Disclaimer: Jay, Totheark, Alex, and all that Marble Hornets jazz belongs to Troy Wagner, Joseph Delage, and Tim Sutton.

Pairings: Jay/TiMasky (Yes, both.)

A/N: Written for the Kink Meme. Prompt was long but it involved Jay being upset after entry 59 and deciding to take drastic measures to fix everything. He broadcasts his intentions and Tim sees the video/Twitter post. He tries to forget it for a few days until he reluctantly decides to go after Jay.

Warning: Yaoi, but not entirely graphic. Mostly making out.

Feedback: It makes me write more, you know.

It had been two weeks since Tim had confronted Jay about this entire mess. Tim had been looking forward to forcing Jay out of his life so that he could get back to his job and being able to sleep for more than three measly, restless hours a night. But just because they were no longer on speaking terms didn't mean that his memories and nightmares had stopped. So many questions about the previous three years had been answered, like the mysterious injuries, his strange cough that sometimes rivaled asthma symptoms, the reason why his prescription medications wouldn't work even when the doctor upped his dosage. Just when he was starting to get his life back in order, it had all come crashing down.

He should have been grateful now that he knew what the hell had been going on. But any relief he could have felt was overshadowed by the vision of that white mask with its huge, black eyes and slightly smirking lips. Ever since the first time he had watched the videos and realized that it was him underneath that mask, he had torn his home apart no less than twenty times in his search for it. It was absolutely no where to be found and it was driving him insane.

If he had thought that living before had been unbearable, now he just felt tormented. He could barely focus at work and he was still debating on whether or not to tell his doctor about the Marble Hornets Youtube channel for fear that the clinic would label him as a threat and lock him up. Part of him wanted to re-watch the videos, but that would mean reliving the sordid events that had led him up to this point. The other part wanted to chuck his computer our the window. He had never been much of a drinker, but during the past few days, he had downed more alcohol than he had over the course of the entire previous year. None of it helped.

Despite yelling at Jay to leave him alone, he found that his former friend crossed his thoughts often. He would recall all the times during the filming of Alex's project when they would hang out as a group, laugh, swap ideas, and goof off. It was hard to compare the image of Jay as the happy, carefree young man he had been at that time with the scared, desperate person who had been lying to Tim all this time. Then again, Tim couldn't imagine how he himself had changed over the course of the last three years.

He was hurt by the betrayal, of course, but there was a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that was slowly growing since that night in the parking lot. It was a feeling of...inevitability and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out where it was directed.

Finally, one night, when curiosity got the better of him, he went back to that damn Youtube channel, just to see if anything more had happened. He was sick of feeling tense, sick of worrying that at any moment, his other half (alter ego? Secret identity?) might wake back up and take over. At least being on the internet made him feel like he was connected to an answer.

One new video had been uploaded since entry 59, simply titled "Announcement." It was dated for the previous week. The thumbnail showed a simple, blank screen. Tim rubbed the space between his eyes and took another swig of beer before starting the video. The title card of the video itself showed the same word before the scene shifted to Jay sitting inside what Tim assumed to be a hotel room. Briefly, he wondered just how much money Jay had sunk into hotels and felt a pang of gratitude that at least he still had a home that hadn't been burnt down.

If Jay had looked tired before, he was worn and downright haggard now, with pasty skin and dark circles underneath his eyes.

Tired? Welcome to the club, Tim thought bitterly before Jay started speaking.

"I've been thinking about...everything since I met Tim last week and I think I've come to a decision about what to do now." His voice was rough, as though he had a sore throat or he was groggy. "I can't go back on this. That...Thing can find us anywhere whenever it wants. I'm in too deep to turn back now. I hope it's not too late for Tim. I had no idea that he didn't...that he was getting better. If I had, I never would have tried to talk to him three months ago."

It felt odd, listening to Jay speak about him this way. He bit his lip to keep from shouting at the screen that it would have been a terrible idea to talk to him even if he had remembered everything. Jay propped an elbow on his table and cradled his forehead in his palm as he stared wearily at the screen. His voice cracked as he continued, "Tim was right about everything. Totheark said all this was Alex's fault but I know it's mine. I shouldn't have uploaded these videos. I just thought that anyone watching could give me a second opinion and help me figure out what happened. I never thought it was going to blow up into this.

"This is all my fault. Alex wouldn't be wherever he is now. Jessica would be safe. Tim wouldn't have remembered all that he went through. All he wants is to have a life. I know that now. I thought he could help me. It's been so long since...since I had anyone to talk to, but I've ruined that too. I just hope he can still salvage what he has left."

Tim wouldn't have had to salvage anything if it hadn't been for Jay. With a scowl, he kept listening. Jay held his head in both hands, wincing as he spoke. "I've hurt so many people since this started, but I didn't realize it until Tim said what he said. I don't want anyone else to get dragged into this. Too many people have suffered on my account." He straightened up, his arms dropping into his lap, his shoulders drooping with something like resignation. "I'm going to finish what I started. By myself. I'm going back to that hospital and I'm going into that maintenance tunnel. Somebody wants me to see what is down there, but if this doesn't get me new answers then...I'm going back to Rosswood and I am finding Alex. If he wants to kill me, fine, but I can't let him get away with what he's done."

For the first time since the start of the video, the pain on Jay's face was replaced with tired determination, quietly daring anyone to challenge him.

"I'm not taking my camera. Tim was right about that, too. I've depended on it so much, but I need to focus now. I'll send out a message on my Twitter if I find something and I will definitely let you know if I am all right, but...this has to be done and no one else should have to deal with this but me.

"I want to thank all of you for watching this, though I don't know you. Thank you for being there and actually caring about all the dumb stuff I've done. You have no idea how much it's all meant to me. Bit it's time this ended. I said I was going to see this through and I meant it.

"There's just one last thing I want to say. I was serious when I said I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of me. If I don't come back or you don't hear anything else from me, please...don't come looking for me.

"Thank you, guys. Hopefully, I'll see you later," he said, before reaching up and turning off the camera, at which point, the video ended. Tim's first inclination was to plant his face into the desk and keep banging it until he forgot everything he had just heard.

Seriously, Jay? Seriously?

What kind of dumb, brainless moron would think that going back to the hospital was a good idea? What kind of idiot would still want to pursue this after all that had been experienced in the Marble Hornets videos?

Apparently Jay was that kind of moron and idiot. Tim did as his therapist had once instructed him to do during times of extreme agitation and took a series of deep, calming breaths before going to the Twitter feed. The last entry had been posted not a day after the Youtube video.

Leaving for the abandoned hospital. Wish I wouldn't be doing it alone, but it's better this way. Here goes nothing.

Now all Tim wanted to do was chuck the phone at the nearest wall. So Jay had really gone and gone by himself. Tim wondered, idly, if he was all right. It had been a week, after all, and there were no updates or any indication of Jay's health.

What do I care? At least he didn't bother asking me to go with him, Tim reminded himself. This was what he had wanted. If Jay wanted to "end" this, he could do it alone. Tim didn't have to and didn't want to do anything else.

It was at that moment that he noticed the comments on the Twitter page. There were well over two hundred re-tweets and the number of people who had replied to Jay were climbing into the triple digits as well. He looked back at the Youtube page and saw, for the first time since he had opened the video, the sheer volume of comments on the page. It seemed like Jay had forgotten to disable the comments for this video like he had the others. Either that, or maybe he had intentionally left them enabled to hear what other people had to think.

