Disclaimer: In no way or form do I own the glompable, lovable characters of the series of Get Backers!

Heart Crash

What would you do

if you wanted someone by your side,

but there was no one?

What if you needed a kind word,

But no one would speak;

No one could speak.

What if your best friend died tomorrow,

And you never got to tell him,

how much you cared?

And more so,

What if…

What if it was all your fault?

Ginji and Ban ran as fast as they could, leaving behind them, two men in dark suits clawing at their heads- having been tortured by the evil eye. In Ban's hands was an envelope which contained a document, which was what they had been hired to retrieve. They finally made it out of that situation and got back to their vehicle, Ban Midou's precious Lady-bug.

"Woo-hoo! Ban-chan, look at this. We pulled this job off without a single hitch!"

"You got that right, Ginji. Our client will be very pleased. We'll be stinking rich! I think our luck with money is finally changing!"

"And, it's a good thing you parked here, Ban-chan so the car wouldn't be towed. No more parking fees! We have enough money to pay off our tab and so much more! Maybe we could even afford an apartment, so we wont have to sleep in such a small cramped place, anymore. It can even be our business office!"

Both men were laughing and thinking of how to spend their reward money. They were so distracted that they did not realize that the car's tired were slipping a little.

"Ban-chan!"

Ginji, despite that he was laughing, was quite tired from the job. He leaned back against the rear of the car. He closed his eyes to take a relaxing breath, only to open them moments later as he felt himself falling backwards. He fell onto his back, strait onto the pavement. He blinked several times while rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head. Turning around, his complexion went pale. The car was quickly rolling away all on it's own. He slowly looked over to his partner, who was hugging the document and still chatting about money, and Ginji pointed in the direction the car went; it was quickly fading in the distance.

"B-B-Ban…?"

Ban looked down at Ginji, then at where the shaky finger pointed.

"What's the matter. Ginji? You look a little pa- WHERE THE HELL IS MY CAR GOING!"

The men ran after it, in a futile attempt to stop it. Ban was glaring and Ginji was bawling, in his chibi form.

"Come back here, my lady-bug! Ginji, what did you DO!"

"I'm sorry, Ban-chan! I didn't mean to do whatever I did!"

Their attempt was in vain, and they gasped as they saw where it was heading.

"Ban-chan! The hill! It's heading for the hill!"

"Listen, Ginji, I have an idea. We'll never catch it before the hill, so we have to split up. You go left and I'll go right. Use all the back alleys you know and beat that car at the bottom of the hill! I'll back you up from the other side! Use your electricity to slow it down until I can use the snake bite!"

"Got'cha!"

"Good lick!"

And they split up. Ban quickly made his way down the series of small alleyways and past people on the streets. He would never admit it, but the fact that they now had to chase after the car was his own fault. He blamed Ginji for it, but he had forgotten to shift the gears into brake and forgot to put the blocks in front of the tires. He had never been so careless before, but he figured, it didn't much matter.

Ban ducked into an alley, only to see, on the side of a deserted street was his lady0bug, slowly rolling to a stop. Who knew that the hill leveled out there? There must have been a steeper part past that point, which explained why Ginji was no where in sight. Ignoring that, the brunette ran to his car and hugged the side of it.

"Oh, my baby! I'm so glad you're safe! Now, I have to tell Ginji the good news; stay there, beautiful, okay?"

And Ban once again ran off to find Ginji. Just as he left, a tow truck was approaching, ready to haul the car off. Not knowing that fact, Ban was running with a smile. Now, he didn't have to tell Ginji about his mistake, and they could go collect their money happily, he thought.

'Ginji is gonna be so happy! That loon absolutely LOVES good news!'

On the other side of the street, Ginji had just reached the very bottom of the hill and heard a car approaching, he closed his eyes and concentrated, gathering the electric charge from all over his body and they sparked wildly. The car got closer, and closer, and…

Ginji smiled. He ran out into the middle of the crosswalk with his arms outstretched, ready to catch the car, but the vehicle that was heading for him was not his partners and his, but a small SUV. It was too late to avoid it, and even if he had the time, he could not have willed his legs to move. Before it happened, one thought crossed Ginji's mind; one horrible thought.

Here lies Amano, Ginji; Get Backer.

