, after we get you up of course."

Koushiro groaned. "Can you just get on with it Taichi?"

It took several attempts for them both to grab what turned out to be a thick cable. Intially, Taichi had only let down one end of it, at which point Koushiro had called up that if they went one at a time there was a strong chance of things collapsing with one of them still stuck. Then they'd had the problem of trying to reach the cables while remaining as still as possible. Takeru had found it simple enough to wrap the cable around his arm a few times and get a firm grip. Koushiro had struggled, and then reluctantly conceded that his arm was too painful to really use. In the end, Tailmon slid down and tied a loop around his chest, then climbed back up and leapt onto the roof.

"Much as I know it's tempting, don't go up too fast," Koushiro called. "The last thing we need is to hit what's left of the roof on our way out."

"Yeah, yeah," Taichi replied. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Takeru closed his eyes as he felt the cable start to move. He regretted wrapping it around his arm almost instantly. It might have been a safer bet than trying to move enough to wrap it around his body, but it had the rather obvious drawback of pressing on the burns on his arm.

The moment he started to move upwards, he felt the wooden spar beneath him shift. He drew his legs up, trying to get himself upright as quickly as possible, and opened his eyes again. He didn't want to get caught on anything that might fall.

They were lucky, really. Both he and Koushiro were almost clear before the whole lot gave way. And it only did so due to their bracing themselves against the uppermost bits of wood to avoid swinging into one another. He and Koushiro looked at each other as the worst of the racket subsided, both shuddering. As his feet finally touched solid ground, he could have wept with relief. Beside him Koushiro sank to his knees, cradling his left arm.

MetalGreymon landed a short distance away, de-digivolving almost instantly. Taichi ran over, but was beaten to Takeru by Patamon. For a minute he simply clung to his partner, not speaking.

"We should get inside one of these buildings," Tailmon said after a moment. "With all the noise that made, I wouldn't be surprised if another one of those birds comes along to investigate."

"One of them's a waiting room," Takeru said. "It'll have somewhere to sit, at least."

Taichi nodded. "We can get you two patched up in there," he said, and looked at Koushiro, frowning. "Okay, you win. It was a good idea to bring the first aid kit. But I still reckon half the other stuff you made me take is junk."