A/N: Okay, here's the setting. Takes place near the end of episode titled "Ghost in the Machine." Instead of Amanda getting Baylin's safety box, I have Kyle and Declan going back into the tunnels to retrieve it. . .
What is Buried
Ghosts.
The past.
It was all too intangible to Declan. What could be more horrifying than the reality of his present?
Navigating endless tunnels of rumble with a friend who's life story was a grand science fiction tale complete with evil scientists? Yeah. The potential stuff of nightmares.
He shouldn't even be here.
It's only been a year but Declan felt like an entire different person. He wanted to believe that was a good thing.
But the truth was more complicated than that. Black and white had shifted into each other. His perspective had been forced to widen and endure.
Declan felt like he was trapped in a strange paradox. On one hand, he wanted to aid his friend in any way possible but on the other, there was an embarrassing collection of resentment at the bottom of his heart.
How had he come to this? He thought as he stumbled on a sharp jagged edge in the ground Yet. he barely tipped over as Kyle's arm held him steady.
He met his friend's eyes and a knee jerk reaction to pull away surprised him.
"Thanks," he mumbled to Kyle.
"We need to get to the box before we sustain physical injury," Kyle said, straining his eyes in the dark.
Could he see in the dark? Declan briefly wondered before he shook his head in bemusement.
The flashlight in Declan's hand flicked for a bit. He cursed as he shook it. If Lori was here, she'd chastise him for not checking the batteries.
Lori. He wasn't too relieved that they came back without letting their other friends know. But they couldn't risk endangering their lives, also.
Of course, Kyle had not even wanted him to come. He had looked at him with those big eyes which usually worked over the female race but not him. At least, he liked to think they didn't.
Yes, Declan had staunchly refused to stay behind like an idiot. For better or worse, he had chose to stay by Kyle's side.
They'd had two close calls earlier. Now, he was regretting the decision. And perhaps, other things . . .
Before, he could reflect more the ground beneath shuddered as if it groaned. He never even had a chance to scream as dust and concrete rushed down on them.
He felt like his body suddenly flew. As if some force threw him back.
A force that could have only been Kyle.
The rocks on the ground smashed into his back and his teeth chattered from the wind knocked out of him. The whole world seemed to be breaking apart.
Until finally it silenced.
He rolled his tongue around in his mouth and grimaced. Blood.
He was afraid to move. Afraid to even whisper but he did.
"Kyle?"
To be continued . . .
A/N: Good or bad start? You decide, lol. Also, this is not slash. It is a Kyle and Declan friendship fic! Next chapter will be up tomorrow.