"Piers, come on! Just stay with me. You're gonna be okay." It was like the worst of tribulation. Chris standing in front of his partner, clutching him for dear life, shoulder, the only normal one left, and then the back of the neck, slowly caressing the goose-prickled flesh behind soothing the heaving chest and horror stricken features, bolstering some fortitude that Piers was bleeding every second that he was under the scrutinizing stare of his captain. The damage was unmeasurable. It was... unthinkable, and as he continued to examine, Piers full tiers, undamaged by the scoring of his once handsome features, trembled apart. The entire right half of his face was covered in deep gouges to that oozed blood and gore, and Chris could see the loss of color in his hazel eye even as he tried to avert them. Teeth grit as Piers stammered out the the bits and pieces of what he wanted to say, what he wanted to convey, jaw clenching at every wave of electricity and assault of the virus purging his system of humanity; the massive mutation of what was left of his arm pulsing beneath the effort used to speak.

"I'm sorry Captain. I did it... for the B.S.A.A. For the future."

"I know you did a real good thing." Chris was struggling, he had to tell it it was okay, that it was good, what he did. He understood it. They had to do something and with the slim to none chance of living through an injury as extensive as his own it was of course difficult. And Piers was having trouble speaking..., it was clear he couldn't find the right words, or was struggling with them in his own time because the longer Chris was starting to feel worse the longer they stood by. They had to get moving, had to if they wanted to survive.

"As long as you-

"I don't wanna hear it! We're both getting outta here... alright?" Gloved finger tips snapped from the back of Piers neck from reassuring to demanding; forcing attention from those wounded mismatched eyes that searched hopelessly toward the man who cut him off mid-sentence, knowing exactly what it was the sniper intended to say. Not now... not yet. He wasn't saying those words here in this dungeon, they were leaving and then he could say them every goddamn day for the rest of his life. They could say those words together, but not here. "Let's go."

"Jesus Piers... what did you do?" Chris grumbled like a grizzly bear as they frantically searched for an escape from within the watery labyrinth. This place was horror, one nightmare after another and though he'd known when he saw his partner alive something had changed, he hadn't had time between adrenaline and the urgency of dispatching the demon monster known as Haos, to really examine the full situation left before them. Before... him. Piers Nivans, the man who had gone through the deepest circles of hell for his captain, who had brought him back to himself, had been resigned to death. There was no survival for a man with those kinds of extensive injuries, his arm had been destroyed long before he hit the wall, but after it was crushed, watching the blood pour out of him, he knew then that he'd failed. Chris felt his heart in his chest freeze in place at the look on his partner's face, writhing against the wall in dire agony, pinned in place by a huge generator, and severed through the ribs and armpit but a jagged shard of metal. They were both going to die and Chris by suffocation, the fractures along his ribs licking his lungs on the inside and causing each breath to yawn a different kind of pain within his gut. But that was nothing to the kind of death he had expected for his partner. The partner that only an hour ago he had blatantly commanded that he was separating from, that they were no longer going to continue on this path together, that he had all but stabbed through the heart himself informing him of the fate that awaited them once they left this underwater prison. His heart was dying inside his chest cavity to see Piers. It couldn't have been worse if he put the bullet in his head himself. He had told him only an hour ago that he was leaving the B.S.A.A. and he wasn't taking Piers with him, that they were going to part and that was the end of things, despite that stubborn look mirrored on both their faces, but now? He would have done anything in the world that he could have to take it all back. He couldn't even look at the man for the first twelve minutes, which in all actuality felt like an eternity when you knew the person who promised and did follow you everywhere, save your soul and return it to you... was going to die. That you had killed him.

There was no question that Piers would die, as they stumbled along together it was getting more and more obvious that there was nothing at that could be done to stop the steady progression of afflictions that became one with the soldier. He was fighting it, he could hear the effort, the strain, but the longer they pushed through, the longer it took hold of that once perfect man. He wanted to pull him up in his arms, tell him how good he did, how proud he was that the kid managed through every obstacle that was thrown at them, and how goddamn brave he was. Chris could never have done that to save Piers, but the man attempting to keep pace behind him did whatever possible, however he could. Piers was a hero..., his lover, and he was going to suffer a death that no one should have to go through, one that Chris wanted to save him from. To tell him how sorry he was, how it wasn't what he'd wanted, that what he'd truly wanted was them. He just wanted something to go right. He wanted to take Piers back to the states, and go back to the days where it was just the two of them, working side by side in perfect tandem. Nothing ever went right for him and all the fight of captain Chris Redfield, that infamous anger and violence... was gone. He couldn't look at his partner without blaming himself. Everything was his fault, leading those men to their deaths, never listening when he was told of his own personal vendettas, dragging his partner through hell after they had already completed their missions only to rip out his heart and give it back to him to which the only valid response would have been 'fuck you' but rather he was greeted with honor, humility, and bravery. And kind of loyalty no man could ever hope to match to save some washed up captain of and organization he'd failed to uphold for the last three years. No he didn't deserve Piers, and Piers didn't deserve this.

