Er, so um...yeah, another fic that came from a random pic I drew and decided there had to be a story behind it. Well, that and the fact that um...I reeeallly wanted some GB h/c. So...yeah, this is random, pointless h/c. Wee...So, er, C & C welcome, encouraged...please oh please?

Oh, and thanks to Neechan for her encouragement (and bribes of fic in return) and also editing. Thanks to Karasu as well who keeps bugging me to write. It helps, it really does, thanks hon *huggles*.

Tribulations

By Gnine

Prologue

The light splatter of rain on his face woke Ban. Damn, they had forgotten to close the sunroof again. In a few minutes, the whole car would be soaked. He should really do something about that...or Ginji should. It was probably his fault anyway. It did not always need to be Ban's responsibility to solve problems like this just because he was the lighter sleeper. Somehow that had never seemed fair.

"Oi, Ginji," he mumbled, voice sounding rough to his own ears. He better not be coming down with a cold. Blasted rainy, cold weather. And here they were sleeping in a car with the top down, of all the stupid things.

Frustrated at the lack of response, he tried again. "Ginji, wake up and put the damn roof up. The rain's getting harder."

And so it was. Large, cold droplets splashed in his face, running tracks down his cheeks like unsalted tears. God damn it, where was Ginji? The guy could sleep through a hurricane. Going to sit up with the intent to slam the top shut, Ban found his body unwilling to cooperate.

That was decidedly...odd. And annoying. Irritated, at being woken up, at the rain, at life in general, he was of half a mind to just say screw it all, roll over and go back to sleep. Yeah...sleep was sounding really good, and--

The flash was bright enough to be painful even behind closed lids, the thunder that followed almost deafening. Worse than either, however, was the utter certainty that neither were natural, the source something all too familiar. Raitei.

"Shit!" Instinct taking over, he was halfway to his feet before his senses kicked in and he fell back to the ground with a gasp.

The searing pain shooting along his side jarred him into full awareness like nothing else could have. Panting, Ban forced his eyes open, taking in the patterns of branches framing the cloudy sky instead of the familiar car roof. He was sprawled on the ground in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by heavy woods.

Like the rain pouring from the sky, the memories came flowing back. The job had gone sour, or rather it had been rotten from the beginning. And they had been ready for the Jagan. Not that that could stop Midou Ban-sama. A few applications of snake bite and he managed to escape into the woods surrounding the estate. Piece of cake. Which left only the small matter of the bullet lodged in his side.

Hell, they were probably still after him. Trying once more to heave himself up, he made it as far as his knees before the world went gray.

As the haze of pain faded, Ban found himself once more flat on his back, a root digging painfully into his side. Sucking in a deep breath, he attempted to push down the slight inkling of panic.

He was in the middle of nowhere. His pursuers could not be far behind. He had been shot. He was bleeding to death.

He was helpless.

Overhead, another bolt of unnatural lightening illuminated the overcast sky.

To be Continued...