Title: Untitled
By: Caroline Crane
Pairing: Speed/Tyler
Rating: PG
Summary: post-apocalyptic ficlet.

"Damn it. How the hell did anybody live like this?"

"Here, let me."

"We're going to freeze to death."

"We're not going to freeze to death," Tyler says as he reaches for the matches, but he doesn't sound all that sure. It's hard to be sure of anything when they're stuck in someone's abandoned cabin, using whatever they can find to keep the weather – and whatever else is out there – from seeping in under the doors and through the windows. And he can't even get a fire lit, which just goes to show he's not cut out for this.

It's not the first time he's ever felt completely useless - not by a long shot – but it's the first time he's ever worried that being useless could get them both killed. And he doesn't want to be a burden, doesn't want to be the reason this tiny cabin is the last thing either of them ever sees.

A puff of gray smoke distracts him from his thoughts and he looks down to see a small fire starting in the ancient fireplace, wonders belatedly if it's even safe or if they're going to burn the place down while they sleep. If they can sleep, and he's been awake for so long he's starting to think maybe something in the air has changed their body chemistry so much that sleep just doesn't matter anymore.

"See? No one's freezing to death," Tyler says, standing up and grinning triumphantly and just for a second he can forget about everything that's happening outside.

"Should we be worried about somebody seeing the smoke?"

A shrug, a flicker of fear in eyes he knows better than his own, then Tyler's smiling again and tucking the matches into his pocket. "I think we'll be okay. There's nothing around for miles, far as I could tell when we found this place."

And he's right, but it's still hard to relax. He wonders what Horatio's doing right now, if he's still in Miami trying to save everyone single-handedly. If there still is a Miami. Wonders if H would leave when the last person got out, or if he'd go down with his ship, so to speak. Sudden mental image of Horatio surrounded by a wall of water, those damn sunglasses still in place, and he lets out a hollow laugh.

"Tim." A hand lands on his face, forcing his eyes up to look at Tyler. "We're going to be fine."

"Right," Speed says, but mostly he wants to believe it's true. "Next you're going to tell me you're an expert hunter, too."

"That part we're going to have to figure out together," Tyler answers, smiling apologetically and Speed's not sure whether to shake him for being so good at this or just kiss him really, really hard.

It's easier to go with grateful, because if it was up to Tim he'd probably be back in Miami, helping H salvage whatever's left. If it wasn't for Tyler he wouldn't have had a reason to run, wouldn't have had a reason to care whether or not he made it through all this in one piece. Maybe he wouldn't have even made it this far, because Tyler's the reason – part of it, anyway – he started being more careful about his gun and he's the reason they got out of Miami before it was too late.

If it wasn't for him Speed would probably have stuck with the case, gone to the jewelry store like Horatio wanted, like it mattered whether or not some jeweler was ripping off his rich customers when the whole world was falling down around them. So he has a lot to be grateful for, but most of all he's grateful that Tyler's here with him.

He tries not to wonder what happened to his brother. His parents. Tyler's parents, way up there in Minnesota. He tries not to think about any of that, because he knows they can't do anything about it.

Instead he thinks about the future, about how long they can stay here before they're forced to move on. About how long they can last before they have to worry about food, how many bullets are left in his gun and whether or not the extras he stashed in his bag will hold out until things settle down again. If things settle down.

There's always the chance the world won't ever make sense again.

"Guess we should try to get some sleep," he says, because it's easier to focus on the here and now than worry about what's going to happen in a future they can't predict.

Tyler nods and pokes at the fire again before he glances around the small room. "There's a mattress in the bedroom, we should drag it out here and sleep close to the fire."

And this isn't the way Speed figured on spending the end of the world, but suddenly curling up with Tyler in front of a warm fire for however long they've got left sounds like the best idea in the world.