The sound of footfalls, stumbled and worn thundered alongside his rapid heart beat, drowning out the crumbling facility around him. It was the fall he heard that caught his ears. The skip of a step, or the stutter of one as feet caught up on each other, and battered knees collided with the ground, followed by a palm, and the body of the man that had saved him, hit the ground with a forceful thud, arms thrown out in front of him. Chris turned on a dime, watching almost helplessly while Piers shuddered under each ragged breath, laboring to find his balance which was horribly offset by the viral mutation that pulsed and throbbed angrily with the attempt to control it. "Just go!"

"No! You're gonna be okay. We're almost there." The war around them of collapsing structures and the twisted tubes allowing torrents of liquid to spill down around them. Chris reached down, his immediate reaction to pull his partner away and topped, eyes wincing as his hand hovered over mutated flesh, the dominant virus overtaking and sudden concern taking hold of Chris. Could he touch him, could he even lift him off the ground? There was nothing left in Piers to keep going, no fight to continue on. He'd done his part, and Chris needed to do his. Chris shook his head, throwing away every worry about possible infection and slipped his hand around the barely conscious form in his arms, pulling him to his feet; ignoring all the whines of his own lungs. The added weight of the appendage was evident while hauling the body up from the ground, but the real gravity was that look. A look only Piers knew how to muster. Pain, sadness, all incorporated with sympathy. Like Piers had any right to be sympathetic of Chris in this situation with the water flooding in around them. Kicking aside concern, Chris' arm propped around him, avoiding letting gloved fingers slip inside the cavern of where his ribs once resided and ignoring the wetness of slick blood, or the tremble of the electric currant swimming over his bicep. So many doors between them and so little that he could say. What could he say? This man, like a reflection of his own self was becoming undone with every passing second and there was nothing to be done but mindlessly falter through the cavernous hideaways of this massive establishment. There were escape pods, somewhere, anywhere, there had to be some way of getting them out of here. He couldn't let this be the end of it, no matter how obvious it was. Piers moans of pain were becoming more frequent, more the twinges and muscle spams overtook him, no longer capable of holding himself up, and his knees were threatening to give. Chris was basically dragging him. This partnership couldn't end this way, not like this, with Chris alive yet again at the end of the story while losing the only person that he truly needed to save. The bulkheads rose, one after another and finally as the watery world before them seemed too much, a chasm of relief broke through. "Escape pods."

Pressurized doors parted way before the captain and his second-in-command as Chris relied upon his brute strength to keep the unsteady Piers upon his feet. This isn't happening, not again. I can't lose him. It had been a living nightmare the day that Jill sacrificed herself for him, preventing his death at the hands of the Machiavellian Albert Wesker. Time had passed, and slowly he began to realize that anyone close to him would always be in danger. It had been why he had suggested his retirement in the first place, why he'd told Piers they shouldn't continue down the same road together. Everyone eventually got hurt. Finding Jill alive in Kijuju had been the last thing he expected, but when it came to Albert Wesker, expecting the unexpected was inevitable. Mumbling encouragement to the soldier at his side as Chris slowly eased Piers against the nearby wall, unable to imagine the pain that he felt when his ravaged right side slid down the wall, Piers sitting with his head hung low. Chris' ardent eyes and rugged countenance lifted to gaze upon the escape pods, and suddenly there was hope left. Turning to Piers, he descended to one muscled knee and looked upon the younger soldier even as a nearby disconnected pipe jutting out from the ceiling began blasting water, the captain spoke to him in an encouraging tone: "See that? We'll be out of here in no time."

