Where was he? He didn't remember this at all. Was this the cruise ship? Why was he in a line? Where the hell was it leading?

The conman stepped out of the line and stared down it—it seemed to go on forever. Everyone standing in it looked uncomfortable and dejected—like they didn't want to be here and Nick knew he didn't want to be here either. Maybe it was because had never been one to follow the rules that he found himself slipping out of the line and into the first door he saw.

The door opened into a small room and he found he was not alone. He jolted back, embarrassed, and tried to find the doorknob. But there was no longer a door. He found this puzzling, but did not question it.

His gaze returned back to the center of the room. Only the bright lamp over the hard iron table in the middle of the room kept his eyes from wandering into the darkness surrounding it. Where else could he look?

There was a child standing by the table—a child he didn't recognize. The boy was staring at the body bag lying so stiffly on that iron table. The child's face was worried, very, very worried. He looked up—not at Nick—but at another person. All Nick could see was the doctor's legs. The rest of him was covered in the darkness.

"Go on," the doctor said. His clipboard came out—reflecting the light. The pen's tip rested on the paper, tapping impatiently. "Hurry up."

The boy let in a shaking breath and slowly unzipped the body bag—and when he did he began to cry, hard. The corpse was of a woman—bloated and disfigured. Her eyes and mouth—for some reason—had been sewn shut. The boy seemed to recognize her. Strangely, Nick knew it was the kids mother.

The little boy began to cry harder and he shook his head in denial. He grabbed the zipper, closed the body bag and then instantly opened it again as though that very gesture would somehow make everything better.

Instead, when he opened it there was a man. Once again, Nick did not recognize the person, but the way the boy reacted—how he threw back his head and let out a wail of despair let Nick know that this child knew who this was too.

The boy seemed desperate to deny what it was he saw. Again, he zipped the body bag closed and opened it again. He did it several more times and each time someone new lay rotting and festering underneath. The boy cried each time.

Nick could see that the boy's blue eyes, innocent, innocent blue eyes had turned red from crying. Nick couldn't imagine how awful it must feel to witness the death of all your loved ones while being so terribly alone. All the while, those blue eyes just turned redder and redder as more tears came.

But then Nick started suddenly with realization. He knew that boy! He knew who that was!

"Ellis!" Nick screamed. The boy looked up, but as he did, as he noticed Nick for the first time, he suddenly began to scream—this time in pain. "Ellis!" Nick yelled again, startled. He sprinted forward, but no matter how fast he ran he wasn't getting any closer.

Before his eyes the boy began to wither and melt. His face bubbled and hissed and skin fell away from his bones. Ellis screamed and screamed, "You did this! You did this, Nick! You did this!"

No, I swear! I didn't! I didn't do it, Ellis! I swear!

"But you did, you did! You let me suffer and suffer and you just watched! You wallowed in your self-pity while I suffered! It's not fair! It's not fair! Why do I always have to be the one smiling? I have no more reasons to smile! I can't be there for you! I can't! I can't! I can't! Why are you so selfish? Why are you so god damn selfish! Look what you're doing to me! LOOK! LOOK AT ME!"

I'M SORRY, ELLIS! I'M SORRY, I'M—

His eyes opened instantly and he let in a rushed breath of air that was more suffocating than relieving. It took him several disorienting minutes to get his bearings.

He was in the room—Ellis was still sound asleep in the other bed. He wasn't screaming or crying… or dying. Ellis was just sleeping, unbeknownst of how his dream-self had just chastised him so mercilessly. Nick felt his heart squeeze painfully.

The man let out a shuddering breath and sat up. He ran his hands over his face, trying hard to shake the terrible image away. That innocent child—that one that Nick knew had existed when he had first met Ellis had died. How had he not noticed? How had he missed it? How had he mistaken those looks for innocent smiles? No one could have gotten out of this damn Infection unscathed. And here he had been, absolutely squirming with rage at the thought that Ellis was so unbothered by the losses. God, he had never asked. He had only assumed!

Quaking still, he slid his legs over the side of the bed. He needed to get out of here... He needed to get out, needed to clear his head. He glanced at the clock—4:39 am. He felt his throat tighten and frustrated tears blurred his vision.