There were a huge number of people berating Jay, calling him an idiot for doing this (Tim was on their side) and generally telling him not to go. Several more people were pleading with him to be safe and telling him to take weapons and such to protect himself, or at least a camera. Some were even saying that they hoped Tim was watching this and they hoped it made him feel guilty. That made him snort with laughter.

Tim had the mind to read the first few comments, which were written with the Caps Lock on and riddled with atrocious spelling errors in the authors' rush to type them out, and closed out the window. He didn't need to read on. He had already promised himself not to get involved in this anymore. Nobody was going to make him do anything and that's the way it should have continued.

Too bad nothing nowadays was going the way he hoped. Over the following days, Tim went about his business as well and responsibly as he could, but that video was never far from his mind. Jay's tired face and haunted eyes stared back at him whenever he closed his eyes. He tried to tell himself that it wasn't his fault if Jay wanted to throw himself to the wolves, but in the back of his mind, a niggling feeling persisted. He replayed his last conversation with Jay over and over in his head and felt the anger he had felt then as if it were fresh and new. He saw the expression on Jay's face turn from shock after Tim had hit him to desperation to despair once he realized he was on his own.

It serves him right, Tim told himself at work. Jay could have walked away form all this. He could have saved himself before digging in too deep and creating what would probably be his grave. That particular thought made Tim stop. Jay could die from this. The Youtube channel held evidence that there had already been fatalities. People weren't just getting hurt from all this, they were dying. What if Jay joined the toll? As much as he hated the guy right now, did Tim want Jay to die?

Three days after his first investigation into the Youtube channel, Tim checked it and the Twitter feed again. There were no new updates. But while things were quiet on Jay's end, the followers were going ballistic. The number of views and comments had easily tripled and there were groups of people from all over the country who were planning honest-to-god search parties if they didn't hear from Jay by Friday, regardless of whether or not they knew where the hospital was.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Jay had already said he didn't want anyone following him and yet there were people who would stride right into a dangerous area to look for him? They were more idiots to add to the toll.

People do really care about him, Tim thought and it was enough to make him come to his decision.

That evening, he made his own video as a reply to Jay's, telling the good people of Youtube to hold onto their horses and not go running off after Jay. He wasn't sorry for anything he had said, but he wasn't about to let Jay go on a suicide mission because of it.

He knew that if Jay died, yeah, he would probably be asking for it, but Tim would feel responsible nonetheless. With all else that had happened, he didn't need that particular tidbit weighing on his conscience. At least Tim had had a few months of a normal life, free from all paranoia and Alex and all this shit. Jay had been fighting against it for three years straight. But even that didn't change the fact that if Tim did find Jay, he was going to shake some sense into him.

Luckily, he had some time off from work that gave him a long weekend. The next night he was able, he decided to head out. Jay had said in his video that he would go to the abandoned hospital first. He at least wanted to get to the area near the hospital. He wouldn't dream about going into the tunnel that night (as he imagined Jay probably had). After a two hour drive and a gas station meal, he found a cheap hotel to spend in for the night. By morning, he was already considering up and heading back home, but he had come out here to find Jay and he wasn't about to be embarrassed in front of thousands of Youtube followers.

That didn't stop the trip to the hospital from being any less ominous. It was a gray, overcast day, one that was very cool for an Alabama summer. As he pulled into the nearest parking lot to the path he could find, he saw Jay's silver car and pulled up next to it. So, he had kept his word after all. Tim got out of his car, feeling a breeze that made the cornfields shiver and rustle. Tim felt how close he was to the hospital, like a dark pit was sinking ever deeper in his stomach. He was able to ignore it until the two graffiti-covered pillars in front of the entrance came into view and he was struck with a wave of dizziness and nausea that brought him to his knees.

He clutched at his head, sputtering and coughing, feeling like someone was beating him over the head with a croquet mallet. He staggered to his feet and lunged away from those pillars. They brought memories with them he hadn't known he even had until he saw those damn videos. Images flashed across his eyes, of being here with Alex, of getting more and more annoyed with the other man's aloofness, of a piercing pain in his skull, of wandering almost blindly in the dark.

He didn't want to go inside any of these buildings. Scratch that, he really, really didn't want to go inside any of these buildings. What he wanted to do was get back in his car and move to the other side of the country. It would never happen, it couldn't happen, but it was nice to dream. The sense of inevitability was steadily growing. He needed to find Jay and get out of here. But just standing outside and calling Jay's name seemed like a surefire way to get the attention of someone or something unwelcome.

If his memory served him right, the maintenance tunnel was in the shorter, burned-out building beyond the treeline to his right. He took a breath and headed in that direction, hands stuffed into his pockets, one gripping his flashlight and the other a black pocket knife. The dizziness never left; if anything, it worsened as he approached the crumbling red-bricked building. Its innards mostly consisted of piping and plaster debris. He wouldn't have been surprised if there was a threat of asbestos poisoning and immediately wished he had brought a mask.

The tunnel itself was cast in darkness from the lack of sunlight in the building. Tim switched on his flashlight and inspected the pit that led to its entrance. Funny, he had berated Jay for wanting to go down there while they were both here and now here he was considering the same thing. He didn't even have any evidence that Jay had actually decided to take this route other than his car in the parking lot. Who knew how far that tunnel went? It could go for a hundred feet or a hundred miles. What if the one tunnel branched off and turned into a maze? What if Jay had traveled inside, become lost, and died from hunger or dehydration?

What if he had been attacked before hunger or dehydration had the chance to set in?

Mustering himself, Tim crawled into the pit and called into the tunnel, his voice echoing and breaking the eerie silence that hung in the air like a suffocating gas. Unsurprisingly, there was no response. Tim sighed and dropped down into the tunnel, ignoring the throb that had begun to develop in his temples. He stooped and peered into the tunnel, which was a little more than half his height. His flashlight revealed nothing but piping that led deeper inside for an indeterminable distance.

Let's get this over with, he thought. He held his flashlight at the ready and scrunched inside. It couldn't have been more than thirty feet before any light that could have come from the outside was swallowed up in darkness. His hand remained curled over the knife in his pocket. And all the time, he tried to ignore the stifling feeling of how familiar this all was.

He didn't have a watch on hand, but after walking through the darkness for what seemed like an eternity, he glanced at his cell phone's clock to discover it had been twenty minutes. There had been very little rise or descent in depth from what he could tell. It just seemed like a flat, boring maintenance shaft. Still, he pressed on. His headache had spread back to encompass the area between his ears. After another ten minutes, he finally stopped. There had still been no change in the tunnel and no sign of Jay. Just as he began to consider turning back, something hit his face that could only be described as a wave of cold energy. He fumbled backwards, another coughing fit threatening to tear his lungs open. Through his confusion and pain, he managed to turn around and rush towards the entrance.

Fuck the tunnel, fuck the hospital, fuck Jay. This wasn't worth it. If the Marble Hornets fans wanted to ridicule him for not finding their precious hero, they could come here and find him themselves. He had been wrong.

But even as his thought processes came up with a million excuses just to run, he suddenly felt his muscles seize up. His mind went blank and suddenly he was just watching his body act as though he was not in control. It was like he was playing an FPS game, he could see the flashlight and the withdrawn knife in his hands, but he couldn't feel anything. It was a silly analogy, but it was true. He was dimly aware of the thickening darkness as he was turned around and guided back deeper into the tunnel, only more slowly and deliberately. He struggled to regain himself, to fight against the curtain over his mind and the numbness in his limbs, but it was like trying to throw off a wet rug that he had been rolled up in. Had this happened to Jay?

