Never Let Go

Anders flew through the air, his body smashing into the pile of wood, drywall and other debris on the floor in Mike's bar. Olaf and Mike grabbed Axl, holding him back as Ty moved towards the lump that was now Anders. "Anders, you dick," Ty muttered. He knew Anders had been meaning to reassure Axl, but as always, his Bragi mouth got the best of him. Ty stepped closer, a flicker of worry in his eyes as he watched Anders struggle to his knees. His brother was slow to get up, stumbling over the mound of debris.

"You have a real talent for taking a moment and ruining it, Anders," Olaf chided his blond haired grandson. Mike sighed and approached him slowly. He realized Anders was having difficulty trying to get up, his legs wobbling.

"Anders, you okay?" Mike reached for his shoulder then stopped, as his eyes took in the blood on the debris where Anders had been lying. "Anders?"

"Ow," Anders said, grimacing. He turned slowly towards them, a dazed expression in his eyes. He had a hand pressed to the side of his neck. Mike's eyes widened as deep crimson blood began to seep over the hand, freely flowing from a large gash to the side of his throat.

"Holy shit!" Ty cried, as the blood escaped Anders' fingers, seeming to gush down his chest, staining his crisp white shirt.

"Fuck, Axl," Anders said softly in disbelief, before collapsing to the ground. Olaf and Ty ran forward, while Mike screamed for Michele.

"Anders! Anders!" Ty gasped, as thick arterial blood pumped from his brother's body. Michele raced down from the stairs where she had been eavesdropping. As she approached, the tangy, coppery scent of blood wafted over her, and she groaned softly in disgust.

"Keep pressure on the wound!" she cried, trying to get a closer look. Olaf ripped off his shirt, applying it firmly to Anders neck. It immediately began to turn red. "Oh shit!" she said, before she turned and sprinted for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Mike yelled at her.

"I've got to get something!" she called back, racing up the stairs. Axl slowly stepped forward with wide eyes, watching as his brother struggled to breathe. A look of horror flooded his face as Anders's eyes found his. One single tear slipped from Anders blue eyes, full of shock, and sadness, before they slowly closed.

"No," Axl whispered. He fled past the scene before him, trying to get as far away from the bar as he could possibly get. He scarcely heard Mike calling out to him as he raced away. "Anders, I killed Anders," his mind screamed, the thought pounding through him in time with his broken heart.

Michele grabbed Yggdrasil from her closet. She hesitated, staring at the long staff. "Dammit," she whispered softly, before racing back down the stairs. She had kept this secret from Mike for far too long, but she couldn't let Anders die. Mike was yelling into his phone for an ambulance, as Ty and Olaf called Anders' name.

"Open your eyes, bro, please," Ty begged, tears welling in his eyes. Olaf grabbed his grandson's hand, feeling for a pulse. It was there, but weak. "Anders! No, no, no, no!" Ty pleaded. Michele stepped forward, holding Yggdrasil firmly in her right hand. She felt power flood into her as she handed the long branch from the Tree of Life to Ty. She knelt down beside the still body, gently removing the shirt from the wound. Blood oozed from the long jagged gash, and she placed her hand along his neck, whimpering with nausea.

"Ooh, I really hate blood," she grimaced, barely keeping her stomach from spilling. Mike watched in amazement as her hand began to glow. She felt the power flowing from her to Anders, who moaned softly. She slowly removed her hand from Anders neck. The wound appeared to be healing. Mike stared at her in shock. "He should be fine," she muttered.

"Go Yggdrasil," Olaf smiled. They watched silently, waiting for Anders to open his eyes. But something was wrong. Anders did not open his eyes. A sharp cry of pain ripped from his lips, and slowly, the wound began to reopen. Blood began to pulse from his neck again, and Ty quickly grabbed the shirt, pressing it back firmly to his brother's neck once more. Michele was confused.

"I don't understand, it should have healed him!" Michelle whispered, a look of fear in her eyes. She turned to Mike, panic in her voice. "We need that ambulance…NOW!"

Ty, Olaf and Michele sat in the hospital waiting room, covered in the blood of Anders. After the ambulance had sped away with Anders and Ty, Mike had gone after Axl. As the God of the Hunt, he was the only one who could possibly hope to find him. Ty sat with his head in his hands, struggling with his emotions. Anders had stopped breathing twice on the way to the hospital and though they had managed to restart his heart, his survival did not look good. Ty's hands shook as tears welled in his eyes. No matter what Anders had done, he was his brother. The thought of not having Anders in his life was heartbreaking. Olaf sat in deep thought, one hand on Ty's back, absently lending his support. His oracle mind was far away, searching for some understanding as to why the branch from Yggdrasil had failed. It had worked to rid Ty of the God Hodr, and for that Ty had actually had to die. Why hadn't it healed Anders?