The car screeched, and that willed Ginji to close his eyes and turn his head away slightly. The car hit him. The force put on his legs as the front bumper hit made the blonde's legs produced a gruesome cracking noise, and his body hurled over the front of the car. More parts of his body crunched and Ginji managed to open just one eye before his head crashed into the windshield. That was the last thing he could comprehend before things around him went black and cold.

The elder-looking of Get Backer called for his friend. He rounded the alley corner, unfortunately, just in time to see his blonde friend tumble over the top of a car. His breath caught in his throat and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach at seeing his oh-so-happy and healthy friend fall to the concrete like a discarded rag doll. Ginji's body went over the car and he rolled on the ground, stopping a few feet from the now-stopped vehicle. His clothes were tattered and torn, and bloodstained, and he wasn't moving.

Ban finally found the courage to move, and he ran into the middle of the street to get to his partner in business. He fell to his knees and shook Ginji lightly, unsure of whether he should move the man yet, but when no answer came, he rolled him over onto his back, anyway; he saw the extent of the damage. The blonde's clothes were torn and glass clung to him. His right arm and left leg were bent at grotesque angles and his face was horribly scratched; the most damage there had been a deep gash just above his right eye. Ban nearly went weak at seeing that some of the glass front the windshield was still stuck into the wound, drawing out much-needed, precious crimson.

The brunette ran his shaky hand through Ginji's bangs, which were also stained red. Then it hit him. Not once since he'd run over or called his name had Ginji made a sound or the slightest of movements; he feared that he may be dead. He set his hand in front of his mouth. He felt neither breath coming out, nor the rise or fall of the lightning emperor's chest. Ban, himself, dared not breathe.

A small crowd of passerby's began forming around the two, including the driver of the SUV. Ban ignored them and started panicking. He laid Ginji down flat and pushed down hard onto his chest, beginning CPR.

"Come on, Gin! Don't do this to me, man! Breathe! Breathe, damn it! Ginji!"

Voices and comments from the circling crown soon filtered into Ban's ears, stinging them, terribly, with opinions he wished not to accept. Plenty of them were still asking what had happened; he'd been hit by a dumb car! That's what had happened, he thought to himself. Some said "that poor boy," and "he's in bad shape; no kidding! Ban thought in anger yet again. One person, somewhere in the crowd said, "I know them", well, good for you! Then, the one thing he had feared most…the worst thought. "I think he's dead."

Ban didn't want to listen, but he knew that that was probably what most of them were thinking; someone would have said it, eventually. Even so, he wanted to find the one who had actually put it to words and unleash unto him the worst vision from the jagon. Decapitation, maybe. But, at the time, he could not afford to take his attention off of Ginji. Ban could never allow his partner to die like that or it wold be the end of the Get Backers recovery service. He certainly could not go it alone, nor did he want to. Nevertheless, the voices still went on and tortured him.

'No! Don't listen to them! They don't know anything! This can't kill Ginji! He's not dead! He's NOT! Shut up, all of you!'

Ban closed his eyes, to hold in the tears that threatened to flow, and slammed both of his fists down on Ginji's chest in a last attempt to revive him. He almost broke down as he did so, and then almost jumped out of his skin at hearing a heavy puff of breath come from the one lying on the road. Ban finally let go of his own breath and shifted the blonde up, holding him against his chest. In the background, mixed with the noisy crowd, was the sound of sirens, and a red, flashing light soon surrounded the area. Ban kept a tight hold on his partner, slightly rocking back and forth as he listened to the slow beating of Ginji's heart. Slow, but beating, nonetheless.

"Ginji… don't you worry, man. I'm here now… Please don't die on me. We'll get you some help… Ginji, can you hear me? …Ginji…?"

Ban simply could not let Ginji die yet. Not only would their business be ruined, but so would Ban Midou. He had told Ginji that the "S" in Get Backers meant that neither of them had to be alone. Ban concluded, then, then and there, that Ginji was it. Ginji was what kept him from being alone. Ginji was the "S" in Get Backers.