How long this continued, he couldn't tell for sure. Seconds slid into minutes until he was sure he had been walking for well over an hour. The one thing he could really feel was the cold. It wasn't a wintry chill, but something that settled into his bones. And it got colder and colder the further he went. At long last, there was a dim glow at the end. He tried to squint to see if that would help him make it out, but he couldn't gain enough control over his body for even that.

The glow grew larger until he realized he was getting closer to the exit. Delicious relief filled him despite the fact that he still couldn't control his legs. Wherever he was, he could try to find a road and get back to civilization! If he needed to call a cab and pay a handsome amount just to get him back to his car, he wouldn't complain so long as he could just get home.

Any idea of that was drowned out by the sight that met him at the exit. The tunnel grew taller until he could stand fully upright and opened up to open air and grass. He had expected another building, but there was nothing but tall, dense trees enshrouded with a bluish-gray fog in front of him. The piping had ended at some point, he hadn't been paying close enough attention to note when, exactly.

Whatever had control over his body propelled him forward through the thick fog. This had to stop. He couldn't let himself be controlled by...whatever this was if he wanted to get out alive. He braced himself against his own body and pulled against the force that was directing him forward. At first, the effort was useless, but he found the more he tried, the more his body paused. While he struggled against the force, he didn't notice the other presence in the back of his mind emerging until it had burst through the surface.

Shit. This was him, Tim's other half, the one that wore the mask. He had never felt it this way before. As far as he could tell from the videos, whenever one of his consciousnesses was awake, the other went dormant. It was why he couldn't remember all of the actions of the Masked Man and why he had such huge gaps of memory loss over the last three years. This was just the first time they had been side by side at one time, while both of them were awake.

His Other Half seemed to half an easier time shaking off the force controlling his body. Within seconds, he could feel his legs and his arms again. When his brain commanded them to move, they actually obeyed. He used the precious moment to get the fuck away from that tunnel. The area of the forest he was in didn't have a path that he could see, so he just hurtled through the trees. He glanced behind him at one point and slowed to a stop when he didn't see anything in pursuit. He half-expected to see the tall, faceless figure in a suit lurking between the trees, but the coast was clear.

His breath came out in pants, each one creating a clouded mist on front of his lips. This was definitely not Alabama summer weather. The fog and the cold were meant for winter. So what the hell was happening?

Does any of this make sense anymore? He reminded himself. He prodded cautiously within his mind, searching for the presence of his Other Half, but it seemed that one had disappeared back to...wherever he hid. So there wasn't going to be any more help there.

Firstly, he still wanted to find a road. He had been dead serious about leaving Jay. What was the point of trying to find him when that force had probably grabbed him like it had Tim and lead him away to God-knew-where? If Tim found the other man, who was to say he wouldn't be acting as a puppet for the force and try to attack Tim? Tim couldn't take that chance. Once he was home, he would let everyone know that he had failed his mission and hopefully they would understand.

He wandered through the forest, trying to recall what area he was in. He had grown up in these parts, but he couldn't for the life of him think of a forest that would have had the right conditions to get this foggy. The Google Maps app on his phone didn't help. Wherever he was didn't have a single bar of reception. He really was on his own, now.

After what must have been another couple hours of walking, he found the knotted remains of a large tree stump and sat down. He was getting nowhere fast and the dizziness from the abandoned hospital was returning. He pocketed his knife and his flashlight and cradled his head in his hands. What was he supposed to do now? Make a compass out of leaves and twigs, choose a direction, and keep walking until he found a random path or road? He could always try to climb a tree to see if he got reception. In any case, wandering around here would get him nowhere.

His shoulders sagged wearily. The miserable amount of sleep he had been getting lately was taking its toll and he felt exhausted both emotionally and physically after all that had happened this morning. All he really wanted to do was lay down and get some sleep. But wouldn't that leave him open to whatever had been after him? Maybe he could hide out near the stump and just doze off. If he was lucky and didn't sleep too deeply, he could wake up easily if there was any chance of danger nearby.

He sank down until he was seated beside the wooden side of the stump and let his head rest against the edge. He took one more glance around before he closed his eyes and tried to tune out the paranoia that he felt at the slightest rustle of the wind in the leaves overhead.

The fact that he was walking around when he woke up shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. His legs felt a bit overused and he wondered just how long he had been out. The fog was still thick and heavy so there was no way to use the sun as an indication. Somehow, he had managed to sleepwalk his way onto a narrow, barely maintained path. Although, he wondered if sleepwalking was to be blamed at all. His Other Half simmered beneath his skin, closer now than he had ever been. He was probably the one responsible for finding the path and then by using abilities that Tim would probably never be capable of. At least they were on the same side, or so Tim hoped. And if they weren't on the same side, then at least his Other Half would want to keep Tim alive to preserve their body.

He followed the path in the direction he had been heading before waking up, but eventually stopped stock still when he spied something settled against a tree a couple hundred feet ahead. It was definitely an animal of some kind, but bigger than a rabbit or even a dog. He pulled out the knife from his pocket and unsheathed it as he approached the figure with caution in his every step. Whatever it was was hunched over, looking more like a human as Tim drew closer and could make details out of the gloom. His pulse quickened when he realized just whose drawn and tattered form it was he was looking at and he couldn't keep himself from shouting at the person.

"Jay, what the hell are you doing here?"

Jay was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, not nearly enough protection against the chill that permeated the air. He was seated with his back against a tree and his knees drawn up to his chest, his forehead down on top of the faded fabric and his arms wrapped around his calves. At the sound of Tim's voice, the young man jerked and raised his face. Tim almost gaped at how pale Jay was. Any sign of an Alabama tan was gone, to be replaced with a sickly pallor that made his eyes look sunken and dark. Rather than the happy expression Tim had been expecting upon his arrival, Jay frowned as he stood up, using one hand against the bark behind him for balance.

The rest of him didn't appear to be in much better condition than his face. It was obvious that he had lost a good amount of weight with the way his shirt and pants hung more loosely off his body than normal. He wasn't emaciated, but he was certainly thinner. He stood up straight, but his shoulders sagged and he had to adjust himself before letting go of the tree. Tim had wanted to punch him again or grab him and shake him until his brains rattled around in that mostly empty head of his, but now he wasn't so sure. How could he be sure Jay wouldn't just fall apart if he did?

"What happened to you?" Tim asked, stopping a few feet away.

Jay narrowed his eyes. "Like you don't know," he said. His voice was raspy, as though he was thirsty.

"Uh, no, I don't. The last I know about you is watching your video on Youtube. What were you thinking, coming out here?" Tim said.

The suspicion in Jay's expression didn't go away. "Where did you come from?"

Tim let out a frustrated growl, "I followed you here. You said you were going to the hospital to go through the tunnel so I came to bring you back. Your fans are going crazy worrying about you."

Jay surveyed him from head to foot, as though searching for something. Then he just turned around and strode down the path.

"What the...what are you doing? Answer my questions, damn it!" Tim shouted, rushing after him. Jay didn't stop walking and didn't acknowledge that Tim had said anything. A burst of white-hot anger filled Tim's chest. He grabbed a hold of Jay's arm and jerked him back. He did so with a little more force than was probably necessary. Jay wound up tripping and knocking back against him with a surprised grunt. "Listen you ungrateful jerk. I came all the way to the hospital and went down that god-forsaken tunnel for your sorry ass. I'm taking you back home."

His words should have at least comforted Jay, or so he thought. Instead, Jay scowled and pushed him away with a strength that Tim wouldn't have expected out of someone who looked so frail just then.

"Let go of me! I'm not falling for this shit again! Leave me alone!" Jay hollered back in Tim's face. He spun around and continued down the path, leaving Tim bewildered and getting angrier with each passing moment.

