It was a dark and stormy night. The lightening was flashing in the dark sky. The thunder was booming through the clouds. The rain was pouring down as if a dam in the sky had been opened. It showed no signs of letting up at all.

A single shadow sat hunched quietly in an open covered area of the cemetary trying to stay out of the rain. That single shadow was Erik. He had come up from the beach to visit the local store to purchase a few things. It had begun to rain while he was on his way back to the beach. He ran into an open covered area in the cemetary he had been passing to escape the pouring rain.

He sat down in the covered area and placed the brown paperbag beside him. The way he was sitting was with his back against one of the two walls of the covering. The covering almost looking like a walk through with an opening at each end. One would have to pass by pretty closely to see the form sitting there.

This seemed to be the only place he could escape to where he wasn't hearing people's thoughts or feeling their feelings. It seemed lately he never got a moments piece. It was wearing him thin. He had his own problems to deal with and yet seemed to be dealing with other people's instead.

His thoughts skipped to the girl he had met. How sad and lonely and upset she was. How he tried to help her. Tried to comfort her. How the grass suddenly appeared in flames as she looked at them. That scared him. He ran. He felt bad.

His thoughts leapt to Lucifer. Oh how he enjoyed their moment on the beach together. There was something about that moment they shared that was...special...to him. It had made him feel in a way he'd not felt for a long time. He had never wanted it to end. But, alas, as with everything in his life, all good things must come to an end.

He sighed as he reached over for the brown bag. He stuck his hand inside to find what he was looking for. A pint of vodka and a box of razor blades. He twisted the lid off the vodka and began chugging the liquid. It burned as it went down his throat. It hit his empty stomach like a ton of bricks. He didn't even flinch. He didn't care.

Once the bottle was empty he placed it back in the brown sack. He looked down at the box of razor blades in his lap. He opened the box and took one out. Placing the box back inside the bag he sat there with the covered blade in his hand. Slowly he took the protective covering off of the blade itself and dropped the cover into the bag as well.

As he returned his gaze to the razor blade in his fingers he shook off his trench coat. He never did like the idea of blood getting on it. Slowly he began to drag the blade up his left arm. Getting deeper as it went. Blood was coming easily from it. He didn't even flinch. Not once. He changed hands the blade was in and began doing the same up the other arm.

Placing his now bleeding arms in his lap with the blade still in one hand he leaned his head against the wall behind him. 'Please let death come quickly' he said out loud in his mind.

Lucifer was still running from the city, but soon slowed down to a walk. Erik was just out of his range of sight. Maybe that was a good thing, for he didn't want to see Erik trying to kill himself. Then he finally realized, with all this shit going on, he had forgotten his red shirt. Oh well. Didn't matter.

He was covered with blood from an accident he'd had with a kid he got mad at, and half of it was his own blood. He didn't care. He continued to walk, blinded by confusion and fury, and--- he saw a figure not too far from him. Black hair, palish skin, nice features. Then it hit him. It was Erik! Oh gods, what exactly was he doing? He saw blood.

His mind screamed for him to see what he was doing and go closer, but instead he went further away. He knew he'd regret it. This day couldn't get any worse.

Erik continued to sit where he was with the blood flowing out and down his arms. For him it wasn't flowing fast enough. It was taking too long. 'Sure Erik. Another fucked up attempt eh?' He scolded himself out loud in his mind.

He slowly moved his head so that he was looking down at his arms again. Maybe he needed to do more. He still held the bloodied blade in his fingers as he raised his hand to his arm to begin again. With agonizing slowness he began to make more cuts...deeper cuts. He did this to both arms. The blood flowed out and down more steady and faster now.

A smile came over his face as he let his head fall back against the wall behind him. Had it been another day it would have actually hurt. But not today. Today he didn't care. 'That should do it,' he said out loud in his head. 'Now death can come quicker.'

Oh god. Lucifer couldn't watch that. His heart was beating rapidly, and his mind was screaming. 'Erik!' it cried desperately against Lucifer's will. No, no! He had to get away from all of this shit. He ran away, bumping into somebody and he felt himself hit the ground. Hard. "Fuck!" He yelled, tears stinging his eyes. He had to get away. He had to get away now. He got up, getting weird glances, never bothering to apologize to the person he'd bumped into. He was so angry, and so confused, and so... heartbroken and guilty. Fuckfuckfuckfuck!

Erik heard it. He heard the cry of his name. He knew the 'voice'. He felt a sudden twinge of guilt and pain race through him.

'Lucifer? Lucifer?' his mind cried back. 'Where are you Lucifer?' His mind kept crying out.

Erik couldn't open his own mouth to speak a word for he was growing weak. His eyes covered by the lids. A tear ran down the side of his face.

