** Authors Notes: This was my first attempt at a fan fic, but it actually got some pretty good reviews at ff.net, so I decided to post it here. Please review and tell me what you think. **

-Story told in Mike's Point of View unless otherwise stated.-

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the members of Linkin Park. They own themselves. **

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It's cold outside. Not just cold...fucking cold. I'm not a big fan of cold weather such as this, and I'm getting endlessly aggravated with the fact that I can't keep warm. At first I had pulled on my favorite pair of black, combat pants, two long-sleeved shirts, and a simple black t-shirt over that, but as soon as I opened the front door, I hauled my ass right back into my bedroom and grabbed a baggy hoodie and tugged it on. Then I tried again, only getting about halfway down the walkway in front of my house before returning, and grabbing one of my big jackets from the closet next to the front door. I'm not in the mood for my contacts, so I'm wearing my glasses. I don't wear them often; due to the fact that I know I look exceedingly idiotic when I wear them, however I like to think that they make me look distinguished. I check over the two bags I'm taking with me. One is filled with clothing and an extra pair of shoes, and the other is filled with CD's, my new portable CD player, some pens and paper for those times you get sudden inspiration for lyrics, and a few different snacks I can eat on the plane. I'm picky, and I have a growing dislike of airline peanuts, so I just bring my own snacks. You're probably wondering where I'm going..well if so, allow me to enlighten you. My band mates, and myself, will shortly depart for London to start our European tour. We have just finished our last US tour, and we are ready to start this tour so we can get home as quickly as possible, to finish up our next album.

I glance at the clock on the wall after making one last mental check of everything I need. Joseph Hahn and Chester Bennington, two of my fellow band mates, as well as my best friends, were supposed to be here almost twenty minutes ago to pick me up, so we could meet the other three guys at the airport to catch our flight to London. I check my reflection in the large mirror on the wall near the front door and smirk at myself. I had allowed my hair to grow back out like it was before I shaved my head, and I haven't dyed it, so it's my natural black. I made sure it was spiked the way I wanted it and my hand creeps up and I subconsciously tug at the small silver pendant that's attached to the simple silver chain, around my neck. The pendant holds the engraved symbol of my family crest. The Shinoda family crest. Perhaps I'm getting a little ahead of myself. My name's Micheal Kenji Shinoda. I'm the emcee of our band- Linkin Park. And if Joe and Chester don't get their asses here soon, I'll be one pissed off emcee. I check the clock again. Goddammit. Why do we even let those two interact with each other? Joe and Chester are the two most hyper and crazy members of our band. Joe has claimed to have many split personalities, one who has come to be known as Remy. Unfortunately, I've personally been introduced to these "split personalities", however I'm not sure if it's true, or if it's just Joe being Joe. But since it is Joe, it all seems to make sense. Now, Chester..he's just hyperactive. He can be pretty laid back and mellow, but you must not allow him to have any sugar or coffee if you plan on sleeping in the next six hours or so. He gets especially hyper before a show and he just bounces around everywhere and takes on the role of "Super Chester", and is convinced that he must save the world from the evil pop-cults. I agree with him on the last part, but he's gotten us into trouble more than once with his little charades, luckily nothing serious so far.

A sudden honk of a car horn jolts me out of my thoughts and back to reality. I check the clock again..twenty five minutes late. Well, they're getting better. I grab my bags and push the front door open, shivering as a cold blast of winter air washes over me and I set down one of my bags and grab my house keys from one of the pockets of my baggy pants, and quickly lock the house up, before placing my keys back into the pocket and grabbing my bag. I notice that it had begun to snow again. My attention is diverted from the white flakes falling around me, and to the car waiting at the end of my driveway, as I hear Joe shout out my name. My gaze is greeted with the frighteningly familiar vision of Chester's bare ass pressed up against the passenger-side window. What worries me- is that is doesn't even faze me anymore. The band has grown use to Chester's ass. It's just a normal thing now..Chester likes to show his ass to people. We've grown used to it. I just grin and shake my head, trying to make it down the walkway without slipping and falling on my fat ass. Contrary to everyone's believes, I am convinced that I have a fat ass. There was this certain incident the last time we were in London, that involved my fat ass and a table...I really don't like talking about it. I hear the trunk pop open, and I lift it up, setting my bags in the trunk and pushing it down hard, making sure it latched, before crawling into the backseat of Joe's car.