Piers sat exhausted with most of his pretty-boy profile etched in blood and gore. All he could do was muster a nod that came off more pathetic than he would have preferred, yet it was enough to convince his endearing captain, who stood up and immediately went to the controls of the escape pod. Piers' lowered his angular jawbone once more. What choice do I have? He'll never look at me the same again, and there's no cure for this. I wish I could tell you everything, Chris. Shame filled his oculars as the gray flesh of his newly mutated right arm began to spasm and pulsate, turning his head solemnly to look upon the grotesque arm which the enhanced C-Virus cursed him with. Quickly turning his head, he swallowed dryly and held it together the best he could, he was on a mission with his captain, and he refused to break down in front of him. Piers had always maintained an iron will in the face of adversity, but this was different. Never had he felt quite as honored as he had when Chris Redfield had expressed interest in Piers taking his place as captain, however, the captain was unlike any other man he had ever met, and he refused to accept his beloved captain to go into retirement. Piers lifted his head to gaze upon the living legend, who worked tirelessly at the controls to activate the escape pod.

"Come on.. got it!" Narrowed eyes flickered back and forth as he gazed upon the keypad as well as the screen. Chris never was known for being a technological man, but he managed to educate himself just enough to get by. Nodding his head sternly in victory as the pod doors opened, he turned to stand before the man who had been the only consistent relationship he had known in years. Crouching down, he reached out with an impossibly muscular arm with veins pressing out beneath the flesh, offering his gloved left hand. "Here we go, Piers. We're getting out of here." There was no judgment in Chris' ardent gaze as he looked into the eyes of Piers, he gazed upon him as if nothing was wrong with him, and perhaps in this moment, that was exactly how Chris felt. Clasping hands with Piers, he pulled the soldier to his feet and kept an arm around his waist and pressed his burly hand against the small of Piers' back. They were going to get out, finally no matter what it cost them. Chris pulled Piers alongside him as they both approached the pristine, open doors of the escape pod. And as quickly as lightning trikes, he felt the effort course through his partner as he cleaved himself from those hands, fabric between their fingers rough and raw, but Chris felt it. He knew the strength it took to muster all that Piers had to pull away, but their hands remained locked, that single piece of fabric locked between their palms as Chris hurtled him back into his arms, massive arms encompassing the infected man, hand clutching his bicep crashing their lips together. If ever there was a definition for desperation, that was it. Lips crushed together, water falling all around them and all Chris could do was hold him there, every ounce of what was left of him holding the man who was inches from throwing his life away, from pitching himself backward out of his captain's arms. Piers lips were salty, from the sea water pouring in or from the tears that went unseen between them, but Chris wouldn't let him go. Couldn't let him go. Not after everything. He had seen the empty place on his arm, felt the rough fabric in his hand still pressed there as their fingers wove together, and knew the misery... He'd felt that same misery before. The pod's beeping rung in the back of his mind, the deluge coming in around them cutting what should have been a kiss he could have poured his soul into short; before Chris ripped Piers away and threw him inside clutching tight to the patch delivered in his hand, caring less about his collision with a back of metal that echoed as the doors closed and more about the fact that the pod was launching, hurtling into the watery oblivion with both of them inside...

"Captain..."

"It's okay Piers, its gonna be okay. You can make it alright? We're both going to make it. You and me. You know that... nothing's gonna stop us. It's going to be alright." Chris was starting to talk more to himself than to his partner, his words turning into a jumble as he started pacing, eyes falling on his partner who was steadily becoming worse, his entire body spasming before Chris threw himself down beside him, pulling him up into his lap even as the electric on his body surged and the captain felt his heart skip a beat from the shock, his blood thundering in his ears while holding his arms around Piers' lithe shoulders, brushing a hand under his cheek to force his face to look up at him, head lulled against his thigh. "Hey, stay with me Piers. Look at me okay? Keep your eyes on me." Hazel eyes, though damaged, blinked heavily, lids drooped half way and lips partly agape, hoarse mutterings never managing broken tiers. His irises and pupils were sluggishly searching up and passed Chris' gruff countenance, hand splayed against the side of his face. "Look at me Piers... come on... You can beat this."