"I'm trying to help you, you bastard, what are you talking about?" Tim said. When Jay didn't respond, Tim hurried after him and grabbed his shoulder. This time, he spun Jay around to face him fully and closed his other hand around Jay's free bicep. Tim was holding him tight enough so he couldn't get away without a struggle.

Jay peered up at him with such an intense hatred that Tim paused. Wasn't he supposed to be the one hating Jay? Not vice versa?

"Every time I think I've met one of you, you say you'll help me. You say that it's really you and then you lead me in circles until I..." Jay shook his head. "I'm sick of this. Either kill me or leave me alone. I'm not following anyone else."

"One of us? You've met other people here? Who is it?"

Jay laughed, but it was an ugly, cynical sound. "You want me to recite it for you? Is that it? I've seen Brian, Jessica, Seth, Sarah, hell, I've even met Amy and I don't even know what she looks like outside of a single frame from the videos! And now...you..."

This was unbelievable. How could any of those people have been in this part of Alabama, let alone this forest? Jay must have lost it during the past couple of weeks, assuming he had spent all of his time here. How had he survived this long?

He wanted to run a hand through his hair, but he didn't dare let go of Jay. "Well, it's me, trust me. I've had to go through hell and back to find you, too."

"You can't prove you're him. He doesn't want anything to do with me. He wouldn't come all the way here..."

"I just told you I did! And yeah, after this, I never want to speak to you again. I'm just doing this because I didn't want a bunch of your fans getting dragged into this too. They wanted to come looking for you, you know," Tim said, exasperated.

Jay eyed him, his scowl never fading. Tim continued speaking, "Look, have any of the other people you saw been able to touch you? If you want, I could hit you. If you feel the pain, then I'm real, right?"

They fell silent for a moment, each regarding the other with distrust. Tim was tempted to uphold his offer of smacking Jay around to prove he was real, but then Jay did something Tim would have never expected in a million years. Without any hesitation, Jay leaned forward and kissed Tim fully on the mouth, once, briefly. Tim jerked backwards, releasing Jay and gaping at him, speechless.

Jay watched him as though gauging his reaction and then sneered. "If you were the real Tim, you would have beaten me to a bloody pulp for that."

Tim stared in shock after Jay as he turned and started back down the path. He didn't know whether to touch his lips or wipe them with the back of his hand, so he kept his fists at his side.

"What was that for?" he said, though Jay didn't acknowledge it. Occasionally, Jay would set his hand on the trees he passed to keep his balance. He was walking as though he was in a daze or drunk, sometimes stumbling over a branch or a rock jutting out of the ground. Tim got the impression Jay wasn't all there and for the first time, concern replaced the dark hatred in his gut. Tim wasn't a cruel guy. He wasn't about to let anyone wither away in a place like this, even the man who had effectively ruined his life.

That...and the fact that the presence in the back of his mind was urging him to go after Jay made Tim start down the path himself.

"All right, so if you won't come with me, I'll follow you," he said.

Jay paused and glanced at him over his shoulder, eyes suspicious, but not forbidding. "All right. That's fine."

"You have any idea how to get out of here?" Tim said.

"If I did, I wouldn't be here, would I?" Jay said.

"How long have you been here?"

"I..I don't remember," Jay paused. "I never know what time it is. It doesn't get dark here."

"I doesn't get dark at night?" Tim gave him a strange look.

"There's this fog and that's about it. I haven't seen the sun in forever," Jay said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Hell, why am I telling you all this?"

"I'm not a hallucination, Jay. I told you," Tim said.

Jay chuckled bitterly. "That's what they said, too."

The pair kept walking in silence for a while before Tim asked, "How did you find this path, anyway?" I didn't see it until..." He stopped before he let slip just how little control he seemed to have over himself nowadays. They were still lost, but the path had to lead somewhere, right? He just hoped it wouldn't lead to danger. Although, knowing his luck as of late, Alex would be waiting for them at the end.

Jay shrugged, "Don't really remember much. First thing I knew after I got out of the tunnel was being on the path. There really isn't a whole lot else here."

It was then that Tim noticed just how quiet the forest was. There were no birds chirping and no singing crickets. Even the breeze in the trees from earlier had died down.

"What have you been eating?" Tim asked, genuinely curious.

Beside him, Jay frowned. "I...don't remember that either."

Well, that explained why he was so thin. "What about water?"

"There's a creek that way, I think," Jay said, pointing to the left of the path. "It runs alongside the path, but I haven't checked for a while to see if it's switched directions."

Tim made a mental note to convince Jay to stop there later. He was about to ask something else when Jay beat him to it.

"I still don't trust you but...how many days has it been outside?" Jay said.

"Since you updated your Twitter, it's been a week and a half," Tim replied.

Jay's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" He stopped and rubbed his eyes with his palms.

"Look, we'll find a way out of here. Just don't freak out on me," Tim said.

"Don't freak out? Yeah, sure, fine," Jay said. "I'm great at not freaking out. It's not like I have a life to go back to, anyway. That's all gone down the drain."

"You've got fans waiting to know you're still alive," Tim reminded him.

"I've got fans..." Jay stopped rubbing his eyes and stared up at the fog as though he could see the sky above them. "I guess I owe them an explanation."

"Yeah, you do. So, let's get out of here so you can do that."

Jay looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "But I don't know how to get back."

"We're not going back through that tunnel. Something is there. I'm pretty sure it took over me when I came through," Tim said.

"That's what happened to me, too," Jay said. "I couldn't feel my body. But then it just kinda...left..." He trailed off. That made Tim wonder. His other half had obviously helped him break free from whatever had been controlling him. How had Jay broken free, if at all? Did that mean he was still susceptible? Tim cast a sharp glance at him even as Jay peered at him in confusion.

"Is it really you, Tim? You don't sound like the others," Jay said.

"Yeah, it is. There's only room in this world for one of me!" Tim said, which made Jay smile. The smile softened his face, made him look a little less tired. Immediately, Tim thought back to when Jay had kissed him. His lips had been slightly chapped from dehydration and malnourishment, but Tim could imagine how soft they would be under different circumstances. The way the thought sent a tingling warmth into his lower belly shocked him. Even more surprising was the way he knew that his other half approved.

He was supposed to be straight, not thinking of kissing another guy like this! Another thought struck him. What had made Jay think to kiss him in the first place? There were plenty of other things he could have done to test if Tim was really Tim. Unless he had...wanted to before all of this happened. But he had never gotten the impression that Jay was attracted to him in the time they had known each other. Jay had only ever been focused on Alex's film project or very desperate for answers while he had been near Tim for the previous three months.

He mulled it over for a while, but eventually pushed his questions to the back of his mind as they walked on. Unfortunately, he wasn't getting any entertainment out of the forest, which was the same no matter which way he looked. After another hour of walking, Jay slowed down and leaned his back against a nearby tree.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I need to rest."

"You said the stream was that way, right? Let's rest there for a while," Tim said.

Jay nodded and followed Tim as they left the path. Tim couldn't help but glance over his shoulder back at the path to make sure it didn't disappear. Stranger things had happened during all of this. The creek was about one hundred yards away and seemed to run along parallel to the path, as Jay had guessed. It was shallow and looked clean enough. Even if it wasn't, they really didn't have a way to purify it. Jay dropped to his knees on the rocks and cupped his hands in the water to take a drink. Tim hesitated, watching him. What if the water was causing the decline in Jay's health? Tim decided to watch him for a while before he tried it himself, even if it meant having to ignore the itchy thirst forming in his throat.