"Miiiike Shinoda!" Joe sings along to his own version of that old song "My Sharona" or whatever that song was. He likes substituting my name into the verse.

"So what's the excuse this time?" I ask, crossing my arms in mock displeasure as I watch Chester twist in his seat after buttoning his pants once more, to face me. He gives me his usual grin as his dark brown eyes stare out at me from behind the pair of simple black-framed glasses. His hair was also a black color now. He'd grown tired of the bleached blonde look and as soon as his hair had gotten long enough to spike again, he had dyed it black.

"Well, it was tragic you see.." Chester starts to explain while Joe puts the car into gear and pulls away from my house, heading to the airport downtown. "I had just gotten out of the shower, when I noticed that my clothes were missing. So I searched and searched and I just couldn't find them anywhere. So I asked Joe, but he was too busy arguing with his waffles, because they supposively insulted his DJing skills. Anyways, I spotted my boxers near the door as I went to retrieve them, this huge...giant..", Chester began to make this exaggerated hand gestures like he usually does when trying to explain something, "..wooly ape..busted through the front door and threatened me with some bananas..and you know how I don't like bananas..anyways, then-"

"Just shut up, Chaz. It's fine. You're forgiven." I cut him off, knowing good and well, from experience, that if I don't stop his explanation now it could very well last the rest of the way to the airport...not to mention the whole plane ride to London. I'm endlessly amused with his ability to just make up those insane stories off the top of his head. It worries me..but I love it. Chester grins, proud of himself and his excuse, and turns in his seat, leaning over and starting to mess with the controls of Joe's radio.

"Woah! Hands off Bennington! No one touches Mr. Hahn's radio and lives to tell the tale!" Joe yells as he smacks at Chester's hands.

I grin to myself. They were like little kids. It was so amusing. I lean back and shut my eyes, listening to the two argue and thinking about the tour we were about to embark on.

I guess I didn't realize how tired I was, because I am suddenly jerked awake by Chester, who informs me that I had fallen asleep. I stretch some and push the glasses back up onto my nose more as I tiredly climb out of the parked car and move around back to the trunk as Joe opened it. I grab my two bags and look down the seemingly endless rows of cars, making out the L.A. airport in the distance. I hear the trunk door slam shut, and the little "beep beep" sound as Joe locks his car with the lock/alarm controller on his key chain. I shuffle along beside them, thinking about how fast I'm going to fall asleep as soon as I hit that seat on the plane.

We make our way into the terminal and check the monitor’s overhead to make sure the flight is on time. I glance over at Chester, who is quietly humming along to one of our songs, which were on constant repeat in his mind. I just smile to myself and keep walking. Out of everyone in the band, I think I've grown closer to Chester than any. We just seem to spend more time together nowadays, which doesn't bother me.

We finally make it to the gate, after a painfully long ordeal with the security station. Chester had to remove his spiked bracelets and put them in order inside of his little carrying case for them. It was pathetic really. Joe had to take off his belt because the large, silver belt-buckle that read "Mr. Hahn" was setting off the security alarm every time he stepped through the little walkway. So, lacking a belt, the pants didn't seem to want to stay up, so they had fallen. I had just stood aside and watched, acting like I didn't know them.

"Well..look who finally decided to show up!" I hear Brad's voice as we step up to the check-in line.

"Not my fault- talk to Hahn and Chaz." I state, grinning lightly and dropping my bags down to get checked in. Brad just shook his head and snickered, then headed off to find Rob and Phoenix and tell them that we had arrived. Brad Delson is our guitarist, Rob Bourdon is our drummer, and Phoenix or Dave Farrell, is our bassist. We're like a family now. We've grown use to everyone's habits, and we fight over stupid things, just like any normal family. I glance up at Bob Dallas, as I hear him raise his voice a bit, and I raise an eyebrow in curiosity. I sit myself down in one of the seats in the waiting area of our gate and watch Bob argue with one of the ladies behind the counter of the check-in booth. I wonder what's up. I quickly grab one of Brad's guitarist magazines from the seat next to me and act like I'm reading it, when I notice Bob coming over. He was more than upset. He looks at me.