"Captain... I'm.. I'm sor-

"Don't start that bullshit now soldier. You're going to be alright. We both are. I... I'm not going to lose you." Clutching the patch so inscribed North American B.S.A.A., the older man brushed his spread fingers over sweat and blood stained features, pushing the dirt and gore away from that face he had gotten so use to seeing. So use to acknowledging at his side. He wasn't done with him, not by a long shot. Had it really taken all of this, was all of this necessary to see it... to see how much Piers cared, how much he loved him. He wouldn't bow, and he wouldn't break, not a second had passed between them that Piers had allowed himself to give in during this mission... and he wouldn't, not until his dying breath. This couldn't be then. He hadn't told him, hadn't confessed everything he felt, everything he refused to feel because he didn't want his partner getting hurt for him but instead he was dying in his arms, paying the ultimate sacrifice. "Tough it out soldier..." Emptiness was hidden behind the once enchanting color of Piers' eyes, searching for a face he wasn't finding, and fighting for a cause he couldn't remember any more. He was shaking still, savagely pawing up Chris' bare bicep, hugging his fingers to him while the captain gave another shake trying to bring him to alert despite the blood pooling around them. They were almost at the top... almost at the top, he could make it, they could both still make it. Tell him you love him, tell him he's going to be okay. That you won't let go of him no matter what. Tell him how there was nothing in the world worth fighting for more than this moment right here. "I..."

"Chris. I'm sorry."

Eyelids drifted shut even as Chris started shaking the younger soldier violently, the body in his arms going completely lip apart fromm throbbing membranous tissue pulsing from the parts of the sniper where the virus had taken root, grey patches throbbing even as Chris started shaking , dragging him upright into his arms, hugging the body to him and pulling him back, smashing their lips together to be met with no reaction at all, no breath being forced from his lungs and to moan of pain as Chris tightened his grip, kissing those lips over and over. "Piers... no... no goddammit NO! Come on partner, wake up... please, Piers." He was breaking, everything inside him was breaking. The world shattered, along with the surface of the water while the pod bounded from the surface with a leap, sloshing. "Come on Piers, please, wake up. I love you, okay? I love you. Every damn day since the moment I laid eyes on you. Please open your eyes," gloved fingers held softer, marred features to his own, scruff rubbing against always smooth flesh. "Please... just... open your eyes." The seeming pulse of the greying flesh, and mutinous barbs embedded in that fake arm, replacing a once sturdy man was starting to slow as well, and Chris knew it instantly that there was nothing he could do. Even the virus had given in to the slowed heart rate, the lost breathing, the death that surrounded them, even as the helicopters circled in. "See... hey," Chris pulled his face away, slack neck grasped by weakening fingers of once proud pointman, head lulling back while he stroked his thumb over a warm profile, smiling despite himself. "See... they came. We're going to get you home Piers... I promise. I'm gonna take you home..."

Medics rushed to them, everything in a blur as they pulled the pod to safety from the high waves and the exploding facility beneath, the explosion and all its red boiling heat gone lot as Chris held his partner in his hands, brushing away the dirt, blood, sweat, that all had covered him over his times here, and tinge of blue starting to stain still beautiful pouted lips. It was Jill who came with them, her voice that cut through the many, shoving passed the spectators and emerging at his side, blue eyes scanning the body in his arms and then the man clutching him, smiling as he refused to tear his eyes away even as she started to prattle on. Everything was moving but them. A rush to salvage what was left of Alpha Team. Jill knelt beside Chris, slipping her arm around her once partner, and now best friend, the other sliding over the ruin of the flak jacket on the passed sniper, coming to rest on the side of his neck, kissing Chris' cheek before her eyes darted down to the body. "Chris... Chris? Hey, Chris..." The brunette never responded, a smile on his face that read placid, while Jill screamed mute words in his ears before a menagerie of men were pulling him back. Dragging his body away from Piers limp one, falling victim to a titan let loose as he roared and started throwing me, Jill's screaming as the men in white rushed toward them, dragging Piers away from the scene while words were screamed, a thousand and one hands holding him in place while the body of his partner was stolen from him. A fist tore free from those around him, burying in the flesh of the man beside him and snapping all ribs on his left side as he buried it again, throwing the man aside. Jill raised a weapon on him instantly; the dart fluttering through the air in slow motion while everything in the world moved in fast forward. And suddenly the high pitched buzzing in his ears stopped.

Beeep... beep... beep... beep...

Hospital. He knew a hospital when he heard one...

Beeepp... beeep... beep...beep...

Chris hated hospitals. Numbness overcame his body, detached at the neck from the remains of what was left of his anatomy, unable to feel anything. Cotton lived in his mouth, and gunk in the corners of his eyes which only saw white. His hearing was blotted out by that incessant beeping...

Beep... beep... beeppppp... beeeppp...