Actually, he was surprised to note that, although he felt thirsty, he wasn't hungry. He hadn't had anything to eat for hours, ever since having a couple tasteless, thin bagels from his hotel's breakfast table. Yet, his stomach wasn't niggling him.

"Are you hungry, Jay?" Tim asked.

Jay frowned and shook his head. "Not really. I haven't been hungry for a while." He smiled wryly. "Guess it's a good thing. Like I said before, I haven't seen much to eat. Not even mushrooms."

"Didn't we discuss this once? Don't do the shrooms," Tim said, lips curling into a smile. Back when they were still filming Marble Hornets, there had been a morning when they were all in the forested area near Alex's house, getting ready to shoot a scene. Seth's dog had found a patch of mushrooms underneath the knot of a tree. After coaxing the dog away, someone Jay, during one of his dumber moments had suggested they try to cook up the mushrooms as a snack. It would have been a good idea had Sarah, who had been taking a botany at the time, not pointed out that they were drug mushrooms. For the rest of the day and many days afterward, everyone had relentlessly mocked Jay for trying to get them high on magic shrooms.

"Don't do the shrooms," Jay said, chuckling. "I can't believe you remember that."

"What can I say? It was one of your finer moments," Tim said.

They made their way back to the path and kept walking, albeit at a little slower pace. It was difficult to tell if they were making any actual progress. For a while, it seemed like they were since the ground had begun to descend, but now they were back to flat-land and trees. Tim was willing to admit he was at a loss as to what to do. He even tried listening to that part in his mind where it seemed his other half had been hanging out, but he really didn't know how to bring it out or if it would help at all. That man had been the one to find Jay, not Tim. If he appeared again, perhaps he could lead them out, or however this split-personality thing of his worked.

When Jay needed to rest again, Tim went a ways off of the path to see if there were any climbable trees. His cell phone was still largely unresponsive. He had long since given up trusting it to give him the right time, considering that not too long ago, it had claimed it was 2:30 PM and now it was saying 11:46 AM. This forest was screwy. He would be in as bad a state as Jay if he wasn't careful.

Upon deciding that none of the trees in the area were suitable for climbing with their towering branches and thin trunks, Tim returned to Jay to find him gazing very intently at a small, gray boulder. Tim circled it to stand next to him and saw the same crossed circle from the Marble Hornets videos drawn in black.

"Shit," he muttered, grabbing Jay's arm and pulling him around the rock until the symbol was out of sight. "You didn't draw that did you?"

Jay had barely resisted his rough handling and his eyes appeared more than a little glazed. He blinked several times, as though he was having trouble focusing on Tim's face.

"No, I didn't," he said, flatly.

Tim glanced around at the trees, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end. Everywhere he looked, he expected to see the tall figure with the pale, featureless face. His heart pummeled the inside of his ribs. His knife wouldn't help him against that monstrosity and Jay was in no condition to fight. This was his first time actually sensing the fearful dark presence around them, but the electric feeling that it left on his skin was familiar. He wondered if his other half was feeling it at that moment too. For a moment, he almost wished they could switch consciousnesses at will so he wouldn't be the one having to deal with this.

"He brought us here," Jay said in a monotone. "He's never far."

"Just shut up for a second, okay? I need to think," Tim said, trying not to let his steadily rising levels of panic enter into his voice.

"He wanted me here. Why did Totheark tell me to come?" Jay said. "It's all a game to Him. It's all a game and we're just pawns..."

"Shut up, Jay!" Tim shouted.

Jay was staring at the rock, a look of longing plastered on his face, "That's all He wants is more pawns. All He wants is to keep playing and it doesn't matter how long He has to wait before we all start falling one by..."

There was a loud crack as Tim slapped Jay across his cheek. Jay clutched at the reddening patch of skin, eyes wide with shock.

"Shut up or I'll tie you to a tree and leave you here," Tim said, dead serious.

"T-tim," Jay stammered. "I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from."

"I'm pretty sure I know where it came from and it doesn't make me feel any better," Tim said. He rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefingers. He was getting tired again, but the thought of sleeping in a place like this now made him cringe. Well, he had survived once after first arriving, maybe his luck would hold out and he wouldn't wake up to find the two of them staring down the barrel of Alex's gun. God, he had never wanted a cigarette so badly.

Jay was shaken, but his eyes had cleared. He stared at Tim as though he had had an epiphany. "I doubt that would have hurt if you were a hallucination. I just...can't believe you came for me."

Tim nodded curtly and lead Jay away from the boulder towards a tree with large roots that had carved a ridge in the earth. It was deep enough to be hidden from sight if a person was standing on the path. He laid down in the ridge, wishing he had his jacket to use as a pillow. Jay followed suit, lying on his back and staring upwards. He looked dead tired and his skin was pale and ashen. The forest was easily thirty degrees cooler than the hot, muggy air at the abandoned hospital. Tim had felt how clammy Jay's skin was when he had gripped his arm and shoulders earlier. It was a wonder Jay wasn't sick yet. It was probably just a matter of time. Perhaps they should try and huddle for warmth, but after all they had been through, he couldn't think of a way to breach the subject without making it awkward.

He thought back to hitting Jay, instantly regretting using that kind of force against someone who obviously wasn't well. And then he thought back to that damn kiss. Considering their situation, it probably hadn't meant anything, but he couldn't get it out of his head. He closed his eyes and tried to will himself to sleep, hoping that if his other half decided to take his body for a joy ride, he would at least guide them somewhere safe.

Try as he might, he didn't sleep well. He felt every rock and root beneath him and he couldn't seem to stay unconscious for more than a few minutes. Every time he opened his eyes, he glanced over at Jay, who was lying still and staring up at the sky. If it weren't for the steady rise and fall of his chest, Tim might had been convinced he was watching a corpse. He was finally able to doze off for a bit, but when he woke up, he only felt slightly better than before he had laid down. I

t had been at least eight hours since he had arrived at the forest. He hadn't eaten or had anything to drink, but he still wasn't bothered by hunger or thirst. This must have been how the forest had affected Jay, taking away his bodily urges so that he couldn't take care of himself, yet keeping him alive. If Tim wasn't careful, the same thing would happen to him. He needed to get Jay out of here while he was still mostly sane. If he needed to get help from his other half, so be it.

Jay was gone. Tim scurried to his feet, his heart pounding. He couldn't see much from the ridge, so he clamored back up to the path. When there was still no sign of him, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out Jay's name. He didn't care who or what heard him anymore. Why the hell would Jay leave him now of all times? And without Tim noticing when he got up and crawled out of the ridge?

After a few moments, he decided to go for the creek. Maybe Jay had wanted another drink of water was in the water. Relief blossomed in his chest when he saw Jay crouched down near the creek bank, doodling in a patch of soft mud with his finger. Tim went over to stand next to him and was about to say something teasing when he saw what exactly it was that Jay was drawing. He had surrounded himself with crossed circles, some larger than basketballs and some smaller than Tim's hand.

But all of them had been carved deep into the mud with Jay's index finger. Tim swore loudly and yanked Jay to his feet. This time, he really did shake Jay senseless.

"What the fuck is this? What are you doing?" It seemed to take Jay a moment to realize what was happening, but once he did, his expression changed from its trance-like, dazed state, to something feral. He lashed out at Tim, pushing him backwards several feet, almost causing him to fall on his ass in the mud. For someone who was supposedly dying out in the cursed forest, Jay seemed to be saving up a lot of strength somewhere in his little body.

Tim only has a moment to recover before Jay flew at him again, fingers clawing at his throat. Tim grabbed his wrists and was able to deflect his arms, but he couldn't prevent Jay from slamming into him and sending them both toppling onto the ground.