"Mike. We have a problem. I told Jake to call and reserve our plane tickets to London a few weeks back. Apparently, we only had enough to charge two plane tickets to the account at the time, and he had just figured he'd reserve the other five the next day when he got the new account up. Well, he forgot..so we only have two plane tickets reserved for this flight. The next flight doesn’t leave until 7 a.m. tomorrow morning. So I reserved five plane tickets on that flight. I don't really know what to do. "

I just kind of sit and listen to him, well fuck..this wasn't good. I look over to see Chester wandering towards us and I look back up at Bob.

"Well.. I guess all we could do is send two people tonight and let them go ahead and get set up at the hotel in London, then they could pick up the other five the next morning and bring them back." I really wasn't sure if my idea was even good enough, I was just trying to make Bob feel better since he tried so hard to make everything perfect for us.

Bob smiled some and nodded, before sighing. "Yeah, I suppose you're right.", he looked thoughtful for a moment, before continuing, "Would you mind going ahead with one of the other guys tonight and getting everything set up? I have to stay here and deal with this mess so I can't go until the morning."

I shrug my shoulders, it didn't matter to me much, and at the moment all I wanted to do was go fall asleep somewhere. Chester plops down in the seat next to me and smiles, unaware of the situation. I turn back to Bob.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine. I don't know who wants to come with me though, I'll have to go ask." I explain as I slump back into my chair some.

Bob looked at Chester, and then grinned. "Chester, you're going with Mike tonight. Only two people can go to London on this flight, and the rest of us are going to be on the 7 a.m. flight tomorrow morning."

That seemed to be the end decision. When Bob made a decision- no one argues about it. Chester looks confused, but then just nods. I grin lightly and watch Bob leave, and then I turn to Chester.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. " I say as I shut my eyes and lean my head up against his shoulder. It's better than the hard seat, and I know he doesn't mind because he's used my shoulder or arm, or even leg, as a pillow more than once. I feel him nod, and hear his soft reply. I sigh to myself.

During the beginning of our last tour, Samantha, Chester's wife, had called Chester one night after a concert, with a sudden demand for a divorce. The fight was on and it lasted a good five hours before Chester would hang up the phone and tell anyone what happened. He had locked himself in the tour buses bathroom and I was finally able to get the door open, and I found him curled up in the corner, crying and shaking. I shut the door and went over to him and pulled him into a hug. I haven't known Chester too long, only for a few years, since he joined the band, but in the time I've known him, I had never seen him show weakness like that. I held him all night in my bunk while he cried. I stayed in the hotel room with him all the next day while the others went out to explore. And then he finally told me what had happened. Samantha had cheated on him, several times, while Chester had been on tour, and the baby Samantha was pregnant with, wasn't Chesters. The divorce was final a few weeks later. Chester just let Samantha have her way. He was too upset to fight for anything, and it took us a long time to get the usual Chester back. I admire Chester for many things, but one of the most admirable traits he has, is that he never let's anything effect the shows. He was just as energetic and amazing onstage as he was every night. But afterwards he'd go back to the bus, or hotel, and just cry. He'd only let me see him cry, however, I think he felt more comfortable around me than the others.

Chester's gentle shaking wakes me once more and he tells me that they were boarding the plane. I notice that we were the only ones left there from our original flight group- the others must of already gone back home to situate things. Chester picks up the bags and we head towards the boarding gates. We hand the woman our tickets and she rips them and hands them back, and I follow Chester down the walkway into the plane. We take our seats- Bob always got us first class, it was still strange though, since we were not used to it. Surprisingly there were not very many people on the plane, and only two other people in the whole first class section, and they were older, businessmen, sitting up front. We both snap our seatbelts on, and I lean back in the comfortable seat and shut my eyes again. I feel Chester push the armrest that was between us up, and he kind of leans against me. I smile to myself. Chester and I always seem to take comfort in each other's company. If we ever get lonely, or scared, or nervous..it always makes us feel better, that the other is there. Chester rests his head on my shoulder and we get comfortable, listening to the flight attendant's usual chatter about the safety procedures. Within a few minutes, the plane had left the gate and was speeding down the runway.