God damn it. It was going to be a long day, wasn't it?

Ellis yawned loudly, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back. He relaxed again, arms crossed above his head, blinking sleepily up at the ceiling. Then he glanced over—completely expecting the other man to be still sleeping in the other bed. Instead, he saw that it was empty.

Ellis panicked.

The mechanic shot to his feet but his legs twisted in the blanket and he toppled over the side of the bed and face planted hard on the floor. He let out a grunt, kicking at the bedding to free himself. He finally untangled himself and got to his feet. He rubbed at his aching jaw and pushed open the empty bathroom door. He flicked on the light and glanced around, just to be sure. Okay, not in there…

"Nick? Nick are ya in here?" He knew the conman wasn't. Ellis felt a jolt of terror run down his limbs and his knees almost buckled under the shiver. Where'd he go? Why did he leave? Why didn't he say anything!

Shaking the young man pulled on his shoes—not at all caring that he was still wearing his pajamas. He barely remembered to grab his key before he sprinted out of the room.

He ran and ran, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. He asked several people if they had seen Nick and most of them looked at him as though he were crazy. But as he ran further and further into the ship—he suddenly became very aware of the melody riding on the air.

The southerner moved into the ballroom.

Playing away as though he hadn't the faintest idea of how worried he had made Ellis, was Nick. In fact, he probably hadn't a clue. The song, to Ellis' surprise, was the first song Ellis had ever heard the man play.

Ellis stood there, hands hanging limply at his sides watching the other play, admiring him—everything about him and the way he played. And damn it—Ellis wasn't even mad anymore. A small smile actually managed to find his lips.

As he approached, Nick glanced up to him. The music shuddered in the melody and then went still. The conman looked away, looking guilty—like he had been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"Hey… Nick, man, why'd ya leave? Ya scared the hell outta me."

"Sorry."

"Jus' make sure ya don' do tha' again. Leave a note or somethin', man."

"If I had, would you have even looked?" Ah, smart-ass conman, I knew you were still in there! Ellis laughed, half in embarrassment, half in relief. Nick smirked slightly, but still did not meet his gaze.

"Well… uh, ya wanna go an' eat or somethin'? Then we can… like, do wha' we talked 'bout doin', ya know? The whole," Ellis raised his hands up and waved them slightly, making a face that showed he didn't quite know how to word it, "issue… we talked 'bout?"

"Sure." Nick picked himself off the piano bench and let out a little sigh. "Ellis?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Like I said, jus' don' go runnin' off like tha' again."

"No, I mean… for everything. I'm sorry." The man absent-mindedly pressed a few keys on the piano as he stood before it, head hanging low. "You shouldn't have had to take care of me like this. I'm sorry."

"Man, two apologizes in one breath?" Ellis whistled lowly. "Thas gatta be a record!" The other looked at him, annoyed, but Ellis only grinned. "I already told ya, Nick, thas wha' friends are for. I ain't gonna walk away 'cause ya ain't feelin' right. I'm gonna help ya out, 'cause thas when we need friends the most. I ain't gonna go no where."

"What happens when I get better?" Nick asked—he sounded worried.

Ellis blinked. "Huh? Wha' da ya mean?" Nick turned to face the other fully and Ellis became very aware of how much taller the older man was. Ellis felt a blush warming his face, but he wasn't really sure why. He swallowed, diverting his eyes."I ain't goin' no where. We're friends. Accept it, man. Yer stuck with me." His eyes slowly returned and Nick was staring at him intensely.

"Forever?"

Ellis tilted his head slightly, searching those worried green eyes. "Yeah, Nick. Forever."

Nick smiled—and Ellis swore, for the first time it was a real smile. Not a smirk, but a smile.

Ellis felt his heart swell.

A/N: Why I decided to write this without drinking any coffee, I'll never know. I'm sure my lack of direction shows, but, I swear, I'm trying to get it somewhere.

I was feeling overly sappy near the end, but, meh, ya do whatcha gatta do.

I'll admit. I cheated with Nick's dream. It was a dream I had a few nights ago and it just begged to be a part of this story. I hope it made sense.

Thank you for reading and for leaving such kind comments. I really appreciate it.