No! No, no, no! Fuck! He couldn't reply; he couldn't bring himself to realize what Erik was doing to himself. He ran faster, crashing into a table as he ran, hitting the chair and sprawling on the ground again. 'Erik! Why, damnit? WHY! He had already lost his temper long ago, and tears were streaming down his face. He didn't care. He just lay there, wanting to die. Just... wanting to die.

Erik couldn't move as he grew weaker. Even from being no where near Lucifer he could feel his pain. Had they connected that strongly? They must have. Tears rolled down his face.

He didn't know who's pain was stronger. His own. Or Lucifers.

'Lucifer? Where are you?' his mind cried out again. He hadn't seen Lucifer for what felt like ever. He missed him...that's why..but he couldn't get himself to admit it.

'I'm over here! Lucifer's mind forced out again. The voice shouted words even Lucifer couldn't hear; they just sounded slurred. But to Erik, they would've sounded something like 'near the tables' but Lucifer didn't know that. Several people asked him if he was alright, but he just continued to lay there in tears, not caring anymore.

Erik's tears were rolling almost as much as the falling rain.

'I can't move Luc,' his mind cried. He was growing weaker and weaker. He was losing a lot of blood from the deep cuts on his arms.

'Lucifer? Please. I need you. Now,' his mind continued crying.

Lucifer couldn't ignore that command. He made a promise to do anything Erik asked. He couldn't refuse. He got up slowly, not bothering to wipe the tears from his eyes. He knew more were coming, so it was useless to do so.

He pushed himself off of the pavement, and made his way back to Erik. The thought of him suffering made Lucifer want to die. And he was. He was dying inside. Why the fuck did Erik have to do that? Why?

Erik wasn't sure how long he had sat there bleeding. He didn't have any sense of time at the moment. He couldn't even force his eyes to open. The tears continued streaming down.

'Lucifer? Where are you?' His mind kept calling out over and over.

Did he really want to die? He wasn't sure. A large part of him said yes. But...

'I'm coming, I'm coming,' he called softly, despite how worried and panicked he was. He really didn't know how he did it, either. He, nor his thoughts had been collected all day.

He ran into the cemetary, nearly stumbling over a third time. He trembled all over, "Erik?" His voice wavered, his lips quivering with the words spoken.

Erik could hear him but he couldn't get his mouth to move to reply. He couldn't even get his eyes to open. The tears still streaming down the sides of his face. He did the only thing he could do at the moment...talk with his mind.

'Luc, you came...' He trailed off for a moment. All was silent but the booming of the thunder.

A flash of lighting and it lit up under the enclosure Erik sat in. The blood could be seen running down his arms. The cuts were deep.

'I...I'm sorry,' he cried.

"No," Lucifers face was flooding with tears. He knew Erik wasn't going to live for much longer if the blood continued to flow like that, "don't be sorry." But he wasn't sure he meant that. He leaned in close to Erik and held him in his arms, not caring if any blood got on him. He already had a truck load of it on him, so what was a little bit more? "Don't be sory, Erik." It was hard to find his voice through the flood of tears that were messing with it. His voice was thick with sorrow.

'But I am. I'm horribly sorry. I...I...' His voice stopped talking for the moment. He could feel Luc's arms go around him. He could smell Luc as his face came to Luc's chest. 'Missed you,' he finally added.

His lips trembled even more as he searched for the words. It was hard, and he knew he'd have to hurry. The rain was messing with his head, and beating down hard on his back. It had already soaked his hair, and he didn't care at this moment. He was crying a different river, though it went unnoticed because of the torrential downpour. "I," he began, "I missed you too." He said, still closing his arms around Erik, afraid to let go.

Erik was growing cold from the weather around them. He wasn't dead...yet.

'Luc. I...I...don't want...to...die...' THAT was the first time Erik had EVER said that. He'd attempted suicide before only to be caught, stopped, saved and thrown into a mental hospital. But something about Lucifer actually answering his mental pleas made Erik change his mind.

Saying what he said had been so horribly hard. That's why he stuttered a bit. Even in mind speech he could stutter. But he meant it. Now wasn't the time for him to go. He needed Lucifer. And he knew that Lucifer needed him too. Even if Lucifer never ever admitted it...Erik knew.

"I... I don't want you to die, Erik." That was a lot more filled with a sob than he had meant it to be. But he really did mean it, somewhere inside. "I really don't." Lucifer cried. He hadn't known exactly why he had tried to slit his wrists, but that didn't matter to him. If Erik died, he would probably throw himself off of a bridge, or some crazy shit like that. "I--.. I.. I'd miss you too much," Lucifer choked out.

'Make it stop Luc. Make it stop.' He was of course talking about the bleeding and hoped that Lucifer understood what he meant. The cuts were verticle on his arms. Going from his wrists to the bend in his arms. They were long and deep. And bleeding pretty badly.

