Author's Note: Cross-posting here so I can keep all my various fics in one place. Plus the DGHDA fic section is so small here, can't hurt to post more!

Dirk Gently wrapped his arms around his knees, shivering slightly at the cold air in his cell.

All alone…

The words kept crossing his mind, almost like a chant.

You're all alone, no one's coming to get you.

He'd lost count of the number of days or weeks it had been since Riggins' young assistant (though he suspected that he was no longer working under Riggins) had ambushed him from outside the diner. The diner where he had been sharing a meal with his best assist-friend, Todd, and his friend, Farah, discussing their plans for starting up his new detective agency.

Friends… he had had friends… the universe had finally given him something valuable, something precious, something hopeful, only to in the blink of a second yank it all away again, putting him back into this cell, into this existence of blank walls, mostly nameless faces and test after test.

"What's under the middle card?"

"Where has the mouse gone to in the maze?"

"Which button opens the box?"

Endless questions and exercises that both bored him and tired him out at the same time. He knew from experience it was better for him to cooperate than to not (what they did to him when he didn't do as asked, he shuddered to remember). Only this time, everything seemed worse. When he had last been here, and this was almost all he could remember, he had only longed for something different. But now, now that he knew what that something different was, now that he knew it included people who he cared about, and friends, actual friends…it hurt. Not only physically, but deep inside. As though his heart was missing something… maybe he had a hole there… and if he was completely honest with himself, it kind of felt like a very Todd Brotzman sized hole.

Todd's not coming.

His thoughts taunted him again.

He hates you. He wanted nothing to do with you after the Patrick Spring case.

But that wasn't true. Todd had come back. Todd had picked him up at the hospital. Todd had said himself that he was his friend...

Suddenly a flutter of footsteps outside his cell drew his attention, and Dirk lifted his head, gulping as they came nearer.

"...Todd! You… you came!" he spluttered out in disbelief, heart beating wildly at the sight of his friend, nay, his best friend, appearing before his cell. Todd was scruffier than he remembered, red-rimmed bright blue eyes standing out against short messy dark curls and a slight stubble. He held a gun at his side in one hand, a small card in his other hand, which he slid into the lock of Dirk's cell door. A strange beep, the sound of a latch snapping, and the door opened. Next thing Dirk knew, Todd's arms were around him, pulling him up onto his feet before he even had the chance to pinch himself to make sure this was not a dream.

"Come on, we don't have much time," said Todd, grasping Dirk by the hand, dragging him behind him as he ran. Dirk nodded numbly, excitement and glee filling his senses despite the circumstances. Todd was here. Todd had come to rescue him. Todd cared enough about him to come and rescue him! He allowed Todd to drag him along, ducking and diving around various corridors until they stopped at a vent high on the wall. Todd jumped, fingers just slipping through the gaps of the vent door to pull on it, the door falling back down with him with a clang. He glanced around nervously, sighing in relief when no one came running.

"Quick, get in," he whispered, crouching to give Dirk a leg up. Dirk didn't waste another moment, hoisting himself up into the vent, before turning back around to help Todd in. Todd passed the heavy metal door to Dirk, scrambling into the vent himself with a jump. Quickly he replaced the door from the inside, just managing to snap it shut before footsteps were heard passing them. Both men held their breath in anticipation, only daring to move once the steps had faded into the distance.

They crawled further and further in through the dark and cold tunnel, lit only by the screen of Todd's phone, which he was reading a map of some sort off. They had reached a fair way before Dirk turned back around, his curiosity and need to check and double check that Todd really was here overwhelming his will to just keep going before they were caught.

"Todd… tell me I'm not dreaming. You're really here? And… and this a rescue? Is there a plan? And oh, where'd you get the gun? And who's Ken?" he asked all at once, though mostly, he was just glad Todd was hereand he could talk… actually talkto someone that wasn't just asking him questions about cards and buttons. Todd paused for a moment, brows scrunching slightly in his Todd-like way, which Dirk thoroughly missed.

"Uh… well, I guess you can call this a rescue. This vent should lead us outside the facility. We'll meet up with everyone once we're outside."

"Everyone?" Dirk gasped, his eyes widening. "Is Farah here?"

"Uh huh, Farah, Amanda, Ken and one of the Rowdies, Vogel. They've gone to rescue the others. Ken is the guy we met at the Spring mansion, you remember him? He was the one with that strange lady who wanted to kill you? She's been kept here too, and the rest of the Rowdies as well… Vogel and Amanda, they managed to escape before they were caught."

Dirk nodded as he took the information in. So the Rowdy 3 (well, three of them) and that Bart lady had been kept here too. He had an idea they were something like him. Something that they wanted to "test".

"Anyway, Ken's routed the security system to distract them for a while. As for the gun, Farah gave it to me," Todd answered, frowning nervously as he adjusted the safety on the unfamiliar weapon before sliding it carefully back into his belt. "I'm uh… kind of glad I didn't have to use it."

