Disclaimer: I own nothing. Brendon Small is a god. 'Nuff said.

Apology: Sorry it's taken so long for me to post more!

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A feeling of déjà-vu washed over Charles as he slowly drifted from sleep into consciousness. The muffled voices. The pain in his temples. The darkness. He had been here before. He had had questions. Where was he? Why did his head hurt? Why were the lights off? Lights. There were no more lights. He knew that. That was the way it was now. That was alright. A voice gently pushed its way through his musings.

"Charles? Can you hear me? Charles…."

"Nathan," he found himself whispering.

"He's awake," he heard the voice call out quietly. "Nathan, he's asking for you."

Charles could hear a muffled groan and then a gasp of someone being startled awake.

"Easy there!" the first voice said. It was the familiar voice of a woman.

"Is he awake? Oh my god, Abigail, how long was I asleep for? I shouldn't have fallen asleep!" The deep voice made Charles smile slightly, eyes still closed, or perhaps open, he wasn't even certain.

"It's been over 2 days, Nathan, you had to sleep at some point."

"Charles? Hi Charles…" Charles felt the singer lean over the bed, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's been 2 days?" Charles asked weakly, trying to sit up. Nathan gently pushed him back down.

"Shhhhh. You need to rest."

"Nathan, you've had about 10 minutes of sleep in the last 50-plus hours, so I think you need to rest too. It's okay, he knows you're here. You at least should sit." Abigail's voice was gentle but firm. "Charles, I'm going to go get the doctor, okay." She paused, and added, "It's good to have you back." She gave his arm a squeeze and he then heard her exit the room.

"Nathan, what..?" But as he went to ask what had happened he registered the feeling of something lying next to him, and the sound of heavy breathing. Nathan had sat back down in the chair he had been waiting in, and had fallen asleep, with his upper body on the bed and his head nestled against Charles' body.

The sound of the doctor entering didn't seem to rouse the sleeping singer. Charles gently pushed himself up on his elbows, and, whispered,

"We can talk later, Doctor. He needs this rest."

"That is kind of you, Sire. Lord Explosion has refused to sleep, and has barely eaten, over the last two days. I will leave you two alone."

Charles heard the man quietly exit as he relaxed back into the bed, feeling glad to have been able to help Nathan with something he needed, for once, instead of the other way around. The singer's breathing had grown deeper, and soon Charles found himself captivated by the quiet snores of the man who slept beside him.

As Charles drifted out of sleep he found that Nathan was no longer beside him, but knew, without seeing, that the man was still nearby. He sat up in the bed. He heard Nathan approach, and felt the bed sink as the singer sat down, leaning against Charles's legs. There was a long and peaceful silence. Eventually Nathan broke it.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

"I could say the same to you," Charles replied amiably.

More silence followed.

"I have to go," Nathan said, though he didn't get up. "Knubbler's back and we're supposed to all go to a stupid meeting about, you know, production stuff."

"Sounds important and not stupid. You should go so you're not late."

"I'm already late. But, whatever, it's more important that you're okay. They should all know that."

"Ah, Thank you Nathan, I appreciate your, ah, presence. You should go to the meeting though. I'll fill you in on what the doctor says. Have you eaten anything yet?"

"Jean-Pierre is bringing food for our meeting. Pizza, French Toast… you know, all the good stuff. Hey, you should come by and join us. We're in Recording Studio 1. You and Knubbler can talk about business stuff and… stuff."

And blind stuff, Charles silently filled in. It was true, he wanted to reconnect with the Producer on a personal, as well as professional, level. And he also wanted to keep himself in the loop as far as the production plans."

"Alright, I'll try to swing by in an hour or so."

"Good! As long as the doctors say it's okay. Do you know how to get there?"

It was a strange but valid question.

"Yes, I should be able to find it. Before the band-meeting the other day I got a little gift from the Engineering Department." He held up his hand to indicate his watch. "They've installed a GPS in my watch that is programmed specifically for the halls and grounds of Mordhaus. It's a speech-based interface and gives directions through an ear-piece. I'm actually looking forward to trying it out."

"That is so fucking cool," Nathan stated.

"I think so too. I'll see you soon, Nathan… And, ah, thank you for being here."

"Sure," Nathan replied, as it if was no big deal. "I'll save you some French Toast." Charles could hear the door almost closed when Nathan stuck his head back in and whispered, "By the way, sorry my hair wasn't washed." Charles then heard the door close and was left alone to ponder Nathan's strange comment.

Continued...