He had heard every word Lucifer said and he knew even more now that he couldn't go through with this. He couldn't die. He couldn't leave Lucifer. Not now. Not like this. Not ever if he could help it.

He understood what he meant, and wished he could stop it, but knew he couldn't. He knew he wouldn't be able to even though he desperately wanted to. "I can't," Lucifer cried, "I can't." He repeated, trying to breath against his sobs. But he could somehow. He realized he had his cellphone in his pocket. "Hold on just a little longer," Lucifer said softly, trying to speak. It was hard, but he tried to recover his voice to call 911. He wished he'd thought of that earlier, and mentally stabbed himself for not remembering his phone. He unwrapped his arms from Erik's body and quickly dug his hands into both pockets. He took his right hand out of the pocket and did likewise with the other, flipping open the phone. He dialed the number, and stuttered into the phone. "Get an ambulance over here NOW." Lucifer demanded. Despite being desperate and panicked, he sounded awfully harsh. "In the cemetaries," Lucifer confirmed, and the woman on the other end said they were on their way. "They're coming Erik." He said softly, "They're coming."

'But you can,' was all he mustered out. Erik was on the edge of passing out from loss of blood when he felt Lucifer move his arms to dig for something. He heard Lucifer talking to someone. He heard Lucifer demand for an ambulance.

'Don't leave me Luc. When they take me. Don't leave me. Don't let them lock me up. Please.' His cries were indeed very desperate. But also very weak.

Not another word came out of Erik. The blackness over took him. He wasn't dead. Not yet. He was barely hanging on. For Lucifer.

No, he'd never let that happen, but right now, he couldn't even speak. He was too worried. He saw Erik and he sort of did look dead. He couldn't tell though. He was desperate, and he couldn't even find his mind voice. He bit his lip, trembling, waiting for the ambulance, "Where is that damn ambulance?" It seemed like forever, but the sirens came wailing down the street, and he watched as everybody moved from the way of the ambulance. Finally. He was still worried, though. Hurry up, hurry up. Get your damn asses over here. He wanted to say that, but only could manage to choke out another sob. He didn't mean to, but he did. "Please," Lucifer swallowed hard, "help him. Hurry."

The blackness had surrounded Erik. He was lost in his own mind. He was watching his life pass before his eyes. All those horrible things. Terrible things. Unspeakable things. He was ready to give up at that point. But then Lucifer was there. Visions of Lucifer was the only thing making him hold on.

Goddamnit! Hurry the hell up! The people with the stretchers jumped out, and Lucifer was still edgy. Go, damnit! He watched and could do absolutely nothing as one of them lifted Erik onto the stretcher. He didn't want to leave him, so he stayed close, still watching as they hauled him into the ambulance, and whether they liked it or not, he followed behind them. "I will -not- leave him." That time his voice was sharp. They knew what he wanted and understood. They were just doing their jobs. Lucifer hitched a ride with them, fortunately, and sat beside Erik, feeling terrible. Feeling like it was all his fault, and he blamed himself. He couldn't help it. Lucifer swallowed hard again as the ambulance took off, wailing again and honking its horn at people in the way, going at hight speeds. Lucifer just wanted this to end.

The blackness was thick. And heavy. And trying to take him away forever. But he was fighting it. The image of Lucifer burned into his mind. His breathing was labored. Was he still loosing blood? He didn't know. He didn't know anything right now. Except that he had to hang on.

The ride to the hospital was horrible. The people in the back got shook around as the ambulance made turns around tight corners and rumbled against rocky roads. This was madness. He clenched his teeth and bit his lip, rolling around a bit. Finally something happened. The people with the stretcher hopped out of the car, and carried Erik away. Lucifer followed them into the hospital, but was told to wait, away from Erik. Well, wasn't that just dandy? Lucifer practically chewed at his nails with worry. He couldn't stand waiting. He didn't want them to take Erik. He just wanted to be with him. But no, he was denied of that.

Had Erik experienced any of the ride while he was consence he would have been bitching at them to stop and let him walk. But he didn't. He was still stuck inside himself fighting to stop the darkness from taking him for good.

--------------------

Rushing around the emergency room is the doctors and nurses.

"What have we got here?"

"Some kid tried to kill himself it looks like."

"Great. Looks like he's done it before."

"What a shame. Why do kids do this crap?"

"Who knows. Maybe their parents didn't pay them enough attention or something."

They seemed to busy talking and jabbering to notice that Erik was still bleeding. One of the nurses came over with bandages and such.

"Gentlemen, we need to stop the bleeding. Doesn't matter why he did it right now. What matters is that we stop the bleeding."

They get busy working on stopping the bleeding. Erik's cuts were long and deep.

"Holy shit. This kid knew what he was doing didn't he?"

