Title: Out Of The Dark, aka That Plotless Hurt/Comfort Thing Surr Wanted
Author: Kay Seda
Rating: PG
Summary: "What happened?" "The roof fell in."
Characters: Cain/Glitch, also DG, Jeb, and Raw
Author's Note: ...checking "trapped inna cave-in" off my cliche list. For Surranndie on LJ, of course.

The details weren't important.

All that mattered, as far as Cain was concerned, was that it was dark, he was in pain, and he couldn't move. It didn't matter how he came to be in this situation, he simply was, and if his head were even a little less fuzzy he would be able to panic about this. As it was he seemed to be fairly calm.

"That's the shock," Glitch pointed out.

"Where did you come from?" Cain muttered. And when had he started talking?

"A couple minutes ago now, I think," Glitch replied. "And, ah, I've been here listening to you. I think."

Cain nodded, swallowed, breathed. He was laying half-turned on his right side, and there was a weight on his legs and a pain which was telling him not to bother moving.

"What happened?" he asked. There was a pause, a decidedly fussy, Glitchish pause that had Cain worrying almost as much as the dark confinement did. Hands were touching his head, questing and gentle until fingers shoved against the side of his nose a little too roughly. "Hey."

"Sorry." The pause resumed, the hands continued downward, stopping at his chest to get a measure of his breathing and heartbeat. There was a rasping noise from somewhere, and Cain wasn't sure if it was himself or something else. "You're cold," Glitch remarked and cleared his throat.

"Glitch," Cain said and winced. "What happened?"

Another pause, but this one was apparently not as fascinating. "The roof fell in," Glitch replied, and his tone was similar to the one he used when complaining about weather. "We were... down here. Doing something or checking or-"

"Where?"

Glitch coughed, gasped, and slowly laid down behind Cain. "I don't remember. This is like talking to me, isn't it?" He rest his head on Cain's shoulder, and Cain realized that the rasping was Glitch's breathing. "You need to be warm, people in shock need to be kept warm."

Cain found himself wondering why, of anything, Glitch seemed so able to dredge up the most practical of emergency responses.

"Last line of defense," Glitch wheezed. "I'm... supposed to keep her safe."

Cain was irritated with himself for not realizing he'd been talking again. "Are you all right?"

It was quiet, actually quiet save for the rasping, and Cain thought that was answer enough.

"Fine," Glitch said eventually, then turned his head to cough. He swallowed hard and then threw and arm across Cain's chest. "Oh! I remember now, I was stuck before but I got out. Just a little rubble got me." He chuckled, but it quickly turned into a wheeze again. "Think you got... worst of it."

"Doubt that," Cain remarked, and gingerly folded his arm over Glitch's. "Just try and rest, okay?"

Mumbling, Glitch curled himself closer, his chest pressed to Cain's back so Cain could feel each shallow breath and a steady heartbeat at his spine. He closed his eyes and let it lull him, tried to put together the details.

They were in Central, they'd been taking the old Getsom Way tunnel through the undercity from the palace to the Hippenscop Market to check on the status of an order Cain had placed on a gift for Jeb's birthday. It was the most direct route, and it kept them out of the rain, and Glitch had been idly trying to guess what the gift was when the world had started shaking and that was the last thing Cain remembered.

It could have been a explosion, it could have been an earthquake, the details weren't important. The only thing that mattered now was staying alive until help got to them. He let the silence continue a minute longer, then asked "How bad is it?"

"H' bad's what?" came the thready reply.

"I know you're hurt, Glitch. How bad is it?"

"Not bad," Glitch assured him. "Only hurts when I breathe."

"Well, sorry, but you're gonna have to keep doing that," Cain said after a moment's consideration. His mind was starting to clear, and with the clarity came knowledge of the reality that faced them.

They were trapped underground, a section of Central City street and brickwork crumbled onto an Emerald City thoroughfare. Cain was fairly sure he had a broken leg under the rubble that was pinning him, and the sound of Glitch's breathing was getting more labored by the moment. He was not liking their odds.

As if sensing his train of thought (or maybe he'd started talking without noticing again), Glitch's arm tightened around him. "They'll find us," Glitch assured him. "Ev'rything'll be fine. N'thing'll stop 'em 'til they find us."

Bless the man for trying but the hope was not as infectious as it usually was. Still, Cain refused to let his doubts show. "That's right," he replied softly. "We'll be home in time for dinner. No problem."

*

"...tell me you can hear me!"

He had been hearing a lot of things, tools on rock, the occasional protesting groan of metal being moved when it didn't want to, and voices frantic and earnest. It was a while before he understood the words and heard them as an order. A good tin man usually follows orders.

"I can hear you," Cain replied, barely more than a whisper. There were no further instructions but the sound of debris moving came louder, closer, until it was practically on top of him. A shower of grit and pebbles fell upon his face and he shook his head in irritation.

When he opened his eyes again, it was to a shaft of light catching dust motes as it cut its way into the gloom. "Cain? Cain, please, answer me!"