Fingers, cold fingers were gripping his wrists, sliding up and down his forearms, that he couldn't really feel... slim fingers, long nails caressing him to wakefulness. Even the world around him seemed foggy, but yet there were those fingers urging him to rouse, aching brown eyes bruised and sore... puffy or so it felt, blinked frantically to widen, pupils constricting as the overheads of the world around him came into the light, piercing his head into a well known friend. Migraines. And Jill. Her face was soft and kind but it set vomit hurtling through his throat, bubbling up at the corners of his mouth as he lurched over the side of white sheets and stained the whole lot with stomach acid and blood from the pits of his gut, retching again and again. Small hands patting his back. "Its alright Chris, its okay..." His bare chest was heaving, huge broad muscles convulsing with the need to breath on their own before tearing away an oxygen tube around his nose that made him feel like he was suffocating. White bandages covered his muscled waist, cuddling his fractured ribs, the sheet bunching further as he hefted his body away from the woman he had known as friend for twenty years. He wasn't delusional... he wasn't stupid. He knew why he was here... what had happened, what had been done to him. What had happened to the man in his arms. Piers had died there in that escape pod, his fingers clinging lifelessly to his arm which still burned with the ghost imagine of how they had worried his muscles to bruises hoping to hold on to that moment between them. He'd lost... They could say everything they wanted about saving the world, but when it came down to it, Chris had lost. He had turned his back on everything only to be given a second chance, a second chance with a person who stood by him every step of the way, saved him... and the price was Piers' life. Depression surged through his soul and Chris felt himself sag his weight back into the hospital bed, ill-fitted to his stature, blank mahogany eyes pinned to the woman staring back at him, chewing her lip.

"Don't sugar coat it Jill. Just tell me, how bad is it?"

Anxious features quickly became overwrought in his deadpan tone that muddled baritone in the emptiness of the room, little hands returning to his massive bulk, stroking reassuring pets with those petite instruments. Marine blue scavenged the machines beeping at her right, blinking stats beside his head like the number even mattered. He'd made it through Hell more than once and this time Purgatory was all that waited, a few machines couldn't tell Chris he'd already died inside, and they couldn't tell him how he'd continue on living just like he had always since the day Wesker turned his back on the world. She was searching, and his patience was growing thin, throwing back the sheet and ignoring her yelp at his purpling bruised frame, grabbing hold of the sheet once and wrapping it around his waist, holding it there until he found torn open fatigues and what remained of his old uniform. They must have torn it open when they were fixing him up, as though a living god of death needed a doctor. Jill was still stammering like an idiot. As though he'd never lost someone before... as though he'd never said good bye. He'd lost two full teams throughout this expedition, Edonia and China, and he hadn't stopped and wept a single tear for them, why did Piers deserve any different? Why did a young man foolish enough to infect himself have a greater right to have him cry? No, he wouldn't. And he couldn't not here. He needed air, and he needed it fast he needed-

"You were so out of it I was worried you weren't going to make it for a while. The medics on site said you were even fighting the sedatives I shot you with. I had to do it through Chris, you understand."

"I get it... just another one to bury, Jill." Thick rough hands grasped a pair of clean clothes that must have been supplied by his old partner, throwing the sheet aside with disregarded modesty, shoving his tree trunk thick calves and thighs deep within the wells of fabric, yanking them up around his waist. "He would have turned anyway if you didn't do it. The last thing we needed was for him to change into a..." Monster? No... Piers was never a monster. Cinching the waist of the pants around his hips, hiding the V of muscle and all the rest of his lower body, while his eyes went in search of the top, tugging buttons in place. Piers was perfect, not a monster. Even in death he'd been beautiful. So perfect in his arms as though he'd never really been alive at all. Just a doll in his arms, helpless and lifeless. "Doesn't matter... I need to get back to H.Q., get debriefed, I don't have time for this shit."

"Chris look," She was simpering behind him like a pet cat, his hand hitting the door while she finally spilled what was on her mind, though it hadn't been exactly what he'd thought. "Before all that... he's alive Chris."

"What?" Hell froze over instantly. "What? What, you mean... Leon right?"

"No Chris, Piers. He was... you were holding him so tight I swore he was dead, his lips were blue, I mean I never... and after everything you guys went through. It's just when I leaned to..., when I touched him, he had a pulse, it was thready bu-

"Where is he?" Chris could feel the welling emotion in his throat, the cool tears coating his eyes, threatening to spill over, she was kidding. She had to be kidding, he was dead, he was lifeless... in his arms. Those beautiful eyes were extinguished and he had never felt agony like that before in his life. He was some mutated creature now, with a bullet buried in his head by one Jill Valentine after seeing the state of his arm. "Don't lie to me Jill, where... how can he be... I don't care, I... Where is he? You didn't... his arm? Chest, he was infected Jill, beyond infected, he was changing and dead, and I was holding his body Jill I know dead when I feel it!" The room swirled beneath his feet, the cold floor on bare soles stumbling until he floundered into the counters and charts on his own condition, sweeping them off with a bulged forearm and throwing the world to shit. "WHERE?!" Two small hands found his side, stilling rage that hurtled forward and ruined the counter as his meaty fist came colliding down upon the table top, cracking it in half.