Whatever supernatural strength Jay had gained didn't change the fact that he was smaller than Tim. With his hands on either side of Jay's abdomen, Tim flipped them over so he could pin Jay's legs underneath his own and try to hold his arms still. The presence in Tim's mind had flared to life during the struggle. His other half was probably part of the reason he was able to subdue Jay. Perhaps he had some supernatural strength of his own.

A series of inhuman grunts and growls were issuing out of Jay's throat. Tim shifted and covered his mouth with one hand, only to snatch it away again when Jay tried to bite it.

Anytime you want to help out, feel free, Tim thought, hoping that there was some way his other half could decipher his thoughts. He suddenly got an extremely clear mental image of himself grasping at a pressure point in the side of Jay's throat. Without hesitation, he copied the gesture with his free hand, pressing in as much as he dared. Jay's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he stilled.

"Thanks," Tim said, aloud. He sat up, cautiously, watching for any sign of movement. So he had been right after all. While Tim had been able to break free from whatever had controlled him back at the cave, Jay hadn't. It had only been a matter of time before it manifested itself again.

So, how was Tim supposed to snap him out of it? Was it even possible and if so, how did he know that the next time Jay woke up, he wouldn't attack him again? He could always carry Jay out of the forest, but that would tire him out very quickly and he still didn't know which was to go.

He took the bottom of Jay's shirt and tore a good chuck of it off. He tore a long, thick strip off of that and used it to tie Jay's wrists together. If Jay wasn't dangerous when he woke up, then Tim would remove it, but he wasn't about to take any chances. He wadded up the rest of the cloth and dipped it into the stream. Hopefully putting the water on the skin wouldn't have the same effect as ingesting it. He used the wet cloth to wipe down Jay's face and neck, pausing to re-wet the cloth.

After a moment, Jay's eyelids fluttered and he muttered, "That feels good." His eyes opened and he peered up at Tim in confusion. "What's going on?" he said, suspicion entering his voice once he realized that he was pinned and tied up.

"What happened was that you decided to go for an early morning walk and then you tried to kill me when I criticized your 'art'," Tim said, pointing to the circles. Jay looked taken aback and his face only fell further when he saw the crossed circles around them.

"Oh...oh shit," he said, rubbing his hands over his face. "I'm sorry. I don't remember anything."

"Do you think you're all right now?" Tim asked.

Jay nodded and swallowed deeply. "I'm normal now. At least, I don't feel like anything's wrong."

Tim hesitated for a moment before he moved off of Jay's legs and untied his wrists. He kept one hand on Jay's thigh even as Jay sat up. It wasn't until several heartbeats later that Tim realized it was still there. Jay hadn't mentioned it yet. Even more strangely, Tim found he had no desire to move his hand. For the one-hundredth time since they had first encountered one another that day, the memory of their kiss drifted lazily across his mind. It had been the mockery of a kiss, really, given that there had been no real feelings behind it and it had been so short. Tim had kissed plenty of girls, yet now he wondered what a real kiss with another man would be like, even one as scared, desperate, and lonely as Jay was.

Truthfully, Tim hadn't had much contact with other people other than his co-workers and his therapist for the passed few months. Certainly, no prospective relationships had presented themselves. While he certainly wasn't looking to be Jay's new boyfriend (he still held a grudge against the other man for dragging him back into all this shit, after all), he wouldn't push away a chance to be close to someone else for warmth and comfort. Jay probably wouldn't object to it either.

His other half sensed where he was going with this and urged him on. They were agreeing about an awful lot lately. Carefully, Tim slid his hand upward, towards Jay's hips, and pressed down slightly. Jay glanced up again, eyebrows furrowed. "Tim, what are you doing?"

"Is it all right?" Tim said, tensing. Jay wasn't shoving him off yet.

"Yeah, but, if you're not careful, I'd think you were trying to seduce me," Jay said, smiling crookedly, probably meaning it as a joke.

"Well, I guess you could say that was kinda the point until you killed the mood," Tim said, feigning irritation.

Jay's eyes widened, probably thinking that Tim was actually mad at him. God, he could be dense. He flushed and it was the first splash of color Tim had seen on him in ages.

"S-sorry," he stammered. "I just wasn't expecting you to actually want to...do that with me."

"You're the one that kissed me, remember?" Tim said.

"True," Jay said, his blush darkening. "I just didn't think it was you. I thought maybe I could catch you off guard if you were another one of those hallucinations."

The sides of Tim's mouth twitched into a half-smile. "Well, I'm not, so don't worry about it."

"But...you really want me?" Jay said. At Tim's curt nod of affirmation, Jay said, "All right. Just...not here." He glanced nervously at the crossed circles around them. Tim had to agree. Ideally, they wouldn't be doing anything at all in the forest, but at this point, there wasn't much of a choice. With Jay's hand in his, he lead them away from the creek and back to the ridge where they had slept earlier.

Once there, Jay immediately clung to Tim, his fingers clawing into the cotton of his shirt and his face buried into his shoulder. Tim put his arms around Jay, stroking his lower back and waiting for him to quit shivering.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I dragged you back into this. I should have just let everything go," Jay said. His voice shook.

"Why didn't you walk away when you still had the chance?" Tim asked.

"I wanted to. I really did. My apartment burnt down, you know. I still don't know who did it. I don't know if I want to anymore. I thought I could move away, to Virginia or something. My aunt lives there. But then..." Jay pulled back a little and stared at the ground. "Alex said he wanted my help and I believed him."

"You put up with him better than I would have," Tim said, begrudgingly.

"It didn't help. You were right. I made everything worse. Even Alex said so. I just wanted to help."

Try as he might, Tim found he couldn't muster the will to berate Jay anymore. He had been through much. They both had. No amount of wishing and arguing was going to bring their old lives back. They may as well move forward from here and just hope they didn't die or go completely insane.

When he told Jay as much, Jay peered up at him with an expression of resignation that mirrored his own heart. He tightened his arms around Jay's waist. The heat of Jay's body against his front was doing weird things to him, making him crave more delicious contact, to feel Jay's bare skin underneath his hands. His other half purred, definitely an inhuman sound. It came crawling to the forefront, as eager as Tim was to be close to Jay.

What are you so excited about? He thought.

With an impatient snarl, his other half pushed him aside in his own body (now there was an odd sensation) until, once again, he was watching the events unfold as if he was an observer rather than a participant. His other half clasped the back of Jay's head and pulled him close until their lips met.

Well, Tim couldn't control his body, but he could certainly feel everything that was going on. Since when was it that he had lost the ability to take back control of his own body? Any effort he might have spent wondering about it was drowned out when Jay moaned against his mouth and brought his arms up and around Tim's neck. Tim forgot that they were horribly lost in a mist-shrouded forest with a monster possibly watching their every move. He technically wasn't the one holding Jay, but that didn't mean he didn't want to go along with it.

Jay was pushed back against the wall of soil and roots behind them. He grunted and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Tim quickly obliged, sliding his tongue passed Jay's lips. His other half was thoroughly enjoying the contact, or so the myriad of emotions rushing through Tim's mind hinted. Tim was shocked. His other half seemed to have been anticipating it for a while. Had it...wanted Jay all this time? It was weird to think that two separate consciousnesses in one body could desire different people. Jay probably wasn't aware that any switch had taken place.

They didn't remove any clothing, just let their hands rove underneath each others' shirts. Tim's fingers traced the curves of Jay's chest, down his sides, and around to his backside. When Jay felt the hard length against his thigh, he grinned a little wickedly and undid the button and zipper of Tim's jeans. When one of his hands closed around Tim, both personalities groaned with appreciation. Tim buried his face in Jay's neck, kissing and licking while Jay tilted his head to the side to allow him room to work.