Dirk beamed. Of course, Farah.

"Todd?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know that I'm so glad to see you," Dirk replied earnestly. "For a while I didn't know if… if anyone was going to come."

"Of course we were going to come, it just took a while to-" Todd began to exclaim, before his eyes softened. "So uh… how have you been, Dirk? Are… are you alright?"

Dirk smiled warmly at the worry in Todd's eyes.

"I've been...well… not too good I guess. But definitely much better now that you've come."

Todd nodded, sighing briefly in relief.

"Come on, we should get going. We don't have much time."

They continued to crawl through the vent, it seeming to go on forever to Dirk, though he knew it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. He was glad Todd seemed to know where he was heading through the maze-like structure, tugging on him from behind whenever he turned the wrong way. He really did have the very best, and now very heroic rescue-y, assist-friend there ever was. Dirk sighed contently when he finally spotted a panel at the end of one of the tunnels, somehow just knowingthat they had found the way out to freedom. He grinned, turning to the man behind him.

"Look Todd, we've…"

Dirk paused.

"Todd?" he asked, realising that Todd hadn't followed him for some paces and was now crouched back a good few metres away. Dirk quickly backed up, turning to face Todd when he reached him, his breath catching when he noticed in the slight glow of light, Todd's tightly shut eyes, his features grimacing in pain as he took shaking chattering breaths through his lips.

"Not now, not now…" the man seemed to be muttering softly.

"Todd… what… Oh gosh, Todd! Your hands!" exclaimed Dirk, panicked when he spied a layer of icy white covering both his friend's hands, and somehow quickly climbing up his wrists. Todd's eyes widened in shocked at him, teeth still chattering as he stammered.

"Y..Y...You s...see...see it?"

"Well… yes… is…. is that ice?… But… Todd… how?"

Todd's mouth opened again to answer him, only to bite back a muffled scream as he collapsed to the ground. His trembling form curled into a ball, the ice now creeping up past his elbows.

"P… pills…pocket," he finally managed to wheeze out between his whimpers, and Dirk quickly dove into action, fishing his hands through each of Todd's pockets until he felt the small tube in the front pocket of Todd's jeans. Not knowing exactly how many was needed, he fumbled a little with the safety cap before shaking out two pills into his hand and pressing them into Todd's mouth. Todd grimaced, swallowing them dry, still wracked with shivers, teeth chattering. Dirk could only stare helplessly for the next few moments, until finally, and painfully slowly, he saw the ice begin to shrink back down Todd's arms and into his hands, before disappearing altogether, though still leaving him cold and pale.

"What… was that?" were the first words out of Dirk's lips, though he felt like maybe he already knew, and he didn't want it to be. Todd managed to uncurl himself, stiff fingers still shaking slightly.

"A… a pararibulitis attack… I'm… pretty sure... though… I don't know why you… you could see it too?" he answered, breathing hard, exhausted from what had happened, and still shivering.

"But… but you don't have pararibulitis. You said you… that you lied..." Dirk paused, swallowing hard.

"Yeah… I did. But now… well, it first happened at the diner when you disappeared…" replied Todd, eyes downcast. "Karma right?" he snorted. Then a whisper.

"It's nothing I don't deserve."

"Todd," Dirk sighed sadly, wanting nothing more at that moment than to wrap his assist friend into his arms. He didn't though, because he knew that Toddwould likely not appreciate that.

"Oh, shit!" Todd suddenly exclaimed when he glanced at his phone. "We've got to go, come on!"

He shook his still icy and numb looking hands a couple of times before getting back onto his knees, determinedly beckoning Dirk forward.

Dirk nodded, his mind still racing in concern for his friend, but knowing there was a more important task at hand. Slowly he started crawling forward again, inching towards the light, towards freedom.

In hindsight, Dirk knew it had been all too easy. Knew that the universe probably didn't like him enough to just let him escape like that. Because just as he kicked open the metal barrier and into the cool freshness of the open night air, there was Riggins' assistant, as well as five other rather serious and large looking men. More importantly, there were five guns pointed directly at him and Todd.

"Don't please, oh please, just don't shoot," he quickly exclaimed, putting his hands up in surrender. Looking beside him, he saw Todd's hand brush at the gun at his side for the barest of seconds, before he too, reluctantly put his hands up.

Friedkin, Dirk's brain unhelpfully recalled for him now. Riggins' former assistant, the man's name was Friedkin. Friedkin and his men wasted no time in pulling them both out from the vent, holding them down on the ground.

"Sorry man, just doing my job," the uniformed man informed them, shrugging as he pulled Todd roughly to his feet. Beside him, another man in uniform dragged Dirk to his.

The universe, Dirk decided at that point in time, hated both him and Todd.