"They did some surgery. He got out a little while ago.. I came to get you, I thought... you'd want to see him."

Heavy glass, fire proof, clouded over, blurred sight from the hallway, mechanically opened as Jill's access card bleeped that annoying repetitive noise twice before admittance was granted, ritually moving aside for a single fall of bare feet crossing the threshold. "I'll wait outside." Jill's reassurance went unheard, curtain pulled before the bed and montage of monitors all humming an orchestrated beat, monotonous and sweet. Chris could see the end of the bed, the sheets drawn over, but that was it, swallowing his fear in one go and shaking his head. Man of action as ever, no reason to stop now. Throwing back the curtain in one swoop, brown eyes clenched shut and prepped himself to open them when looking down on a body so familiar to him that his heart stopped instantly, almost falling down to his knees or collapsing on the end of the bed. There was bandages everywhere. Covering every part of his damaged ruined body, his perfect body. Over his torso, waist, up around lithe shoulders that until he recalled were mangled with mutation. He'd never be able to live without it, his arm was everything, his job was everything... no Piers was everything. It was covered with an array of sheets and bandages, all newly applied but already fluids stained them, and the one that wound up around his neck to cover the better portion of that soft countenance he'd grown to love, eyes still closed the way he remembered them as he'd passed on in the pod. They were suspended in time, a captain, staring down at his single surviving soldier, his feet moving on automatic while coming closer to the bedside, a lopsided grin forming as tears unbidden fell to the ground, reaching out a lacerated, beaten up hand to touch olive hued skin.

And then it started. The laughter. Baritone laughter swept p form his bread basket into his lungs that ached and filled the room, falling to the ground in front of him and resting his hands on the plush bedside, heaving and feeling the world disappear, weight leaving them. Hysterics took over and he spent the next while on the ground, clutching the good arm that still remained uncovered, clean and natural in his hands, loving the warm flesh under his fingers while he laughed and cried at the same time. It took almost five minutes before he could lift his head back to that tanned face, evidently contrasted by all the white, and when he did, he met the gaze of heavy lidded hazel, staring down at him in a dreamlike state. Fingers wrapped around the solid forearm of his partner immediately slipped to his hand, winding his fingers with those that remained motionless on the bed side, hoisting himself off the ground. "Piers..." Chris' voice threatened to give, breaking while tawny amused brows pulled together, and a small subtle smirk tried to work at lifting the corners of one side of his mouth, and finally words attempted, though Chris cut him off. "I know, hey don't say anything okay? I told you, didn't I? We'd make it out... me and you. I just... I thought you died there partner, I really did. You wouldn't believe... I, there were so many things I wanted to say, so many things you need to hear. It's just, look about what I said in the elevator, about retiring... I didn't mean it. There's no way. Okay? I'm you're partner and I'm going to get you back into the field, me and you. I should never have said those things, I was just hiding. Running you know? Jesus I don't even know why..." A single small chuckle manifested between pouted lips, pursing slightly as Chris was observed, squeezing the captain's hand. "I swear to you Piers, I won't ever... Look I can't tell you how it felt to lose you... I'll never leave you again... You understand?" A tiny almost unnoticeable nod forced its way before it became a shake of the head, lid over that single hazel eye blinking several times before Chris dropped his head lower, their lips meeting and a soft tenor hum greeted his ears, the kind he imagined he'd never hear again, lips lingering together for some time before parting to breathe, all his aches disappearing with that single kiss, brushing this hand over those features, and caressing soft tissue of lips, watching hazel flutter back open from the effects Chris had over him. "I..I love you, Piers..." There was a short moment before the hand in his squeezed, lips parting ever so slightly while the brunette pulled back, tenor flooding his senses.

"I... Do I know you?"

Fin.

I loved writing this story, and really appreciate the people who read and reviewed it. It was a real fun write! hope you guys don't hate me forever for the cliff hanger!

Hope you'll all let me know how you felt because I love the feedback!

Goodbye Do I Know You!