Chester was always afraid of flying, and I feel him tense up against my side and I peek my eyes open and look down at him. He looked so scared and nervous. I wrap my arm around his shoulders and give him a reassuring little squeeze. He relaxed against me again, and the plane lifted off the ground, and we took off into the air, leaving L.A. behind us.

I'm not sure how long I've been asleep, but the fact that I'm cold and have begun to shiver, wakes me up. It takes me a few moments to realize where I was. The plane was moving smoothly and it was quiet, except for the sounds of the engines. The lights were all dimmed so the passengers could sleep- since it was probably already midnight or so. I glance down at Chester and smile at the sight. He was curled up against my side, I guess he had taken his seatbelt off because he was half-laying down. Chester wasn't a big guy, so he fit pretty easily in his seat, with his head resting against my chest. His black spikes were slightly messy from his position for sleep, and his glasses had been removed and laid on the tray-table. He reminded me of a little kid when he slept. It made me smile all over again. Poor Chester...I feel so sorry for him sometimes because all he did was love Samantha. He never cheated on her. Not once. No matter how many offers he got, he never even so much as flirted with another girl. But things happen for a reason. I always tell myself that. I told myself that when Anna broke it off with me a few weeks before the whole incident with Samantha. It just wasn't meant to be. I don't want to wake Chester, so I stay still, shut my eyes once more, and try to go back to sleep, despite my shivering.

The plane makes a sudden jolt and my eyes open once more. That definitely wasn't normal. I notice a flight attendant quickly jog to the cockpit and whisper some words to the captains before shutting the door, blocking the conversation from my ears. I sit up a bit straighter. I could of swore I hear soft beeps coming from the cockpit before the door was shut..light..warning sounds. I push my nervousness aside and make sure Chester is still asleep. He is, so I relax some and try to keep my mind off of the plane. Just when I had convinced myself that everything was fine, the plane jolts again. Harder this time, and it dropped a few feet, making my stomach do a flip-flop. Now I'm a little afraid. Chester jerks awake and sits up, rubbing his eyes and then blinking a few times. I watch him worriedly, knowing he was going to freak out when he realized what was happening. I take his glasses and hand them to him, watching him slip them on. He turns his dark eyes to me, looking distressed.

"Wha..what was that?" he asks, and I know he's trying to keep the fear and worry from his voice, but I know Chester too well.

"I'm not sure. Probably just some turbulence." I lie, trying to make Chester, and myself, feel better about it.

That's when it happened. The sounds in the cockpit suddenly got louder. So we could clearly hear them from our seats. The door bursted open and the flight attendant ran out, grabbing the microphone she used to do her safety speeches and started trying to calmly wake up the rest of the passengers. But I could clearly see the look of absolute fear on her face. Oh fuck. The plane was going to crash. I notice Chester tensing up next to me and his hands were clutching my shirt. I wrap my arm back around him and keep my eyes on the flight attendant. She asks us all to remain calm and that we would have to make an emergency landing in Canada. Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better. Chester begins to tremble and I hold him tighter, trying to keep him calm. Even though I'm just as afraid now. Suddenly the plane begins to shake and descend towards the ground rapidly, but the pilots manage to keep the plane level, so it wouldn’t take a nosedive. The flight attendant continues to plead for us to remain calm. I can hear some screaming and crying from the back of the plane, but from our spot in first class, we couldn’t see what was happening.

The frightening sounds get louder and louder as the plane begins to drop faster, and then everything turns very chaotic. Chester clings to me and I don't know what to do to make him feel any better. I have no idea how close to the ground we are, but judging by the amount of time we've been falling, I'm guessing we're close. I shut my eyes and hold onto Chester. Was this it? Were we going to just die? In the back of my mind I make a comment. "Thank God the others had to stay in L.A.."..the thought almost brings tears to my eyes. How were they going to react when they find out that Chester and I had died in a plane crash?..

"M-Mike?..I'm scared..", my thoughts are cut off by Chester's whimpered confession. I couldn't hold the tears back then. They stung my eyes and then continued in a path down my cheeks. I wrapped my other arm around Chester and held him close.