The voice belonged to blue eyes and an autumn breeze and Cain found himself reaching up to the light. "Down here, kiddo," he called, shaky but louder.

"Oh thank you, God," DG said, and more stones were pulled away, increasing the light. "Is- is Glitch with you? Raw said he... wasn't sure."

Cain froze for a moment, dreading the implications of that statement, but felt the soft puff of warm air on his ear, and a determined pulse still against his back. "I got him," he said, and grit his teeth while twisting hips and shoulders to get better look. There was damp blood on Glitch's lips and under his nose, and Cain could feel it dried on his own neck. He felt a bizarre sense of déjà vu as he awkwardly patted Glitch's cheek. "Come on, sweetheart, that's enough beauty sleep, you've got Raw worried."

Glitch made a tiny, noncommittal noise and wrinkled his nose, but otherwise remained unresponsive. The light increased suddenly as DG hauled herself through the opening at the top of the debris pile and slid her way down, a blob of magical energy hovering before her and picking up the bright green of the undercity.

"Jeb! Come on, your dad's stuck, and..." DG paused, and the light brightened as she knelt beside them. "We need Raw, and one of the medics, and will someone please move this pile of rocks before I start blasting through it again?"

Cain shook his head. "Don't do that."

Shortly thereafter the small space was crowded with rescuers, too crowded for Cain's liking so he focused on Glitch. Raw was crouched over him with a hand resting on his chest. The viewer nodded slowly, fingers splaying out and coming back together before he muttered something to the medic. Jeb entered Cain's field of vision then and leaned over him with a weak smile.

"You've got about half of Rollydel Avenue in your lap," Jeb pointed out.

Cain winced. "It bounced off my head too. What happened?"

"All the rain we've had lately brought down one of the support piers, caused a chain reaction," Jeb explained. "It's a mess up there, and then once DG found out you guys were down here she freaked out."

"I did not!" the princess called from her perch atop the rubble pile. She was helping guide the excavators, lending a magical hand where it was needed. "I just quickly reallocated some resources."

"She freaked out," Jeb repeated quietly. He frowned and reached down to touch his father's bloodstained shoulder.

"Glitch's," Cain clarified, and his worry returned full force. "He...I don't know."

"Will be fine," Raw said and knelt at his other side. He touched Cain's temple. "Sleep. Will have you free soon."

Cain sighed, grateful for that comfort, and accepted the viewer's merciful blessing of sleep.

*

When he awoke again, it was to fresh air, a soft bed, a cast on his right leg and Glitch's arms around him again. Cain turned his head to look at him and was relieved to see a smile tugging at the corner of Glitch's mouth, and he smiled in return. Even better was the feel of his deep, even breathing as he slept.

"He begged to stay with you," DG remarked, and he turned his head the other way to look at her. She got up from the chair beside the bed and walked over, and Cain noted the dust still covering her clothing and a small cut on her cheek. "Begged, and then he pouted, it was so unfair."

Jeb joined her, looking a bit sheepish. "Raw said it would be best if we went along with it, don't want to stress him needlessly." He frowned and glanced to the floor, then back up to his father. "Hope you don't mind."

Cain found himself trying to put together the words he'd spent weeks coming up with, but none of them seemed to matter now. "No, I...it's fine. You did the right thing."

DG grinned and jabbed her elbow into Jeb's side. He winced and shot her a glare, but the princess just raised her eyebrows and turned to go, announcing her intention to take the world's longest bath. With a sigh Jeb turned to follow her.

"Do you mind?" Cain asked as he reached the door.

Jeb looked back at him, smiled, and shrugged. "So long as you're happy, I can live with it," he replied, and closed the door behind him.

"That was encouraging," Glitch mumbled,, then disentangled himself enough to sit up. Cain boggled up at him. "No, don't worry, it was encouraging. I mean, you are happy and if you're happy then he's okay."

"Are you okay?" Cain asked dubiously.

Glitch patted his own chest and grinned. "Just dandy! Apparently I only got a little squished instead of all-the-way squished like you." He laughed, then coughed and winced. "Okay, maybe not dandy," he added and laid down to snuggle close again. "Raw says we both need a lot of rest."

"Mmhm," Cain agreed and looped his arm around Glitch. They were quiet for a while, until Glitch chuckled again and nonchalantly slid his hand up under Cain's shirt. "What?"

"We missed dinner, you know," Glitch remarked. "So you were wrong about that." His fingers brushed through the hair on Cain's chest and he sighed contentedly. "Thank you, though."

"For what?"

Glitch scooted closer and kissed the spot just below Cain's jaw he'd recently discovered was his favorite. "For letting me believe it would be okay. I needed that."

"Mm," Cain sighed and smiled faintly. It was light, there was no pain, he was safe and warm and any fuzziness in his head could be blamed on Glitch's meandering touches. "I guess I've figured out that it pays to be optimistic."

fin