Michele was asking herself that same question. As much as she hated to admit it, she was fond of Anders. He never failed to trade insults with her, at one time he had been a worthy adversary, but more than that, he was Mike's brother. Mike, who pretended that he despised Anders, when deep down he loved him as only an older brother could love a younger one. She leaned her head back against the white wall of the hospital. Anders had to survive…she didn't think any of the other brothers would be able to without him.

Mike slowly entered the train yard, searching for the right car. He stepped up onto the bed of the train-car, spotting Axl sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees. He looked so young, sitting in his blue tuxedo, and Mike's heart squeezed with pain. They both knew there would be no wedding to Gaia, not after what happened between her and Anders, so to see him in the wedding clothes was almost too much for Mike to bear. He stood before his baby brother, not knowing the right words to say.

"Anders?" Axl asked quietly. Mike sighed.

"He…last I heard they were taking him into surgery," Mike said softly. Axl closed his eyes in pain. "They don't know if…there was a lot of blood loss, and…" Mike trailed off, studying his brother. "You need to come with me." Axl shook his head.

"I nearly kill…" Axl broke off, the pain in his voice ripping through Mike. "What if I try to do it again? What if I try to finish him off? I mean, I can't control that stuff, when the Odin thing takes over, Mike." Mike frowned, sitting down beside Axl.

"Don't you think that sounds a lot like a couple of other people right now?" he asked softly. "Anders and Gaia couldn't control what happened between them. It was Bragi and Idunn, not Anders and Gaia that slept together." Axl bowed his head, his heart and his head battling each other. He knew Mike's words were true, but the idea of Anders and Gaia angered him to the very core, and he punched the wall of the train car violently.

"What am I supposed to do?" Axl groaned. "I love her."

"Do you love him?" Mike said quietly. Axl turned to his brother in surprise. The Johnson brothers had never been very close, in fact it was only once their God powers had emerged that he had seen them so often, but there had never been any doubt before that they WERE brothers. Love had always been just...assumed. Axl hung his head, shame filling him as he realized that he couldn't remember the last time he had told his brothers how much they meant to him.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "I do. I hate him...and I love him. So what am I supposed to do?"

"Right now…we are supposed to be brothers. We need to be there for Anders. Afterwards…we'll figure something out. Together." Axl looked at his older brother, and silently nodded.

"Let's go," he said quietly.

Hours passed as the family sat quietly in the hospital, with no news about Anders. Mike sat with his hand on Axl's shoulders, as the younger boy sat in stony silence, staring out the window beside him. Finally, as the sun was sinking in the west, a surgeon approached them. "Johnson family?" Axl rose to his feet, but the grim look on the man's face caused him to sink back slowly into his chair. With a small nod of recognition to Michele, who worked at the hospital, the surgeon sat down beside them. "Anders is out of surgery."

"He's...alive?" Axl whispered hopefully. The surgeon looked at him, a controlled expression in his eyes.

"For the moment. He is in critical condition. His heart stopped again during surgery. He lost more than half of his blood supply, and we found some fractured ribs, one of which pierced his lung." Mike sighed, mentally cursing his own carelessness. He should have known better than to keep that debris in the bar. He and Michele had been renovating their living area above the bar, and he knew how dangerous that type of debris could be. It had be meant to be picked up for disposal that afternoon, but he had delayed it when the incident with Gaia had occurred. He tried to focus as the surgeon continued. "The next 24-48 hours will be critical. If he manages to make it through that, then there is a greater chance that he will survive." Ty dropped his head, unable to hold back his tears any longer.

"Can we see him?" Olaf asked. The surgeon nodded.

"As soon as he is settled in a room, I will send the nurse out for you." Mike thanked him, and turned to his family as the surgeon headed back into the recovery room.

"I'll call Dawn," Ty finally said softly, as he wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "She will want to see him, so I'll probably go get her." He rose wearily, hugged his brothers, and left the room. Olaf stared at his family, grief so evident on their faces.

"I'll take Axl home," Olaf said. Axl shook his head.

"I-I can't go home," he murmured. "I can't face her." They knew he was referring to Gaia.

"I need to speak to Ingrid, so why don't we head to Ty's?" Olaf replied. Axl nodded, running his hand through his hair. Olaf turned to Mike. "You can reach us there. We'll take shifts. I don't want Anders to be left alone," Olaf continued. The others silently nodded their agreement, and Mike hugged Axl close, his eyes welling as he felt the younger boys tears dampen his shirt.