"Yeah. Let's get him stitched up and get some blood back into him. Looks like he's lost a lot."

Silence, complete silence. Besides Lucifer's mind. It continued to blame Erik's wounds on Lucifer, and the other half filled with worry. What the hell were they doing in there? Lucifer fidgeted in his seat, trying not to scream.

The doctors and nurses hustled and hovered around Erik as they finally after 2 hours managed to get the bleeding to stop and his arms stitched up. Now they were working on slowly replacing the blood he had lost.

"So what should we do with the kid now?"

"Usually those who try this crap get taken up the the 4th floor."

"Ah yes. The 4th floor. The mental ward."

"Yeah but there's another kid out in the waiting room. Someone's going to need to go let him know what's going on."

"Think he'll want to see this kid?"

"Yeah. They might be family."

"Nurse, roll this kid into that private emergency room over there and go tell the kid in the waiting room he can see his brother for a little bit."

"Yes sir."

---------------

Erik's now in the bed in the private ER room. The blackness is slowly starting to back away realizing it can't take him this time. He was feeling terribly weak. He still couldn't get his eyes to open. 'Lucifer??' his mind began to cry again.

---------------

Nurse walks out of the ER room and over to Lucifer. "Doctor said you can go see your brother for a little bit. Follow me. He's been wheeled into a private emergency room room." She turns and starts walking towards the door leading into the back.

Brother? He wasn't his brother. Oh well, as long as he was getting to see Erik. He didn't care what they thought their relation was. He heard Erik calling him in the back of his mind. 'Erik?' He called back, but he wasn't sure if he heard him or not. The nurse quietly led him into Erik's room, and as Lucifer walks in, she walks out and goes off to her business, for now. He went up close to him, standing as near as possible. "I'm here Erik," he said quietly. It seemed like he waited forever, "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice thnick with concern.

'Lucifer? Where are you?' his mind voice called again. Then he heard Lucifer's voice near him. His eyes slowly fluttered open. They looked so sad. He was still too weak to open his mouth to speak though. 'I'm so sorry Luc. I hurt you and I know I did. That's the last thing I ever wanted to do.' A tear came down his face. He tried to move his hand to reach out for Lucifers hand but it hurt and he winced.

Lucifer swallowed again. He did hurt him, but he wasn't concerned about that at the current moment. "No. Hush, Erik. I'm fine." He leaned closer; as close as he could. "Are you okay?"

'Luc, my dear, you forget something important about me. I know what you're feeling. And I'm so sorry.' All the while Erik had been looking into Lucifers eyes without moving his lips at all. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment as he winced at the pain in his arms. He did a pretty bad number to himself this time. He'd have succeeded if it weren't for his longing for Lucifer. 'I'm ok with you here with me,' he replied and let his eyes flutter open again.

Oh. He did forget that about him. "That doesn't matter, Erik. I forgive you." Without noticing, he slid his fingers gently acroos Erik's face, moving pieces of black hair out of his face, then returned his hand back to its proper place. He was so releived that Erik was alive; he had been scared that he had died, and lost hope somewhere in the hour befor this one. "You should get you rest," he said softly.

A faint smile crossed Erik's lips as he felt Lucifer's finger slide across his face gently. 'Don't let them lock me up Luc. Please. I can't take being locked up again.' There was desperation in his mind voice. "P...ple...ase..." he stuttered out loud.

"Hush, Erik. Don't speak." Lucifer said, and it sounded like a dove cooing softly. "It'll be okay. I won't let them take you," he said. He would be determined to convince the heartless assholes to let him stay with him or something. He would let them lock Erik up, but only over his dead body.

Erik let a small smile slip onto his face. He couldn't hold it for long cause it took too much energy. Energy he didn't have at the moment. His eyes fluttered closed. 'Thank you,' he said without opening his mouth at all. From the sounds of his breathing he had drifted off into sleep.

That was good; he was sleeping. That made Lucifer happier. He simply made a place for himself on the floor, and rested his head against the hospital bed. He would stay awake for a while longer, but only because he was just getting used to not being worried. He sighed, blinking and staying silent as not to disturb Erik as he slept.

Erik's eyes fluttered back and forth as he slept.

------------

Nurse walks into the room and see's the kid on the floor.

"I'm sorry but you're not going to be able to stay much longer. He's going to have to go up to the fourth floor. Doctors orders. It's where everyone goes that does what he did."

"The fourth floor?" Lucifer questioned. He knew what that was; he wasn't stupid. He'd visited this hospital before. "You sound like a fucking automated message. And excuse me for being rude, but he's not fucking going to the fourth floor." Lucifer was snapping at the nurse, and he knew it. He realized it and tried to quiet down so he didn't wake up Erik. "You almost fucking lose someone you love and then tell me you're putting him on the fourth floor."