"So am I, Ches-", my whole body was thrown foreword by the force of the plane crashing into something. I hear glass break somewhere, and my body hits something hard. I don't know what it is, but pain shoots through me. Chester is still with me, we're clinging to each other as we're both tossed around, and the plane breaks in half. I know I'll never forget the sound of it breaking and the people's screams and cries for help as it gets drug back, the front half of the plane continuing to tumble foreword. I hear Chester cry out in pain and fear and I choke by my own cry, hanging onto him, knowing that if one of us makes it our alive, the other is going to as well. I have my eyes shut, but I feel us getting sucked back towards the back of the plane..but there was no back of the plane...it was gone..I begin to panic and struggle to grab a hold of something to keep us inside, but I had to hang onto Chester. My hand comes in contact with something, a bag maybe, and I hang onto it, until I feel it rip under both of our weight, and the plane is suddenly in a vertical position, Chester and I both sliding across the bottom of the plane, and out the opening..

I hold onto him, thanking God that he's still with me, knowing that soon we would hit the ground and probably break every bone in our body. I can't see anything, but suddenly an explosion fills our ears and we both yelp in shock. It felt like we had been falling for hours when in reality it had to of only been a few split seconds. Then we hit water. The impact of hitting it, drug Chester away from my arms and swept me in the opposite direction. I immediately felt numb, a thousand needles stabbing into me as I fought against the water to reach the surface. It was freezing. Beyond freezing. I could barely move it was so cold. My head broke the surface of the water and I gasp for air. Opening my eyes I notice my glasses were gone. Fuck. At least my eyesight wasn't too bad. I could make out the burning half of the plane which must of crashed into the shore on the other side of what appeared to be a large lake. Something floats near me and I grab it. Chester's glasses....my teeth chattered and I trembled violently, suddenly finding my voice once more..

"CHESTER!?.." I scream as loud as I can, turning in circles to try to scan the water's surface for Chester. Fuck. No. I can't lose him. I can't. I'll die without him. Tears sting my eyes again. I realize I must not have broken anything while we were thrown around in the plane, and I began to slowly swim, the cold water making it hard to move my arms and legs. The closer I got to the shore, the colder I got. The air was almost as cold as the water. I knew I was going to die.

"CHESTER?!" I scream again, it hurt to scream. God, where is he?.."CHESTER?! Please!!"..I broke down into tears. Trying desperately to keep my head above water, but I just knew Chester was dead.

Suddenly I feel something weakly grabbing my arm and I open my eyes and look over. There he was. Chester. He was alive. Blood had made a trail from a cut above his left eyebrow, dripping down along his cheek and jaw line. I grabbed his arm and we both kicked as hard as we could to get to the shore. That's when it hit me.

Oh fuck. We were lost in some forest. More than likely the only survivors. And we were going to freeze to death..because as soon as we collapsed onto the shore, I handed Chester is glasses back with a weak little smile..and slid them on his face for him..both of us panting hard..and I lifted my head..snow was all around us..in the trees..covering the ground..the only place it wasn't was around the lake..but it started a few feet away from us. Shit. We were going to die. I sat up slowly..shivering violently..reaching over and grabbing Chester's thin, slim form, and pulling it up against my own.

We both held eachother, not saying anything, thankful to be alive, but horrified that we were about to die. I was convinced there was no way we were going to make it through the night..so I just held onto Chester as tight as I could. He appeared to be alright, except for the cut and some bruises. We had bigger problems now. But all I wanted to do was get Chester warm.

"..Mike..I.."..Chester's voice was so quiet and weak..unlike it usually was.."..I love you, Mike..".

His words broke my heart. He was saying goodbye. I wasn't going to let him. I knew he loved me. I loved him too..with all my heart. I would die for him. I guess I never realized how deep my feelings were for Chester...but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"I love you too, Chester..but listen to me..we're not saying goodbye yet, okay?...they'll come looking for us...they have to come look for survivors, okay?..we just have to make it to the morning.."

I felt him nod against me, and I shut my eyes and rested my head lightly against his..I wasn't going to let it end like this. I would find a way out. Chester didn't deserve this. And I'd die if I had to, to make sure he lived.

..but everything...just...seems so hopeless..