"I thought you hated me," Jay said.

"I thought I did too," Tim said with a wry smile. It was difficult to say who was in control anymore, but with Jay's hand sliding up and down his cock, he didn't care. He kneaded the twin globes of Jay's ass while wave after wave of pleasure hit him. He melded their lips together again. He grunted when Jay began squeezing around the sensitive head at the end of his strokes. If Jay was a bit healthier, Tim would have been curious as to how good the hot, wet cavern of his mouth would feel around him. The idea was enough to push Tim to the edge with just a couple more skillful strokes. His other half reveled in the sensations even more than Tim did. He supposed this would have been it's first sexual experience wouldn't it...unless there were encounters that Tim wasn't aware of. He didn't want to think about that now, though.

He looked up to find Jay's big eyes staring at him earnestly. "Good?" Jay asked as he put Tim back into his jeans and redid the button and zipper. There was a sticky stain on Jay's jeans, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Hell, yeah," Tim said. Fully intending to return the favor, Tim reached between them and cupped Jay's groin, only to find Jay still flaccid. Jay grimaced and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry," he said. "It's not working for me at the moment."

"It's all right," Tim said. "I would be the same way if I was in your place." Although Tim was acutely aware of the disappointment of his other half, he also felt the concern for Jay. He needed rest and food before he would be ready for anything too...physically exerting.

Jay sighed a disheartening sound. Tim took his chin and pressed a kiss to his lips again, this time more slowly, savoring the taste. He promised his other half they would take care of Jay later, after they were out of the woods. His hands rubbed into the space between Jay's shoulder blades soothingly. When they broke apart, Jay rested his head on Tim's shoulder.

"Thank you," he said, quietly. "I needed that."

Tim was about to reassure him that more would come later, but just then, a chill shot through him and his other half became alarmed. Tim straightened, rigid, craning his neck to peer over top of the ridge.

"Tim, He's here. I feel it," Jay said. His hands were shaking where they held onto Tim's arms. His eyes had taken on a distant glaze again.

"I know. I feel it too," Tim said. He wasn't sure if he wanted to explain to Jay how exactly he knew it. They would tackle that later, if they got the chance. Right now, his other half was trying to claw it's way to the surface and Tim was hard put not to just let it take over. The forest had not been dark at all during all the time they had been there, but now, the trees were dimming and disappearing within the fog. It wasn't safe where they were anymore.

"Come on," Tim said, releasing Jay, yet still helping him up over the roots and back onto the path. The first thing that he noticed, was that the trees were different. Under any other circumstances, it would have been impossible to tell since just about every few of the forest looked the same. But Tim knew something was off. The path hadn't curved that close to the ridge before and the stream was close enough that he could see it from where he stood.

A glance at Jay told him that the other man was holding together well enough, but whatever force was closing him definitely had a greater influence on him than Tim. He was about to say 'screw it' and pick a direction, when Jay's grip on his arm became vice-like.

"Tim, there," he said, jerking Tim's arm in the direction he was facing. Tim turned in time to see a a familiar face that sent his other half into a frenzy. Despite the fact that Tim hadn't seen him for years, Alex hadn't really changed except for his hair and taste in clothing. He was glaring at Tim and Jay with distaste and when he saw how tightly Jay held onto Tim, he sneered.

"I can't believe it," he said, shaking his head, his tone snide. "And here I thought you'd always had a thing for Brian. You hung out with him enough for it. Then again, you looked at Sarah an awful lot, too."

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Tim hollered. His fists shook. The hatred that his other half felt for Alex was seeping into him, filling every nook and crevice of his mind.

"What are you talking about?" Jay asked Alex. His voice was weary, but steady.

"Please, if you had been any louder, I could have heard you all over the forest," Alex said, waving his hand towards the surrounding fog.

Jay flushed with embarrassment, but Tim could barely restrain himself from lunging forward and punching Alex's glasses into the bridge of his nose.

As if noticing the way Tim shook, Alex tilted his head, "What's wrong? Don't like something I said?"

"Get out of here," Tim ground out.

Alex sneered again and gestured towards Jay. "Not without Jay. I'm not finished with him yet."

Tim suddenly realized that he had positioned himself directly between Jay and Alex. Whether it was because of his other half or some subconscious decision on his part, Tim was forming a barrier to protect Jay. Alex would have to kill him if he wanted to get through.

If he didn't kill Alex first, that is. He reached into his pocket, where his fingers curled around his knife. He withdrew it and didn't bother hiding the blade as he flipped it out.

"You think that can stop me?" Alex said. He reached into his jacket and pulled out his gun, the same gun that he had turned onto Jay and Jessica. Tim knew he should be worried, or at least concerned about his slim chances if he went up against Alex while he was holding that gun, but all he could think of was making sure Jay was not in the line of fire.

"You could still leave, you know," Alex told Tim, slowly. "That's what you wanted right? To be left alone. You can go and live a normal life. Just leave Jay to me."

"Fuck off," Tim said. He spat on the ground at Alex's feet. Alex's smirk faded.

"Have it your way," Alex said. He raised the gun and aimed, but before he could pull the trigger, Tim hurtled himself forward. This time, he really did take a swing at Alex, putting all of his weight into it, but Alex moved fast, faster than he had any right to. He stepped out of the way and threw his body into Tim, shoving him to the ground. The knife flew out of his hand as he threw out his hands to catch himself. A sharp pain spread through his side as Alex's foot connected with his ribs. Tim responded by grabbing Alex's ankle and pulling it hard. It was enough to throw Alex off balance, but not enough to bring him down.

Tim used the distraction to scramble to his feet. He was seeing everything as though a thin, gray film had been placed over his eyes, but everything was clear and focused. Alex regained his footing and raised the gun again. Tim anticipated the move as though Alex would be taking a shot and moved to the side, but he didn't expect the butt of the gun to collide with the side of his face. He clutched at his cheek and his fingers came away with blood. He had to jerk backwards to avoid the gun slamming into the side of his skull, but he used the opportunity to bring his knee up and into Alex's gut.

Alex stumbled backwards, one arm thrown over his belly. Tim straightened up, ready to make a grab for him to see just how close he could try to toss the man towards the ridge. A loud blast rang out, tearing through the silence in the trees. A searing pain tore through Tim's bicep, making him cry out. He curled his fingers around the gunshot wound protectively, trying to stop the blood. His other half was feeding off of the pain and the adrenaline. As his vision gave over more to the gray film, he felt his mind give way to the enraged thoughts of the other consciousness, the one that wanted nothing more than to tear Alex limb from limb and feed his remains to the dogs.

Alex chuckled and Tim found himself staring down the barrel of the gun. He doubted his other half would be able to survive a shot to the head, no matter what supernatural abilities it had. As he discovered, he wouldn't have to find out if that was true. Alex jerked forwards and fell on his hands and knees on the ground. The handle of Tim's knife protruded from his shoulder. Jay was standing behind him. He kicked Alex for what must have been the second time, which sent Alex face first into the dirt.

Jay and Tim didn't waster any time congratulating each other. Alex was down, but he couldn't have been the only one nearby. And whether or not Alex had been working with the other presence was not something they needed to figure out right then. Tim (or was it his counter-part?) sprang forward and grabbed Jay's right forearm. Without a word, they took off down the path. Jay could barely keep up, but Tim didn't care. He could see through the fog now, could see the tree trunks all around them that seemed to twist around, blocking their way. Overhead, the branches moved unnaturally, like long, black limbs.