His eyes were heavy and sore, and the brightness of a light just above him only made his head feel worse. He tried to move, but his entire body seemed stiff and numb. After a moment, he managed to shift so that the light was not directly in his eyes, and he opened them a bit. What he saw around him was a white room with one window and flowers, everywhere. He must be in a hospital, he concluded. Through the window, he saw the sun slowly setting, which comforted him and made him feel more awake and relaxed. He looked himself over, taking note of his appearance- the reason for him being in the hospital in the first place. His arm was in a sling, and his leg was suspended in a cast, but, bringing his free hand to his head, he found the worst of it. He must have hit his head pretty hard to have such a bandage, and the pain, too. His condition made him feel a lot of discomfort, but the fact that his bed propped him up to a sitting position made him feel better.

Then, a movement to his left made him look down. A smile came to his face at seeing Ban, fast asleep. He sat in a chair next to his bed, and his head was lying on the edge of it. Ginji used his good arm to lightly shake Ban's shoulder. As the elder man slowly opened his eyes, a soft voice reached his ears.

"Did you… have a nice dream…"

Ban's head shot up, now sitting in his chair, and stared at his awake and very much alive partner, smiling at him.

"-Ban?"

Ginji finished. Ban was almost in tears at seeing the man was acting almost like usual. Good dream? That's what HE always asked after putting someone through the torture of his Jagon, and yet, it had always been a nightmare he showed them. This time was no exception, which made it oh-so ironic and painful for Ban.

"Ginji…"

But, ignoring the serious tone of his partner's voice, Ginji went about figuring out what he wanted to know- just as he usually would.

"Ban, could you explain this to me? Why am I here? In the hospital?"

"Y-you were hit by a car…"

He answered quickly and quietly.

"Oh."

Ginji replied simply. Too simply. He was thinking of something; something I probably would like. Ginji blinked and looked around the room as if he hadn't already, but in a sort of childish way. Looking back to Ban, using his chibi face, he pointed to himself.

"Yours? You car?"

Ban could not help but hit the boy over the back of the head, even though the blonde bubble-head was injured. Ginji laughed and put his hand up in defeat, then rubbed at the new sore spot on his head.

"Sorry, Ban-chan. I had to ask. I just couldn't resist!"

"Damnit, Ginji! You wear nearly killed, and you're laughing about it? It's not the least bit funny!"

"Huh? You… you were worried about me, Ban-chan?"

"Of course I was, idiot!"

He wanted to explain it all. That he was nothing without Ginji- I business and otherwise. He wanted to say it, but Ginji didn't give him a chace; pointing to the flowers, the blonde asked about them.

"Did people come to visit?"

"Yeah. Everyone did, in fact. They were really worried, since you've been out of it for three whole days."

"Oh, well, that's okay! With the money we racked up in our last job, we should still have no problem paying the hospital bill and doing what we need to do!"

"Um… actually, Ginji…"

"Huh? What?"

"I… had to bail out the Lady-bug, again…"

"So?"

"Three times…"

"WHAT?"

"…And the driver that hit you is trying to sue, and all these hospital bills, and we can't fully pay off our tab…"

"I-isn't there… anything left!"

"Not much, I'm afraid… looks like we're back to being nearly broke AGAIN."

Ginji hung his head and looked down at his injuries in shame.

"I'm sorry, Ban. Looks like I messed up again. I'll find some way to fix this, I promise."

"Quiet."

Ban set a hand on Ginji's head and messed up his hair, trying to be encouraging.

"But, Ban, it's my fault this happened!"

"Just shut up, knuckle head! You've done enough…"

Ginji looked up at Ban, surprised. The brunette's head was down, now, and his shoulders shook from suppressed sobs.

"you've done enough now… all you need to do is stay alive… okay? Just live… don't you EVER leave me by myself like that ever again, do you hear me…!"

He was crying now, bawling, more like. Smiling softly, or at least trying to, he pulled Ban into a soft hug and let his partner cry,

"Oh, Ban… Okay. I promise, partner."

Ban so wanted to say it now, but something always got in the way- this time, his tears and uncontrollable sobs. They soon settled down, and he could think strait. He wanted to tell Ginji how much their friendship meant to him. Even more now than ever, since he had almost lost his chance to do so. This is the sort of thing that he could not afford to set aside and wait to say, but…

'Eh,'

He thought to himself.

'Maybe I'll tell him tomorrow.'