"I don't want him to die, Mike," Axl said tearfully into his brother's shoulder.

"Neither do I, Axl. Neither do I." Mike gave his brother a final squeeze before releasing him. He watched as Olaf and Axl left, before turning to Michele. She studied him, waiting to see what he would say, or do, fearful he would be angry. But as he always did, Mike surprised her.

"You used Yggdrasil to bring Ty back to life, when he got rid of Hodr, didn't you?" he asked. She nodded silently.

"I don't understand why it didn't work on Anders," she said in frustration.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he said softly.

"It's a chick thing?" she said. He raised an eyebrow. "It was something that made me feel special. I'm only a 'minor' goddess. The power to heal like that…made me feel important. I was worried you gods would try to take it away." She bowed her head in embarrassment. Mike felt a wave of affection for her. He slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, and tilted her chin up.

"You are important," he smiled. "Very important to me." He kissed her deeply.

"So, you aren't going to take my stick away?" she grinned cheekily.

"Your stick, not mine. Just use it for good, not the dark side, okay?" he said, looking into her chocolate eyes.

"Always been my plan," she agreed. He kissed her again, as a nurse came towards them. Mike braced himself, took a deep breath, then proceeded to follow the nurse.

Anders lay motionless against the crisp white linens on the hospital bed. A single sheet covered the lower half of his body. His chest was bare, showing a tube inserted into his side, draining blood from his punctured lung. He had thick bandages to the wound on his neck, which were slightly shadowed with blood and various bruises were now beginning to show on his torso. An IV slowly dripped blood back into his body as the doctors tried to replace what he had lost. He was extremely pale, and Mike hesitated before gently picking up his hand. He looked so fragile, like he would break if someone touched him the wrong way. His breathing was slow, shallow and very quiet. Mike tenderly reached out, brushing a lock of Anders blond hair off of his forehead. He hadn't touched Anders so gently since he had been a child, who had come into his room late at night looking for comfort from nightmares. Michelle watched silently as Mike's face crumpled in memory and grief, before she placed an arm around him. "Hey bro," he said softly. "You need to wake up now, Anders. You've given us all a real scare, but we need you to wake up." Mike searched the face of his brother, but there was no change. Mike sighed. "I get it now, you know? I understand that nothing else matters, all the bullshit we've gone through, none of it matters, because we're family. You're my brother, and I can't live without my brothers. So you have to wake up now…please." His final word was choked out, before he broke down sobbing. Michele held him in her arms, murmuring to him gently, until he finally quieted. Thanking her with his eyes, he placed Anders hand back on the bed. He stroked the brow of his baby brother, then turned and, with a quick glance at Michele, he stepped from the room. She nodded her understanding to him, knowing he needed a moment alone. She turned back to Anders, who still gave no sign that he had heard his brother at all. She tentatively reached her hand towards his chest, and as her fingers brushed him, she felt a burst of power surge through her. In her mind's eye, she was thrust into the darkness.

Anders hurt. It hurt to breathe and it hurt to think and he just plain hurt. Even his fingernails hurt. He was pretty certain he had never hurt this much before. The blackness surrounding him was like a thick fog. It was so dark here. If only he knew where HERE was. He struggled to remember, but he felt like his brain would explode. Something had...happened. Yes, he had been in the bar…with his brothers. He had been trying to apologize to Axl for what had happened with Gaia…but his mouth got in the way of his apology, as usual. His Bragi powers had gotten him into trouble more often than not. And then Axl…Axl had grabbed him, thrown him…he gasped in shock as the memories came rushing back. The warm sticky blood oozing from his throat, the inability to catch his breath, the dark look in Axl's eyes. Ah, now he understood. He must be dead then. Killed by his baby brother for a betrayal so hurtful, but beyond his control. Still, he supposed he deserved to be dead. Dead. It was strange, he had thought that there wouldn't be any pain once you were dead. Where was he anyway? It was so dark, like a black cloak had been draped around him. He tried to take a step forward, sliding his foot so as not to trip. Shuffling his way along, one arm out in front of him, the inky blackness seemed to go on forever. He was startled when a large figure stepped forward, seemingly illuminated, piercing the black veil that surrounded them. He was tall, with a gray beard and gray hair, but his face seemed both old and young. His eyes…Anders started as he recognized those eyes. He had seen them staring back at him every day of his life. He suddenly realized who the man in front of him was. "Bragi," he murmured.

Okay...what do you think? I had this crazy idea where Yggdrasil didn't work on Anders, and this story is the result. Let me know what you think! Next chapter coming soon! I own nothing! This story has been updated and new chapter (Chap 4) is coming soon! I just wanted to add some more meat to the story.