He dragged Jay after him, trusting his other half to guide their way. He was starting to lose the feeling in his wounded arm, but the pain-induced Adrenaline seemed to drive him forward. The black limbs reached for them, but he was somehow able to dodge them.

The dark cave mouth loomed in front of them. He inwardly groaned at the prospect of going back that way.

No other way.

Damn it.

Jay could barely keep his footing. His face was pale and sick. When he saw the cave entrance, he hacked into his arm. He wouldn't be able to get through in one piece if left to his own devices. Tim paused and hoisted Jay up over the shoulder of his good arm. He used his wounded arm to secure Jay's legs as he ran into the cave.

It was pitch black inside, but that way all right. From what he remembered, the tunnel was pretty straight-forward. What had taken him nearly an hour to walk before took him no more than twenty minutes while sprinting, even while hauling the extra weight of Jay. His heart pounded in his ears and his legs felt like they were on fire, but he couldn't stop the momentum. His other half wouldn't have let him stop even if he had wanted to. A cold wind barraged his back, but he tore through the force that had so easily taken control of him before like tissue paper.

As if by instinct, he knew when the tunnel began to dip down and ducked his head to avoid hitting his head. He set Jay back down on the ground, holding him close just in case the other man had passed out while he was running. To his surprise and relief, Jay's grip onto him tightened, revealing that he was still awake. Tim urged him to go through the maintenance shaft first, to which Jay obeyed.

When they emerged on the other side, it was night-time. Despite the darkness, the summer heat licked their faces. Tim could feel the humidity tingling on his skin, so strange after enduring so much cold in the cursed forest. He had never been so glad to hear the roar of Alabama crickets and cicadas.

At long last, his other half relinquished some of its control. He doubled over, clutching his knees and taking great gulps of air. The oppressing force was gone, to be replaced with the much friendlier night darkness. Finally, they could breathe.

He looked over to Jay, who collapsed to his knees. He held his head in his hands for a moment before looking up at Tim.

"Um, I know I brought a flashlight with me, but I think I lost it when I was in the woods," he said, grimacing. "Everybody on Twitter is gonna be pissed if they find out."

Tim laughed in between his gasps for air and fished around in his other pocket for his flashlight. He took it out and tossed it easily to Jay. Jay turned it on and shined it over the edge of the maintenace shaft's pit into the wooden building beyond.

"It looks clear," Jay said. "I...I don't know if I can get myself out of here."

"Here, shine it on the pipes," Tim said. Jay did so, allowing Tim to be able to see the footfalls so he could climb out. He knelt down beside the edge and reached down to help Jay out with his good arm. It took what strength he had left to do that much, but he was rewarded when Jay held onto him once he found his footing on the concrete ground of the building.

"Do you remember where you parked?" Jay asked.

"I think so," Tim said. "But do you think you are good to drive?"

Jay grinned. "Hell, no. You?"

"Not with this arm, no," Tim said. Jay's face fell when he shone the light on Tim's arm and saw the blood.

"Maybe we should get you to a hospital," Jay said.

Tim shook his head. "There's no bullet. It hit me, but it didn't hit straight on. Besides, if we go to a hospital, they'll ask questions."

"True," Jay said. "I've got a first-aid kit in my car. We can wrap up your arm and sleep in my trunk."

"Is it big enough for two people?" Tim said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"There was plenty of room when I slept in there. I think we can fit you too," Jay said.

They made their way out of the building. The sky was clear, revealing a million tiny stars. If they hadn't been so tired and in pain, they could have appreciated the sight more. Tim tried not to stare in the direction of the abandoned hospital and shoved the vague memory of the last time he had been here in the middle of the night out of his mind.

They supported each other on their way to the parking lot. It was a bit of a walk and by the time they got there, they were both more than a little light-headed. Jay had hidden his car inside the carcass inside of an old, wooden fence post before going into the maintenance shaft. His wallet and cell phone he had left in the car.

"I didn't know what I should take with me. Maybe it was premonition." He shrugged. "At least it didn't go the way of my flashlight."

Tim nodded and sat down heavily on the edge of the trunk bed and Jay dragged out his first aid kit and a couple bottles of water. Actually, most of the body of his car was filled with supplies, much of which was tucked away and hidden from view from the outside. Jay took 'living in his car' to new standards. Rather than laugh at the image, Tim heart felt heavy and he winced.

Jay mistook it as a wince of pain and and unzipped the first-aid kit after handing a bottle of water to Tim. He drank it eagerly as Jay swabbed at his arm with rubbing alcohol and bandaged the bicep to the best of his ability. His movements were sluggish and rather than pack up the kit, he just shoved it to the back of the trunk. He crawled inside and slung his arm over his face.

"I have a question for you," he said.

"Sure," Tim responded.

For the space of a heartbeat, Jay was quiet, then he said, "When we were running it seemed like...was it...him? The one with the mask just...without the mask?"

"It was Tim's turn to hesitate before speaking. "Yeah. I think so. I still have no idea how it works, though."

Jay sighed and said, "Thanks. What time is it?" he asked.

Tim pulled out his cell phone, which was about to die at any second. He inhaled sharply when he saw the date before it powered off completely.

"It's 2 AM, July fifth," Tim said, peering back at Jay.

"Jesus," Jay breathed.

"When I got here, it was the second. We've been in there for three days," Tim said. Even as the words left him, he couldn't wrap his mind around it. Nothing about the forest had made sense. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised that time would have been screwed up while they were in there as well.

"I've been in there for...for..." Jay started.

"Two weeks," Tim finished for him.

Jay shook his head in disbelief.

"Which means, you've got to post something on Twitter tomorrow or you're going to have some frantic fans coming out here."

Tim saw Jay's smile through the darkness. His eyes had adjusted a bit more to the darkness. He pulled himself into the trunk after making sure the car doors were locked and closed the trunk's door after him. He fished around Jay's supplies and found a couple small pillows and a thin blanket, which he arranged on the floor of the car. It was so warm, they wouldn't need to cover up. Jay was half-asleep when Tim shifted him onto his side so his head could lay on one pillow. After a moment's hesitation, Tim settled down right next to him, their bodies nearly touching. His other half had settled after the intensity of the forest and the cave. Now, it was content to watch Jay's face through the darkness, knowing that he was alive and relatively safe.

But Tim wanted a bit more than that. What they had shared back in the forest ridge had been very real. True, some of it hadn't been entirely Tim's feelings, but that didn't mean he would object to it happening again. He stroked the side of Jay's face, wondering when exactly it was that his hatred had faded away. Sometime in the forest, he supposed. It had been the only blessing in that cursed place. He wrapped his good arm around Jay's middle and pulled him closer until their fronts were nearly spooned together. If Jay questioned why they were like this in the morning, Tim would remind him that, technically, it had been Jay who had made the first move.

But then, Jay surprised him by snuggling in, hugging around his shoulders.

"I owe you so much," Jay murmured.

"Yeah, you do. This is the second time I've saved your ass, right? And both of them, I had to stop Alex from shooting you."

He felt Jay's shoulders shake in silent laughter. "How will I ever repay you?"

"I can think of one way, once you feel better," Tim said.

Jay was silent for a long moment. Tim assumed he had fallen asleep, but just then, Jay lifted his face and pressed his lips to Tim's again.

"Yeah. I'll do that," he whispered.

They knew the Operator never gave up its prey. He would be back. But now, when they finally fell asleep, it was quiet and warm, free from the darkness that had plagued them for so long. Neither of them woke up until well into the morning.